1965 Ford F100 Factory 4x4 Very Original

The time has come to let go of my collection.

I was first introduced to this truck in 1981 when I met my first wife and her family. This was her fathers truck, he had bought it in 1975 from the original owner who had ordered it new in Valdosta GA to be his hunting truck. The original owner ordered the truck this way in 1965 from the local dealer, and because he lived in very south Georgia and you could not order factory air conditioning had the dealer install it before delivery. I would not be surprised to learn this was the only '65 Ford 4x4 delivered with A/C. My FIL removed the belt from the compressor for better fuel economy (ha) but told me it was still working until then. I have not tried to run it, and I expect at the very least it would need some freon to blow cold, but at any rate all the parts are there.

My father in law absolutely loved his truck and never let anyone besides himself and my mother in law drive it. I always had to admire from afar but did have the opportunity to ride in it periodically and it was always a great time. He drove it regularly until around 2005 when he developed medical issues that just made the old truck too challenging for him to drive. At that time it was driven into a shed where it sat for the next 10 years when I was finally able to convince him to sell it to me. I became its 3rd owner in 2015 when it was 50 years old.

It has been a Georgia truck since new and has virtually no rust. The main exception to that is that unfortunately the shed it spent 10 years under was a foot too short and the back of the truck stuck out that much, which was enough that in the fall leaves would fall into the bed and blow down to accumulate in the front of the bed in the passenger side corner. The bed side did rust through at that corner and to a lesser extent the front of the bed is also rusted in that corner. On the driver side between the cab and rear wheel some bondo work was done at some point and the bondo is separating from the steel (see picture). Other than that there is a very small rusty area at the passenger side cab corner where they all tend to rust. Besides that there is only surface rust underneath on the unpainted frame etc.. As seen in the photos the passenger side fender took a frontal hit but has been reasonably straightened. That happened in the late 70's when my FIL slid into a ditch on a rare icy night. The fenders for the 4 wheel drives are not the same as the ones for 2 wheel drives, but I may have access to a replacement if the buyer wants to pursue that. The bed bottom is solid 1/8" steel and solid as steel can be. It has been that way as long as I have known the truck; to my knowledge Ford did not build them that way but somehow I also think it's improbable that the original bed would have been rotted out in less than 15 years. It's got patina for days and gets attention wherever it goes.

When I got it I had the engine checked out and rebuilt the carborator, put in new points, replaced the gas tank and the original 352 V8 fired up and runs well. The engine was rebuilt some time in the early 90's. The brakes were toast so I had the master cylinder replaced & upgraded to a dual chamber setup and also added a power brake booster as well as all the rubber lines. I also replaced a cracked exhaust manifold, windshield and drivers door glass. The tires I had put on are take-offs from a military Hummer and have less than 1000 miles.The seats were also trashed and I replaced them with gray leather seats from a Lincoln Mark VIII.

I do have the steps for the bed side but they have not ever been mounted on the truck since I have known it. (see pics)

The truth is that I don't drive it much. I think I've put maybe 300 miles on it in the last 5 years, pretty much only as the recovery vehicle when I've gone kayaking. Now I'm downsizing houses and won't have a place to shelter it.

It's an honest good old truck and deserves a good home. You can drive it like it is or you could put a little money into it here and there but either way you would have a very unique truck. Ford didn't keep production records broken down for exactly how many 4x4's left the factory in 1965 but best estimates are that it was only around 800 total, and half of those were short bed 6 cylinder units that went to the government (mostly US Forest Service). That would leave around 400 that went to retail buyers, and again, a large number of those were short bed 6 cylinder vehicles. Virtually all of them were used as work trucks and lived hard lives. So just how many are left 55 years later? I can tell you I've never seen another one exactly like this one.

Just to be clear, this truck has always been a driver, not pampered but never abused, original and unmolested. I hope pictures tell the story. I also have posted a video on YouTube of the truck running & driving. (try to tune out my dog panting in the passenger seat). If you have questions or need pictures of anything specific just ask. It will need to be picked up from my house 45 miles north of Atlanta.

YouTube video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoeRyoMf2vE