The main photo of this bright-red vintage pickup truck standing in the snowy Vermont woods is almost too nostalgic to bear, a beautiful image for the Christmas week.
The Pick of the Day is a 1952 Ford F1 half-ton pickup, a lovely short-bed that appears to be in exceptionally nice condition.
“This is an amazing rust-free truck showing a very believable 60,000 miles,” says the advertisement in ClassicCars.com placed by an Essex Junction, Vermont, auto dealer. “It has had one older repaint and there are no signs of any body repairs. The wood in the bed also appears to be original indicating that the truck was probably garaged for most of its life.”
The gallery of pictures show a clean-looking truck all in red, paint and interior, and powered by a flathead V8 with dual carburetors, good for at least 100 horsepower, and attached to a three-speed manual transmission with floor shift. The modern fuel lines are obviously a later addition.
“The flathead V8 runs beautifully and smoothly,” the dealer says. “There are no excuses with this truck.”
The F1 was Ford’s first all-new post-war pickup, the start of the F-series trucks that live on today. Introduced in 1947, the F1 received a facelift for 1951, including a new grille and headlight treatment. and a cabin with larger back glass and a redesigned dashboard. The 1952 model year was the last for the F1, which was replaced by the F100.
This pickup looks correct with its steel wheels, little hubcaps and narrow tires, as well as its ivory-color painted grille. The truck seems like a lucky survivor that somehow avoided the banged-up fate of most of these workhorses. Instead, it seems pampered like a show pony, a rarity indeed.
The asking price of $26,500 seems fair for such an unusual find. Hopefully the next owner will appreciate that after 64 years of preservation in New England, it would be a crime to alter this truck in any way.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day
