I don’t know why I’m being all matchy-matchy with the cars this week. It’s not intentional; it’s just the cars that keep catching my eye. Monday ended up greige, yesterday was maroon, and today, both cars are white.
So let’s settle up yesterday, and then we’ll take a look at them:
No surprise there. That Accord is really nice, and really cheap. And in fact, it looks like the ad is down already. Also no surprise.
So, onward. Today we have a couple of Fords built to carry stuff. One is built to carry people, and the other is for, well, pretty much anything else. It’s a bit of an apples and oranges comparison, but once again, they’re what caught my eye today, so we’ll just roll with it. Here they are.
1969 Ford F100 – $1,950
Engine/drivetrain: 240 or 300 cubic inch inline 6, 3 speed manual, RWD
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Odometer reading: 97,000 miles (or 197,000?)
Runs/drives? Quite well
There is something undeniably charming about old trucks. They’re romantic, quaint slices of pure unadulterated Americana, icons of what so many people blithely refer to as a “simpler time.” The reality of them is significantly less romantic than the Bridges of Madison County ideal: noisy, rough-riding, inefficient, and uncomfortable, but image, as they say, is everything, and old trucks will likely be dining out on their romantic appeal for a long time to come.
[Editor’s Note: This phenomenon has been covered here, in fact. – JT]
This old Ford has a lot more going for it than some silly notion, though. It’s powered by Ford’s legendary inline six, though it’s not specified whether it’s the 240 or 300 cubic inch variety. Either way, it’s a cast-iron monument to durability and torque, and a perfect powerplant for a truck. It sends that torque through that most basic of all transmissions: a three-speed manual, with the shifter on the column.
The seller says that six runs fine, and the truck drives well. The inside looks decent, with a simple vinyl bench seat covered by the requisite wool blanket. The interior is festooned with bumper stickers, at least, up to a point:
Yeah. You’re not seeing things; there is no roof. The seller says it was cut out due to rust, but I have a suspicion they just wanted an open-top truck. They say the roof panel is included, and can be welded back in, but personally, I think it would be cooler if someone installed a folding canvas roof, Webasto-style.
1991 Ford Country Squire – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 302 cubic inch V8, 4 speed automatic, RWD
Location: Union City, CA
Odometer reading: 175,000 miles
Runs/drives? Did, until a head gasket blew
“You think you hate it now,” the old movie line goes, “but wait ’till you drive it.” Ford’s Country Squire wagon is also an American icon, the faithful steed of a million family vacations and Cub Scout camping trips. Even if your family never owned one, wood-paneled station wagons were part of your upbringing, if you grew up in America in the 1960s, ’70s, or ’80s.
And if you rode in one, chances are you argued over who got to sit in the “way back.” What is it about sideways- or rear-facing jump seats that is so appealing to kids? These wagons also have a really clever tailgate/rear door: it can either swing down like a truck tailgate, for cargo loading, or to the side, for passenger entry.
Unfortunately, this particular Country Squire has suffered a blown head gasket, and as such, is not currently drivable. No information is given about how it happened, but it sounds like the seller is in over their head. That’s the trouble with cool old cars: you really ought to know how to fix them yourself, or be able to afford to pay someone else to do it right, or you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak.
Apart from the head gasket issue, this looks like a pretty clean Country Squire. I don’t see any rust, and the interior looks nice. This would be a good deal for someone with the mechanical chops to fix it up, and go over the rest of the mechanicals with a fine-toothed comb, just to make sure.
So that’s our choices for today: an old truck with no roof, and an old station wagon that needs to have its heads pulled. Neither one of them sounds quite so romantic or nostalgic when you put it that way, do they?
(By the way, the polls aren’t embedding today for some reason, so please click this link:)
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I’m predicting that the truck is going to win by a substantial amount here.
“That’s the trouble with cool old cars: you really ought to know how to fix them yourself, or be able to afford to pay someone else to do it right, or you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak.” -wise words
That’s truth. Since I’m too um…thrifty, to pay someone else for something I’m capable of, the only remaining hurdle is “how lazy am I?” My willingness to swing wrench has gotten me into lots of car I otherwise had no business being in, and something about the incongruity of that gives me great pleasure.
Sorry about the poll, y’all. It is there if you click on that Quiz Maker link, it’s just not embedded. I have a ticket in to tech support about it.
Being from the Midwest (OH), I’m always amazed at how rust free CA vehicles are.
I have always loved that generation of Ford Truck, so it is the truck for me, but this is one time that I actually want both.
That Country Squire is from ’91? I would have guessed the mid 80’s.
I guess today is not my day to vote–not that I have a clear victor in mind anyhow. One the hand I like wagons, and I don’t like trucks–so it should be easy pickings, but then there’s the running vs. blown head gasket to consider. But then again sawzall sunroof. Urgh. If I had the ability to vote I guess I’d say wagon. Maybe.
