New Addition to the Fleet: '67 Ford F250

Samuel Sheep just pointed out that it has been sixteen (16) years since I last bought a vintage vehicle. So, high time for another one, right? I've been looking for a pickup truck for a few months, because I'm fed up using the RAV4 to haul around building materials. We lost Amy Sheep's Honda minivan a few years ago, and never replaced it, what with the high cost of used cars after the pandemic. Now, with Quinn Sheep having done one to UCSC, we don't really need a huge people carrier anymore. Obviously, we could have bought a cheap 90s or early 00's pickup, but where's the fun in that? 

Instead, I wanted something with a high coolness factor that I can take to cruise night or cars and coffee, and also use to move big stuff around and as a backup work vehicle if I need it. I've looked at a lot of trucks on the interwebs, and, as usual, couldn't find anything I wanted and could also afford anywhere nearby. The Mustang came from Tulsa, OK for this exact reason. What I found back in 2008 was that your money goes a LOT further if you shop outside the SF Bay Area.

Sometime last week I found the truck that fitted all my most important criteria:

V8 engine not inline 6.....check!
Manual gearbox not automatic.....check!
No serious rust or body rot....check!
Capable of being driven home from several hundred miles away....check!
Doesn't need a paint job immediately or probably ever under my ownership.....check!
Clean title and current registration....check!
Located in California....check!
And most importantly, budget friendly....check!

Early on Saturday, Amy Sheep and myself saddled up the RAV4 and headed out to Bakersfield. Not a sentence you'll hear very often, since Bako, as it is known, is one of the armpits of California. Supposedly the "Nashville of the West" it's basically Methville these days.

The precise location was actually 271 miles from the Sheep homestead, but thanks to the lack of an (enforced) speed limit on Interstate 5, we were there by midday. An hour later I was heading home in the new-to-me 1967 Ford F250! The truck has a 352 ci V8 engine, 4 speed manual transmission and is two wheel drive.

The ride home was the usual white-knuckle fest, because the truck has the same sloppy steering the Mustang came with. If anything, the truck is worse, and it was a battle to keep it pointing in a straight line. Although I drove most of the way at 65-70 mph, I did have to pass a few big rigs and the change in draft when overtaking was enough to throw the truck offline. Still this time there were no oil leaks, no breakdowns, no overheating, and basically no problems whatsoever. Apart from a few stops for gas/the bathroom we drove straight back in tandem and were home before dark. 

As well as the steering, there are a couple of other things that need to be fixed - the turn signals don't work and there is no way to lock the passenger door, but otherwise it is a proper driver. Stay tuned for developments!

Steering wheel and dash are all original and most of it works

Bumble bee interior in surprising good shape

Bed is also in good shape

The V8 has the world's smallest air cleaner!

I'm not going to, but I reckon I could sell the truck in the Bay Area for at least twice what I paid for it, and it only took a day to go and get it...and some serious $$$ on gas. But it was super fun!