Where did you get your "LOVE for old trucks" from....

[Harper]

I think mine started from my dads old 60 model white stepside pickup, i remember him and Mr Claudie Harrison (local bodyshop/gas station owner) when i was about 4 they painted my dads old pickup a beautiful White...however what got me interested in them was the fact that he rattlecanned the dash a bright blue, very simular to the color I am about to paint my slick...with a big ole 6/3 speed on the tree. I can remember them talking about laying down several coats of that seeminly egg shell white (my dad owned a parts store in 1970 "Harper's Auto Parts) which lead to me sneaking and painting the side door of our parts store with some spray paint. That spray paint stayed on that side door of the old parts store building for many years, it was a parts store twice, then a fruit stand, then a game room and evenetually it was torn down in late 80's.

Dad kept the old truck and eventually sold it to a fella in about 1977 or 78. I remember it jumping out of gear in 3rd and my dad would bungie cord it to the seat frame to hold it in gear. My foundest memory was me and my sister getting to ride on the back of it.

after than he would own a 1972 Ford with a 240 6 and a 3speed on the column...the truck i would eventually learn to drive in when i was a kid. (also white).

[turtle1056]

closest thing I could get to a "coupe" , and well, the girls just seemed to like hot rod trucks more than cars

[Toyz]

My Dad turned a 48 F2 over to me early in my teens. He told me I could cautiously drive it down the old unpaved road on which we existed, to a neighbor's nice reservoir on the creek. The part he originally failed to mention was that I would first load it with chicken shit, haul it to the same neighbor's fields and unload it.
Kinda ended much thought of using the pickup to bring a date to the reservoir
In late 1959 a school mate who remains a friend accompanied his Dad to purchase the "new body style" 1/2 ton Chebbie. I thought, "what a butt-ugly truck" I was overjoyed when I found that Ford was replacing the nice- looking, IMO, "refrigerators" with the even better looking "Slicks".
I was far from being a "kicker" in those formative days, even though I appreciated country music, and lived on a succession of farms . My re-association with pickups came about because of a need to haul musical equipment, (and shaggy-headed musicians). That's when I realized even hippie chicks appreciated trucks! Don't even ask about the adventures involved in ferrying a bunch of long-haired musicians around in the bed of a Ranchero in the days of a certain "Short" police chief, (and I say that appreciatively, at least now)
I could tell endless stories of my fifty-plus years of trucking; (and probably will, if I ever learn to type
Paul

[slick4x4]

my first vehicle was a 61 uni.....
i am a 62 model
and.......
they JUST LOOK COOL

[ICEMAN6166]

when i was a little ice cube my dad worked at ford, in the race car days of the early 1960s. lots of hours spent trying to outdo chevy and dodge.
he had a mechanic friend who bought a new 67 shelby mustang which i got to ride in.took 3 weeks to wipe the grin off my little face. one of the top 3 rides in my life, the other 2 were Merles and castruck at slickstock.
i started out with big 60s cars,full size fords and mercs. had a few other brands as well. big cars with big cube engines.
when i lived in Texas in the early 80s i got into trucks. first one was a 67 chevy. traded that for a 68 f250, then i was a bumpside addict for many years.
had a few 64 fairlanes,,and lots of econolines, 2nd and 3rd generation as work trucks
my wife talked me into my first slick "you need something different " little did she know at the time but she created a serious addiction, not only me but eventually her as well.

IMO the last real truck was the 69 ford as it was the last one with a metal grille.
im just not a fan of plastic, real cars and trucks no matter what the brand are mostly steel. engines should sound like engines, not like vacuum cleaners.

[White97]

My Dad had an ATLANTIC gas station when I was little, his last tow truck was 1965 f350 - the truck I learned to drive a stick in. At 13 it was my job to pull the truck out in the morning and put it away at night. My the time he closed up shop I was hooking up cars and doing most of the work on a tow. So when I finally get my trick to paint it will be satin dark blue with ATLANTIC logos on the door and his old address/phone number lettered on the truck. Dad is still around and provides knowledge on some of my repairs. And my son is 14 and I have him working on my slick and it will be what he learns to drive a stick in.

[Johnny Canuck]

Well, I am probably a fool for trying to type this out on an IPad, but I was brought home from the hospital where I was born in my dad's 2 ton '52 Ford.

