The Garage
1965 Ford F-100 Pickup Truck
| Date of Purchase: | 8 July 1996 | |
| Purchased in: | Bandera, Texas | |
| Colour: | Gun-metal gray metallic | |
| Engine: | 352 cubic inch, V-8, 220 horsepower | |
| Transmission: | 3-speed manual, column shift | |
| Odometer: | 201,012 miles | |
| Options: | 8-track cassette / am radio Body side molding |
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| Modifications: | stock truck | |
| a.k.a. | n/a |
I’ve always wanted a 1965 Ford half ton pick-up truck. My dad bought one after starting a plate glass and storefront contracting business in the mid-1960’s. I was 16 years old, and even though there was a new Mercury Parklane in the driveway, my vehicle of scrounge for those high school years was that gun-metal grey truck. It had a 352 ci 220 horse V-8, a three in-the-tree column shifter and the all-new “Twin I Beam” front suspension. An optional $35 body length polished aluminum molding stretched from the front of the hood to the tailgate.
I used it for dates, cruising the strip and hauling garbage that had missed the trashman to the dump from time to time. It was one of the only V-8 pick-ups in town and after its work week in the glass business, I’d detail it for Saturday night junkets.
In 1996, while planning a cross-continental trek for an auto manufacturer, I spotted a similar 1965 model at a radiator repair shop just off the main drag in Bandera, Texas. It was blue but had the same options as the one my father had, so I left a note on a business card inquiring if the owner was interested in selling.
Excerpt from Sowerby’s Road Story # 49
Accomplishments / Credentials
| 1996 | road trip from Texas to Nova Scotia running on 7 cylinders | |
| 1996 – 2001 | On-going Rebuild Saga |