Description
The Ford F-100 is one of America’s favourite vehicles, with nearly a million sold every year between 1948-1983, a very practical dependable work horse that was used as much for domestic transport as it was for freight, with a load capacity of half a ton. The ‘F1’ as it was called originally had the toughness of a truck but the driveability of a family saloon, which was the key to its popularity. The first F rolled off the Highland Park Production line in November 1947 with a strong in-line six-cylinder engine. As with most American cars the F-Series was updated and modified every year, so identifying them is relatively easy to an aficionado. A supersonic fighter jet called F100 was doing great things at the time, so Ford chose to use that nameplate on the half ton F-Series. A V-8 engine became available in 1954.
In 1957 the ‘Styleside' was introduced, a third generation F-Series with radical redesign which made it look more like a car and gave more space everywhere in the vehicle. The wheel arches, bonnet and truck body were all integrated into one box, making it more roomy and much cheaper to build.
The Vehicle we have here is the 1958 ‘Styleside' F100, its twin headlights differentiating it from the '57. The third generation gave way to the Gen 4 in 1961. This Left-Hand Drive vehicle spent most of its life in California, before being registered 392UYS in the UK in 2016. It now shows 127, 400 miles. It is fitted with the 223 Cubic inch (3. 3 litre), 121bhp 6 cylinder ‘Mileage maker' engine on a 110” wheelbase and 6' 5” flat bed. The engine drives through a three-speed column change transmission.
The Ford drives very well with recent service work to the engine and powertrain and is certainly easy to drive. This vehicle has had a recent body-off restoration and has a well applied white over sky-blue two-tone paint finish with dark blue waistline pinstripe. The entire interior has been renovated with new blue vinyl seat coverings with white piping, rubber matting throughout and a new headlining. Some extra switches and instruments have been added, including a temperature gauge and a central clock. On the truck bed new wooden side guards have been added, matching with the wooden bed floor lining, giving a new, hard wearing, and practical rear bed, and a heavy-duty tow ball fitted on the rear.
