[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

This old Ford has been living up here in Nowhere, Minnesota for something like 10-years now. I fill up the tank, pull the positive terminal connector off of the battery, and walk away from it early every November after hunting up here all Fall, returning in May/June to hook the battery back up and to start driving it again. It sits outside here all winter (& we're and hour and a half west of Frostbite Falls in what can only be described as a brutal winter climate). I did have to put some tires on it last Fall, but otherwise...not much attention gets paid to it.

I had read somewhere recently online that pickup trucks made in this country in the mid-to-late 90s thru the early 2000s were desirable again because they did not have any computer screens in them, only simple switches to control all of their functions. This allows them to age more gracefully evidently?

My brother beat me up here by a few days (a week or so) and he got bored (to windy and cool to fish). His personal vehicle is also a Ford truck (much newer and much bigger) so he has a soft spot for such things (he even owned a '97 F150 back when these units were "new"). Anyway... he always takes the time to keep his own vehicles pretty shiny (as a matter of personal pride of ownership, which I perfectly understand) and since he was bored and patiently waiting on my arrival, he made my old truck something of a pet project.

The newer tires last Fall really helped this old truck anyway (much-taller than what was on it previously [it was badly gearbound before] and a better fit to the 4.6 V8 & 5-speed gearset it came with). It never fails to amaze to me what a little polishing compound, a buffing wheel, and some elbow grease will do for something like this. He even stripped the original rims and repainted them (they were getting pretty rusty) and thoroughly cleaned out the interior (including all of the spider webs that tend to accumulate over the winter months).

I paid $1,800 for this truck (from an airline pilot buddy I knew from church back in 2016) and gave it to my father-in-law here so he could finally have a decent 4x4 truck for life here on the northern frontier (his previous truck was a 1989 2-wheel drive F150 that completely rusted out). Sadly, he passed in 2020 so it became mine again. Probably the best $1,800 I've ever spent on a vehicle btw.

This old truck still drives like it did when I first took possession in 2016. Mileage is unknown (odometer quit at 160k miles) but I'd guess it's somewhere around 200k. It still has its original clutch and original driveline and the interior still looks as good as the exterior. The AC still blows ice cold (I did have to service that a few years ago).

I've never really been a Ford guy but this one's making me a believer.

Last edited by Lloyd3; 06/21/26 10:34 PM.