My dad's first car had been a '27 model T roadster pickup, which still sat beside the chicken coop at my grandpa's farm, and I remember playing on it as a tyke when we used to go visit. I remember too,the tear in the old man's eye when one time we went out and the hood had blown off the T, and the cows had stomped all over it. Shortly after that we moved to an army base that had a communal shop, where he and I could work on the old T together. We got it running when I was 11, and I literally learned to drive on a Model T pickup, circa 1970.

When I was in about to start high school, we moved off the army base and back to my hometown of Lethbridge, Alberta. My dad purchased a '66 Dodge d-100 for the move, and he and I moved everything we had in what seemed like a million loads in that truck, equipped with all the luxuries of Armstrong steering, straight-axle handling, three on the tree, and a mighty 225 slant six!
Later I used that truck to prepare for getting my drivers license. I painted it in high school shop as a project, too. It was the truck I got my first ticket in, too, rat racing a day after I got my license!

One thing that old Dodge taught me I would -never- like to have in another vehicle...three things actually...- three on the tree, a straight axle, and a six in a truck.

When i was on my own after college, I had a few Chev trucks of the 75-82 body style, and I liked them fine, they were not the highest quality built vehicle, but they never left me either.

Then I had a '79 short-wide F-150 4x4, with a 351 m motor that I classify as one off the two worst vehicles I have ever owned. Nearly put me off Fords forever, that POS. that, and a fox bodied Capri RS I'd had just before that was an equal POS. '79 was definitely NOT a good year for Ford.

Then had an S-15 GMC 4x4 that I liked, it had a 2.8 and a 5 speed, and my new wife and I took that thing everywhere when we were first married,, but kids came along and I didn't have enough room.

Next, my dad gave me a '78 dent side with a 302 c4 and I ran that truck right to the dirt, it was the single greatest vehicle I have ever owned. Cost me virtually nothing but gas, oil, battery and tires to run for 12 years. Redeemed Fords on my eyes, after that pos '79 4x4, and moved everyone I knew including me, multiple times.

Bought my slick to put the 302 in I saved from the 78. Then was given an old '72 f-250 on its last leg, I nursed it along for a few years but the body was gone, and the 360 in it drank gas so bad I always swore the gas tank had a hole the size of Texas in it.

Next up is 'Stretch', an '83f-150 super cab with a long box. Still got that one around, waiting to move me again!

And the Slick is still around, of course, now approaching a nine year project.

So I'm Johnny Canuck, and that's my Truck story!

Ps, we still have the Model T, too.

[MadMaxetc]

My 63 was the first vehicle I ever owned. I had a good friend that had a 66 250 with a 300 and a 4-speed. We had a blast in that thing. I wanted a pickup...and older one at that. I found the 63 and borrowed $500 from my dad and put up the other $700. I was 15. (1995)

I got it running and drive-able by the time my 16th b-day rolled around. I drove it through high school. I made out with mu wife for the first time in it.

Then in the spring of 99 I smacked the back of a UPS truck at 45 on the highway. That was the last time I drove my 63.

Since then I have Graduated from college, Married my wife, Had 3 kids, and established a carrier.

I have had many cars and trucks, but none a special as my 63.

88 Sable
79 F-150
97 GrandAm (wife bought it)
75 F-150
73 F-150
67 F-250
02 Mountaineer
12 F-150

I am a Ford Guy!

[foodstick]

When I was 3 years old my pop bought a repossessed 66 , this was in 68 or 69... When he brought it home my Mom said
"Carl ,We will NEVER get our monies worth out of it..

Dad ran business's using it, He dropped in a heavy duty 4 speed out of a bigger truck..we pulled our boat, went camping, he had a massive trailer we hauled recycled paper bails on, He once pulled a mobile home with it.. I learned to drive in it at the age of 13 at the landfill.

It has been tortured with hard use,and never whimpered...

I still have it, the motor has never had to be opened up and worked on.. it still runs well ...

My 64 I built and sold to Don, was my first truck as far as the title goes.. But my 66 is the first truck really to me.

[ras4434]

You have heard of the West Nile Virus.....well I think I got the West Nile Slickitus. Always had the other brand until 1982. The month before my son was born in 1982 I stopped at a stop sign and looked across the street at a used car lot......WHAM I must have been bitten because there was the most beautiful 66 truck that was just calling my name......I was driving a 69 Chevy at the time. I traded the next day and have had a love affair ever since......Had that one for 25 years, 300 I-6 698,00 miles when I sold it and the engine was pulled and is still on the road. Could not be happier in my addiction or "sickness".

