Odyssey International: Masthead
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The Garage

1965 Ford F-100 Pickup Truck

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
     
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