Wearing more of an Army color now, this 1959 Ford F-100 half-ton Styleside shortbed pickup shows what could be Air Force colors under the skin. The seller refers to it as an ex-military truck and it sure looks like a solid one. They have it posted here on craigslist in Scottsburg, Indiana and they’re asking $7,500 or best offer. Here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for sending in this tip!
The third-generation Ford F-series pickups were the first to have a flat-sided bed, what they referred to as “Styleside”, as opposed to the previous years of only offering stepside, or “Flareside” trucks. But, those Flareside boxes were still available, as seen in this example. Still, the third-gen Ford pickups were fairly groundbreaking in offering a sleek design from cab to tailgate. These trucks also had a unique clamshell-style hood where the sides of the hood were integrated into the front fenders.
It’s pool or pond (Caddyshack reference #347) for me with the box, I like these Flareside/stepside trucks, but the new Styleside box would be nice, too. As you can see in the photo above, the cab and front fenders are also integrated for a smoother look than the previous models. The 1957 through 1960 third-gen F-series trucks were the first to have that wider box configuration, and they also went to four headlights in the 1958 model year.
Here’s where the Air Force blue shows up, once you open the door/s. The seller says that this truck is showing 11,213 on the odometer, and if it was a military truck, maybe that’s possible – although they say that it has dual gas tanks, so maybe it’s 111,213, and they do list that the odometer has rolled over. Still, this truck looks better than a lot of 1950s pickups that we see here. It has very little rust and has a few dings and dents. If this was an Air Force truck, I’d want to put it back to that configuration if possible.
The engine is Ford’s 292-cu.in. Y-block V8, which would have had 186 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. This truck has an automatic transmission, which I did not expect to see at all. The seller says that this truck runs and “lot drives”, which is code for bring a trailer with you. It sounds like it has new brakes and new brake lines, but it has been sitting for a few years. Hagerty is at $11,800 for a #4 fair-condition truck, how much would you pay for this one?
Looks like a decent example. There is potential here, the new owner could take this truck in different directions. I’ve always liked the Flaresides. I’m no expert on this generation of F-Series, but like Scotty I’m surprised to see an automatic. That would be real early for an automatic in a pickup, wouldn’t it? And not that it matters, but if it is a former military truck, I would have expected it to be a six-cylinder (with a three-speed) ?? ??
Um, I don’t think so. If anything, it’s an old municipal truck, with the yellow coming through. I think the color is more “Ma Bell” green, and the military would never have an automatic, I don’t think. The blue could have come at anytime. Still a great find, the automatic is a huge plus. I say that a lot because, I know some women that grew up in trucks like this, and want another, but can’t shift. This won’t be around long.
You could be right, Howard, maybe it started out as a town truck though you would think a town wouldn’t spring for the more expensive auto trans. I don’t think it’s an old Ma Bell truck, they would order a lot of trucks at a time so as new, they would get them with their color of choice and not a re-paint over another color. This is a neat truck and would make for a nice daily driver. If it actually was a military truck (which I doubt) I’d letter “Star Fleet Acadamy” on the doors for grins and giggles.
If it were an ex-military truck,that mean that it was driven carefully,
& well maintained – right?
Not sure how carefully they were driven, but maintenance was huge priority with the military. My brother was in the service in the motor pool, and when vehicles came in for major service, the entire drivetrain was replaced. In true gubment fashion, they spared no expense.
My guess is this may have been a civil air patrol vehicle given the color of the dashboard, which most likely was its original color.
Well first, FordGuy, ain’t the only Ford guy here. I’m not interested in the history of the trucks usage, I’m interested in the truck. The automatic, is quite rare, but had been available since 53. The 53-56s have always been the most popular, followed by the 48-52s, but the 57-60s are gaining ground, definitely the most modern trucks by the end of that decade.
Military vehicles were NOT to have brand badging.
Even with the Kaiser-Jeep M-715s…although they used the J-Series steering wheel and hub/horn-button…the colored plastic was replaced with clear, and the molded ‘Jeep’ lettering in the center was blanked out.
This is a preserved truck with a green paint job. I’m not even sure that Ford had a military contract in those years.
No military automatic until the HumVee.
I drove many, many automatics in the Air Force in the ’70’s.
Purchased through supply channels?
Or, locally?
I did my Navy time in the ’80s, and while there were civilian-spec vans and pickups, nothing in khaki or desert-brown, came through with an automatic. MWR 15-seat vans, of course, had automatics.
There’s many, many, local variants. Long after the M-151 Mutt had been obsoleted by the forward services, NAS North Island had several around – gofer vehicles. Drove one, briefly. Loved it.
It does point out the vagaries of military-fleet procurement.
I stand by my point: No truck that was “ex-military” would have chrome FORD badging on it.
Military trucks always have a Military plate in them
Chipping in with my speculation. The dash and door interior look like factory applied paint. If I recall the Air Force trucks had yellow lettering. So yellow peeking thru might be numbers
But, wouldn’t there be some sort of plate indicating the military connection, maybe in the glove box?
In any event it’s got patina :) That’s what matters.
Must’ve have had a crap load of numbers, there’s yellow poking through everywhere lol.
Point well taken.
See the Ford emblem on the side of the hood? I have one hanging up on the wall in my shed. Mine is a little different. It is shaped like an arrow and it has “F100” in place of the gear and lighting bolt . I always thought it was from a 59, but now I’m not quite sure.
Sounds like a 60 emblem.
A friend had one this era. His had single headlights instead of the duals so I’m assuming 1957? It was a long bed style side. He took the engine and transmission out of a ’64 Thunderbird, 390 and FMX and put it in it. He also lowered it. I really liked the truck. He sold it and the guy shortened it to a short bed step side. I liked it much better as a lowered long bed.
I spent twenty years in the Air Force. My first radar shop had a 68 Chevy shirt bed six cylinder with three on the tree. I was there for over three years. It went in for an annual service when they did lube oil and filter. It spent the first three or so years as a security police truck so it had a hard life before our radar shop got it. That sounds like BS that a motor pool would replace the drivetrain regularly. Our shop in Germany had a 74 international with V8 and the truck had been seriously wrecked at some point. It drove crooked down the road. InCalifornia our radar shop had a ford ranger. In England our shop had an old dodge telephone truck. When we would check out a vehicle to make a run to Heathrow or Gatwick airport we got a Chevy suburban which was nearly impossible to park in the multilevel parking garage. One time I drove a dodge six pack from Georgia to New Jersey which was probably the farthest that vehicle had ever been. The Air Force would rotate the vehicles so when new they went to an organization that put a lot of miles. The radar shops that I was in would always get the old vehicles because we put few miles on them. Probably the only low mileage vehicles sold off were specialty vehicles like a telephone truck. All were maintained much better than the average civilian vehicle but they did always sit out in the weather.