There’s a certain romance to vintage vehicles in the modern day. Sure, a brand new Ford F-Series can tow a house while embracing you in luxury car-levels of comfort, but there’s something endearing about an old, honest truck. Perhaps it’s the fact that what you see is what you get, or the fact that trucks several decades old are still putting in time today.
If I’m lucky, I’m going to buy my first-ever classic car with the help of the Notorious SWG. Yes, I know I said I have no room for additional cars, but I can make it work to fit 76-year-old vintage American iron in my fleet. I promise I’m going somewhere with this. Earlier today, Mark gave us a Shitbox Showdown between an old Chevrolet C20 and an old Volkswagen Pickup. Even though I’m a German car nut, I’m picking the American truck. PaysOutAllNight gives a great description of a good old truck:
That Chevy is the lazy old ranch hand leaning against the post, doing nothing at all long after you’ve assigned him a task for the day, yet somehow, when the sun goes down, everything has been completed exactly as you intended.
That’s the kind of truck I need. Not someone else’s project.
This morning, Jason wrote a Cold Start showing off an Oldsmobile advertisement that tried to paint the horse as an uncontrollable vicious beast. The comments here were gold. Matt Sexton gives insight into the Curved Dash Oldsmobile:
“Curved Dash” was a nickname borne from its styling, and there were several evolutions over the years. Officially the 1901-1903 version was the Model R, and since it was Oldsmobile’s only product at the time, per the ads one could just refer to it as “The Oldsmobile”.
The Model R was a delightful little car, the first mass-produced automobile, and saved Oldsmobile from bankruptcy. They had a fire at the plant and the Model R was the only prototype they saved.
I have always wanted one of these. I think they top out at about 20mph but that wouldn’t at all stop me from registering it and driving it to work on the regular. 100+ year old cars fascinate me, what an interesting time.
I never thought of animals like this before, but Jonathan Green has a point:
All God’s Creatures are basically jerks.
They shit on your car
They jump in front of you while you’re driving.
They chew the wiring
They set up house under the seats and piss all over
They perch on your door sill, pecking at their reflections in the mirrors…
Finally, we stop at Thomas’ piece about the 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Super Sport. No matter where you stand on this sedan, Nsane In The MembraNe points out how sad it is that so many cool cars are dying:
It’s a shame that neither these nor the Blackwings have sold very well. They have so much more character than anything German or Japanese, but people just can’t get past their preconceived notions about certain brands. Get them while you can, because we’ll never see anything like em again and they’re the only relics left carrying the torch from the golden era of sports sedans (the 2000s).
Have a great evening everyone!
Talking Heads – Fear of Music. “Animals” is the song you’re looking for. 😀
I bought a well maintained but used hard and put away wet 1963 Ford F100 stepside from my employer in 1975.
with a straight 6, 3 on the tree and rear wheel drive. Loved the manual choke started in all kinds of weather with a top speed of 65 MPH. I used it to work on a house along with friends and relatives wanting to borrow it and others who wanted me to help them move. Kept it for a couple of years then sold it for more than I paid for it. You can’t get a more basic truck than that.
I am really looking forward to reading your experience finding and buying your vintage pickup truck.
Good luck and live in that moment!
I have a sunburned, teal, base model 2000 F150. Got the clamshell doors and a long bed, along with a towing package. Base V6. Hand crank windows. We call it Trusty Truck and every time we drive it, we give the dashboard a little pat and say thank you.
I bought it new. It has like 85K miles on it and has been about the best purchase of my entire life.
Trusty Truck is ready.
I used to have a 2001 F250. Not a single option except for the V10 and extended cab. It was rated for 3880lbs of payload, and I more than once put that payload limit to the test and the truck didn’t complain even once, not even after 280,000 miles. It wasn’t nice, but it was dead reliable. I sold it to a friend to use on her hobby farm, and the first time she hauled a load of fertilizer from town to her farm, she called absolutely swooning for the truck and singing its praises.
While I know not everyone agrees, I personally think simple truck = best truck.
Back before trucks developed their Napoleon Complex grills and height, they were like a motorized wheelbarrow, weren’t they?
Exactly. I redid my driveway a few years ago and ended up hauling about 20 tons of gravel in that F250. It made a fantastic motorized wheelbarrow, and I did in 10 loads what would have taken me probably 30 loads in a more modern, fancy truck. Same with mulch, taking old roofing and siding to the dump, and everything else that truck with narry a complaint (and with the same 10mpgs it got whether loaded or empty).
Man, good buy, I’m jealous!
And it was discounted! Cloth bench seat. Teal. V6. Tow package. No power door locks, windows or anything else. Cassette player. It has some chrome wheels with white letter tires, but that’s it. Nobody wanted it, so they’d marked it down like 15 or 20%. I paid $21K in 2000 dollars.
I moved up to Santa Rosa, CA from tony and fancy Marin County last year. My truck was an “eyesore” according to some of my newly arrived and fancy neighbors, but up here in farm country, my neighbors love a classic old truck that shows the signs of a well used past.
It’ll be in my estate. Or my wife’s. My Ohio farm girl wife of 40 years loves riding around in trucks with this boy.
My wife and I will be on the lookout for you and Trusty Truck when we are up in your area for our vacation/NASCAR week next month!
Look for the Work to Ride Ride to Work bumper sticker. 😀
And I hope you have a blast at Sonoma!!
Will do, thank you! 🙂
I live in the city and sold what many consider to be a (newer) Trusty Truck, a first generation Tundra. Everybody says to pay attention to the timing belt changes but I can’t recall of anyone saying they had an issue. The only item that does deserve attention is the front lower ball joints. Replace them with Toyota parts every 100k and the truck keeps on truckin’.
After a brief time with a vintage Subaru I’m looking for Confidence Car. Bells and whistles are cool but I really just want it to work.