[cdherman]

Nice thread... I don't really know from where or how I got my love. It was always there, the 65. I cracked the windshield at age 3 cause I could not get the jar open my mom had put cereal in for me to snack on, while they were working as I looked on from the truck -- threw the jar at the windshield and *crack*. Dad left that crack in there for 35 friggin years till I replaced the glass in 2003.

I got bored once as a kid and decided that the black relief paint on the horn button could be removed with a nail. I mostly removed it all, before I got bored. I have left it that way, as a reminder of the stupid things we all do in the course of our lives.....

My dad used to put the 65 in double low (1 on a t-18) 6.7:1 gear ratio, and tell me to keep away from trees and holes. Not many of either in western Kansas. He would hop out and throw bales of hay to the cows. I could not reach the gas or clutch... Was maybe 5...

One time, my mother was following us with another vehicle. I was a little older, maybe 7, and getting towards the end of a mile of electric fence that mom and dad were running. Dad jumps in and tells me to get on the seat low and he scrunches downso that only the top his head shows. My mother loses track of the swap and sees "me" drive off down the road... Hyterical Mom, when she finally caught us....

Can't let an old truck like that die....

[DV65CustomCab]

Where did I get it? Hmmmm. Well, I'm American; I think it's just part of our post-Revolution DNA.

My Dad bought, repainted, and endlessly repaired a '57 Willys CJ-5 while I was growing up. Boy, did that thing leave a lasting impression. After Mom poofed the engine from overheating it (you can crack a block doing that?!) I was heartbroken when it went away. That was the kid; the adult now realizes what an eternal PITA piece of heartache that thing actually was. When I got married, I made the wife promise me she would keep me from ever buying a CJ.

I first experienced the Joy Of Trucks with a '76 Ford Courier. I knew it was really a Mazda. Being a sports car guy, pickups just sort of looked right. Two doors, boxy, minimalist and uniquely practical. I towed a lot of cars (very slowly) with the Courier until I overheated it and cracked the head (do you see a trend here?).

My next truck was a '66 Chevy C-20 that I bought off a farm. 292 six, 3 speed, 4:56 rear. Top speed, screaming down the highway, was 60. An ugly, oil leaking, miserable beast that was the wrong tool for the job. I got tired of the rear main gushing oil in spite of being replaced and sold it for what I paid.

Literally a week later I was at a body shop and saw a forlorn '65 F100 Custom Cab parked behind the building. Asked the guy about it and he said I could have it for $200 (it ran!). Had horrible paint, rust and generally destroyed the resale value of my parents' house when it was parked there. However, it was the Greatest Truck Evah with the 352 3spd and ran and drove like a truck one third it's age and mileage. I got excellent service from it and when I decided I no longer needed a truck to haul crap in sold it for $500 having done virtually nothing to it.

I briefly owned a 80-something Nissan 4x4 pickup I bought wrecked and fixed up to sell. Made good money on it but it was slow and no fun to drive.

Many years later I again determined a truck would be nice to have around and bought a 91 Ranger, 4cyl stick that was the biggest disappointment...slow, mediocre fuel economy, couldn't haul much (short bed), couldn't tow anything and had some reliability problems that didn't impress me on Rangers. Couldn't understand why anyone would buy a little pickup when there were plenty of full size ones out there that cost about the same. Goodbye, Ranger.

So, having fully matured my truck desires and not wanting to pay for the excessive tag fees PA charges for a truck I schemed that buying a "antique" truck would be cheaper to own and more fun to have. What to get? After a brief consideration of bumpsides (a tasty F250 that didn't materialize) I began searching for another truck like that awesome '65 I had. After a year long search (I live in the rust belt, remember) I snagged Big Red...and have been happy ever since. There are times, towing the race car on the trailer on a hot day after a race weekend, that I lust for a 10-ish year old Super Duty, but it passes. It's also helped me realize that I am a Ford Guy, after having sampled various other flavors of both cars and trucks. May be more to that story coming soon to my driveway.

