I've got a hankerin' to get me a no BS early to mid sixties truck with straight six and three on the tree, for a daily driver. What's your favorite truck of this ilk? Love to see pics.
no pics, but I love 61-66 Chevy/GMC pickups. I don't own one (unless you count the one with a tree growing through it) but I would love to have one some day. I also like Ford/Merc pickups of the same years
Unibody early 60s Ford!! Hands down. I bought a sweet one from Jim (Kustom7777) here on the hamb, but sold it cuz Im too sissy to rock a straight axle everyday. Miss that thing.
61-66 Ford F100/250 My first was a 63 and I fell in love with the body lines and the torque the little 223 had. NUFF SAID
I love these too. Any idea what a clean driver goes for? I'm thinking 2-3 grand might get me a decent one?
The 61-66 F-series Fords and 60-66 Chevy/GMCs are the last of the "classic" truck-looking trucks. My personal favorite is the Ford line. The 67-72 Ford F-trucks and the 67-72 Chev/GMC lines are the first of the passenger car looking and decked out pickups which began the "modern" era of pickups being used as personal transport by other than farmers and ranchers. You'll note I left out the Dodge and Studebaker as the Dodge Boys could never get it together and style any pickup which looked any better than a dog cart in a Tijuana barrio and the gentlemen at South Bend were at a loss for funds to do anything creative.
Slightly out of the "traditional" date cutoff but the 67-72 Chevys were the best trucks evermade. The one I have now I paid $503.99 in a sealed bid auction from the state of NC in 1992 (I think). I drove it all over the place and then just left it sitting alot. When I brought it to El Paso it had been sitting for 8 months. I loaded it and a trailer with all my engines and blocks and fired it up and drove it 1,800 miles here. Last weekend after sitting in my storage lot for over 2 years untouched I hooked up a battery, poured a little gas in the carb and it fired right up. Yep, best trucks ever made...
Unibodys are the coolest! I want one bad. Ive seen plenty of drivers for that price range. Maybe not very clean but drivers.
It"s really hard to beat a \6 Dodge. I've got 2 waiting for me to get to. Try sweptline.org for a forum about them. TopHat
I can relate...this thing followed me home last weekend. Not a sixxer, but fits the bill otherwise. Lovin' it so far! 66 F100 352/3 spd
The '61-64 Ford has a straight axle, while the later ones (up to '96) have the twin I beam setup. You may or may not be a fan of one or the other. The six cylinder motors changed in '65 as well. Went from the 223 style to the 240/300, a clear upgrade. These facts may help you decide which you want to pursue if you get it narrowed down to a few candidates.....
I recently saw one through the fence @ a tow yard - straight and complete. I got excited thought I may have found a nice score. Called the yard the next day and they wanted $10k for. Told the guy he was nuts - he told me I had no idea what I was looking at. I'm sure they only have a few hundred into it though.
They are out there though. My dad picked this up for $500. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=151273
I've always been partial to the 60-61 Chevy/GMC. The 'ugly' pig nose hood, wrap around front window, double hump dash; had one with 283 2bbl and m/t....virtually industructible. Currently working out a deal on a 61 Suburban to relive those memories.
Thanks for all the input guys. Maybe I'm not nuts after all to think this might actually be practical. Anybody else want to chime in?
65' Dodge A100. There was a magazine build back in the 70's. It had a chopped top, lowered, blown 454 just behind the cab, back-halved with 14" slicks. It was black with flames coming off the front. Always wondered where that truck ended up.....
My favorite is a '58 Ford short square box, but in the 60's give me a '67 F250 with a 352 FE 4 speed. I worked the heck out of one daily back in the 70's and 80's then loaded my camper on and hooked up my '68 Bronco headed for the desert (So.Cal.) for a fun week-end with the wife and our 3 kids. On vacations we'd drive it to Oregon or Nevada or Arizona usually with my dirt bike in a small trailer.... Best Vehicle I've Ever Owned.
Damn skippy you can drive one every day! I've got a '62 Suburban as my only daily driver. Original 283/granny 4spd/4.11 posi rear. No weather stripping to speak of. Bare steel floors. Nothing on the ceiling. No radio, or power anything. Bought it last March for $2,000 from a HAMBer in Joplin, and drove it 1,000 miles home on the back roads. Since owning it, I've put over 20,000 daily driven miles on it. Along the way, I've lowered it 2 inches, replaced those crappy wheels with narrow stockers and '55 Chevy poverty caps, rebuilt the stock brakes and replaced the hydraulic clutch slave, new 3/4-ton 4-row radiator, restored base model heater with new core, 7-blade clutch fan, added a '60 4-headlight grille, rattle-can rebuild of the engine (with new timing chain and water pump), and completely rewired it from end-to-end. It hasn't left me stranded a single time (thought the trip to Maxton did require some road-side rewiring). I just bought a crate engine, have a 4-spd OD manual trans, found a stock front split bench seat, tail gate and lift gate to replace the barn doors, and am going to swap in 3.55 gears and install the factory fan shroud I located. Also FINALLY got a dual reservoir power booster with clutch master cylinder that's going in. Then I'm driving it to Bonneville for Speedweek. So yeah, a vintage truck makes a fantastic daily driver. After the first few days of "roughing it" you don't even notice that you're driving something so Spartan. Go for it. -Brad
easily dailies, i have two 1960 ford trucks that i drive everyday, one i drive for light duties and the other with beefed up ass end for pulling farm equipment. each one was less than 3 grand and both in good shape, plus i have 2 rebuilt motors and trannies in case something goes wrong. You cant buy a decent newer model truck for less than 3K plus you are stuck driving an s10 or dodge dakota and who wants to do that. buy one and drive it till it brakes then fix your problem and repeat as necessary, in the past 3 months i have put about 4000 miles on the old boys. Unibodys are cool trucks unless you are going to heavy haul, then not so much
mine is definately the unibody... i got a 62 short bed, big window... flash! there's one in bella vista, arkansas newspaper ad reads: 1961 F100 unibody, no engine or trans, $1,200 obo. 479-876-1966. give 'em a call,
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