I voted truck, because I like old trucks especially Fords. I’d probably take the lame option and weld a solid roof back on.
I like the wagon too and it’s really interesting to think about the fact that this car and something like the 300zx and 3000gt rolled off the assembly lines in the same 1991. I know the wagon is a carry over and the others were brand new designs the in 1990. Dodge trucks were like this in the early 1990s too. Brand new but looking like it was 15 years older (at least) than other new cars.
Maybe it’s a perception thing but it seems like there hasn’t been such stark differences in the past 15 or so years. Like everything available now looks like it “fits” together, even though a lot of stuff is riding on pretty old platforms now (looking at you again Dodge). Can anyone think of other of other examples when there was such a stark contrast in what “new” cars you could buy?
I almost clicked on the F-100 as I had a one with 390 V8. Then I saw the missing roof.
Fix the wagon for a better vehicle.
Poll still isn’t showing up…but family truckster by a country mile, even if it doesn’t run. It’s a wagon, it’s got wood, and it’s got a V8. A wonderful piece of Americana, if you will. Hopefully no deceased relatives have been hauled on the roof. Hop in gang, we’re off the Wally World!
This is the toughest Showdown yet, for the opposite reason than usual. Normally, I wouldn’t thouch either of the options with a 10 foot pole, which makes the decision a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. This choice is a win-win. The survey isn’t popping up for me, so I’ll take both!
I’m trying to think of a situation in which I would want either one of these, even for free. I’m not coming up with anything.
man, the wagon is not really worth fixing, but it clearly is the better ride for most days. Unfortunately the 91 Fords had a lot of one or two year old only thing like transmissions and interior bits, so it realy is a toss up. had the 69 not had it’s roof removed and it were confirmed that it is a 300 straight six, then it would be a no brainer. someone’s rat truck wet dream is often not that appealing.
Long Roof > No Roof
Another vote for the wagon. Fixed, it’ll be a comfy cruiser to bring the wood to Radwood in while the F100 would be a much rougher ride to distant shows.
The truck is cool with the roof thing. I agree, the Webasto option is awesome, but they stopped making aftermarket sunroofs 2 years ago 🙁
I would totally do some kind of sunroof thing with that truck, so that’s the one I picked.
They beat the Dakota convertible by 20 years!
The limits of my love for trucks stop somewhere short of taking a sawsall to body panels.
Man.the miles we put on our wagon and metric tons of stuff we hauled in it. It just didn’t care. Empty or fully loaded, just cruised along. Also, I could probably fix the head gasket without blowing things up. Welding a roof on.. not so much.
My late father was a Ford wagon man, and I spent too much time and money trying to keep his 88 Country Squire (a steelside with a carbureted 351!) up and running. I love those beasts. I think you see where my vote went.
As for the head gaskets, the 5.0 Ford is easy to find, easy to work on, and more importantly, easy to hop up. If the heads have to come off anyway, a set of Explorer heads (or better) and some careful eBay-ing could make that thing way more entertaining than it has any right to be.
This is probably the toughest one yet.
Wagon- Look at those fold away seats! That merits some serious inspection, and would probably be the highlight of any family road trip. You could fix the head gasket, or swap with something with less mileage for probably not a fortune, provided you had the space and the time. This thing could be outstanding, even if I’m not a fan of the wood panels
Truck- 3 on the tree! No roof! Not going to lie, I think think this could be the perfect beater truck to haul anything. It doesn’t really need any work, unless you really felt the need to weld in a roof panel, or install a frame with a canvas snap top, which would be be amazing to have on a truck like this. It runs, it drives, it haul (stuff, not ass). It’s great.
If I didn’t already drive a wagon, I think I’d be more tempted, but I’m still voting for the truck. It has heaps of character, it’s mechanically simple, and you could fix probably any issue it has over a weekend in your driveway.
I’ll take the truck without a vote in this case.
I live in Colorado, and 4×2 trucks are pretty much “useless” for anything other than work trucks. I voted people…wagon all the way. Fix the head gasket. If head or block is broke, use it as an excuse to engine swap in something more modern. 5.4l from a 6-10 year newer pickup perhaps? With a better cam? Junkyard special!
I’m far more comfortable doing mechanical repairs than body repairs. And isn’t a truck really just a wagon with its roof and some seats removed? That Squire has just been promoted to my White Knight.
$2k for a cleanish Panther still sounds pretty good, I’ve got a soft spot for the 80’s ones since my grandparents’ Crown Vic was the first car I loved, and it still shouldn’t be hard to find a decent, cheap 302 (assuming I botch the head gasket replacement on the first one or it’s done for already).
They’re two completely different worlds.
Having had one of each – well..my Country Squire was a ’67 390 – I can
attest to the utility of both but they’re not the same.
As for these two…I’m going with the F100.
Bulletproof utility.
The quiz isn’t coming up but Truckster all the way.
Engine swap. Fix. I don’t care that is amazing. The world needs more 10 passenger wagons.
Agreed.