[BigBadDad]

Well, at age 14, I learned to drive a straight on my Dad's Dodge. It was a 1955, 3/4 ton with the 241 hemi and a 3 on the tree.(I LOVED that old Dodge!) It was in excellent shape, and this would have been about 1972. After I got my driver license, Dad got me hired on where he worked at the City Schools one summer to be a kind of helper/grunt for a while. They had an old Navy surplus 1953 Chevrolet 1 ton pickup. It was a stovebolt 6 with a granny geared 4 in the floor. Luckily, that old truck was tough, because I never broke it, even though I drove it like it was a muscle car! ( I LOVED that old Chevy!) This would be 1974, which is the same year Dad traded the 55 Dodge for the 66 F100 I currently own. I was with him, when he made the trade on a used car lot, and I have all of the paperwork related to that transaction in my files on the Ford! Dad paid about $600 boot while trading in the 55 Dodge on an 8 year old Ford with the asking price of $995! ( While I really like the Ford, I would still like to have that "cherry" 55 Dodge! ) Dad drove the 66 until 1989 or 1990 when my sister bought him a brand new F100. ( He had sold two of his Model T Fords to put her through Nursing school, and it had paid off well for her financially! ) Anyway, the 66 Ford was used occasionally, but got pretty much retired into the barn after that.
Meanwhile, I was pretty much a muscle car guy, with a pretty impressive list of stuff I wish I still had. I bought my first truck in 1980, a "73 Chevy 1/2 ton. It had a strong 350, and it ran like a "raped ape", but the body was trying to rust away! My second truck was a "fixer upper" 65 Dodge with a slant 6, three on the tree. I quickly came to hate it for the POS it was. Then I got a 71 Ford Ranger XLT. It was a nice truck with a 360, AT. I repainted and reupholstered, and had a really nice truck At the same time, I had a rough 70 F 350 hauler that I used for hauling old cars and other junk to the scrap. The F 350 had a 360/ 4 speed. with 4.88 gears, and weight 8,000 lbs empty. Both my Fords got the same mileage! Next, came a 62 Dodge D 100 with a 3-8 and pushbutton automatic. I parked it in 1986, and sold it over the internet a few years ago, and have been regretting it. I really did like that one. Anyway. I replaced that Dodge in 1987 with a "78 D100 Club Cab that I still own! Probably one of my favorite all time best vehicles! In the meantime, several others have come and gone. I bought my "new" truck in 1995. It is a 1993 Dodge W250, and I still own it. It started as a work truck, but since I got out of the Contracting business, it leads a pretty easy life! LOL
Right now, I have two Mopar muscle cars in my garage under the house, and the 78 Dodge and 66 F100 reside in my detached garage. I have gotten a little bored with the car show stuff, and find it more enjoyable to just "play" with the old trucks! I get as many comments from people with the F100 as I do when driving the higher dollar Mopars!
OK< I am done. Too long a post? Sorry, sitting at home on Sunday night with too many "relaxing" beverages! LOL
DO I WIN THE RECORD FOR LONGEST POST? LOL

[Toyz]

One of my few excursions to "Mopar Mania" involved a 60 D100, 318 and push-button automatic, with factory air, and top of the line "Sweptline" trim. Kind of an oddity, but, like you, it certainly makes my "wish I'd kept" list!
Mine's kind of a long list; I've been lucky, and "devoted" enough to have had a bunch really iconic vehicles. My current uni is a toss-up with my 70 Ranger XLT (once the boat anchor FE was pulled and replaced with a 429) for all-time favorite truck, but all these other slicks keep pulling my attention from it!
My 94 Bronco and 84 SVO are pretty much tied for length of ownership, at ~18 years each.

Paul

[bmcgc]

It reminds me of simplier times.

[douglloyd]

My first truck was a '39 Chevy 1/2 ton, 6V 3spd, 16" wheels. I put a AOOGA horn on it and drove it through several Minnesota winters. No heater - you just cranked open the windshield for defrost. Sold it, regretted it ever since. Now I am slowly putting a similar one together from eBay and Craigslist parts.

My first slick was a '66 shortbed 3spd with a tired 302. The crease in the cab from the driver's door bending forward pretty much turned this into a parts donor when I found my second slick, another '66 shortbed 3spd with a rebuilt 302. After that we found a '66 F350 flatbed (6cyl/4spd NP435) and then a '66 longbed with a 302/4spd on the floor. Last one was a battered '66 longbed with 3spd and 352, that has never moved under power since I bought it. Having your own parts yard DOES save you time and money!

I grew up driving pickups and just always liked them better than cars. What's not to like about slicks? Tough, easy to repair and parts are still cheap. Properly rebuilt they will work as hard as new trucks today, just not near as fast or comfortable perhaps, but I don't use tools like trucks for speed or comfort.

Doug in east TN

[Greg D]

I could repeat alot of the same things already posted, but I'll add a couple.

I have NEVER had a bad Ford truck
I LOVE pickup trucks - plain & simple
My first was a 1974 F 100 long bed with a 390 & 3 on the tree.
It was a great old truck I had for a few years.
I have had alot of trucks - I LOVE Slicks.
I am primarily a fan of the straight axle trucks - 1964 is the pinnacle year IMHO
It has the matching bed with the straight axle frame.
61-66 in general IMHO are simply the best looking trucks ever made, they have style & grace but still look like a truck.
I also like the Chevy trucks of the same time period - but prefer the Fords.
Unlike Dwight my 91 Ranger 2.3 5 speed was undeniably one of the best vehicles I ever owned (mine had the 7' bed though)
Still ran as good as new after I ran it 250,000 miles with virtually NO repairs!
I average about 24 MPG with mine and drive it on the surface streets in the city doing deliveries for about 55% of it's miles.
It had 50,000 on it when I bought it and still ran like new the day I traded it on a new Ranger (Mazda B 2500).
I now have a 92 Ranger which I am very happy to have.
I want to find a 4x4 the same bodystyle after I round up some funds to buy one.

My truck list (in order 1st to last);

1974 F 100 LWB - 390 - 3 speed - manual everything - Midnight Blue
1976 Chevy K 10 SWB Stepside Black - Sport Stripe pkg, 400, 4bbl, headers, 3" lift, 33s VERY thirsty!
1973 Chevy C 10 - Blue - 350 4bbl, 350 auto - I put my first ever brand new set of tires & wheels on that truck
1983 Ford Ranger Turd Brown, 2.3 Auto had lots of problems with the emissions on it - I was gonna put a rodded 302 in this one - I even built the engine, never got it installed.
1979 F 150 XLT Ranger, 351M, 2 tone Green - 3" lift 33s
1965 F 100 300-6 3speed Caribbean Turquoise - loved the truck - BAD rust though
1991 Ford Ranger XLT LWB 2.3 5 speed - Light Met Brown - My 1st courier truck - the one that I ran to 300K
1998 Mazda B 2500 (I got a 3% loan for a Mazda - would've 9% on a Ford then).
1983 F 100 Flareside 2 tone Tan panel paint job - 302 AOD - I STILL miss that one!
1994 F 150 4x4 XLT Supercab Lt & Dk Copper 2 tone - 302 E4OD
1994 F 150 Reg XL Cab LWB Aqua Metallic 4x4 - 4.9 5 speed
1964 F 100 LWB - Blue 223 4 speed - really rough but VERY reliable I kept some parts for sentimental value
1964 F 100 CC - parts truck
1966 F 100 SWB - 352 - 3 speed (floor shifter) - it was 8 different colors when I got it
1964 F 100 SWB Flareside - White Basket case with no driveline but no rust
1962 F 100 LWB Integral Cab (Uni) - White then Turq & White scalloped - I had ALOT of 292, 4 speed, 4bbl, duals, lowered
1962 F 100 SWB wrongbed baby blue - 292, 4bbl, 4 speed - rusted bad - parted out
1964 F 250 LWB CC Beige - my current truck - too much to list
1992 F 100 Reg Cab Flareside Purple - 302 - E40D - Known here as Iris
1992 Ford Ranger Reg Cab XLT SWB - Silver - 2.3 5 speed - the one I just traded Iris for
I have also had 2 Explorers & 2 Bronco IIs

[Thomas1190]

Hi all, new member and first post
I dont own a slick yet, but im hoping to real soon either a 65 or 66.

Im 21 and I have always loved these old pickups. My grandpa had two old Fords. It was either a '58 and a '60 F100 or two '60s, I cant remember. Have to ask my mom. My grandparents babysat me as both my parents worked. I was always surrounded by those trucks. As I grew older there was something about these slicks that attract me, I love them. Must be that clean, streamline styling. A hard working truck with class. Although, I do have a soft spot for those older generation F100s

[Harper]

welcome aboard Thomas! you will find a vast amount of knowledge here...from totally stock to some pretty radical trucks.

[Thomas1190]

Thank you Harper and anybody else who will chime in (dont want to take it too off topic here lol), I love it here. Soo much info and so many knowledgable cool people