Ford F-100s for Sale

Across six generations, from 1953 to 1983, the entry-level F-series pickup was the Â½ ton F-100. The F-100 replaced the 1948-1952 F-1 (and equivalent single-digit F-series). The F-100 was supplemented by the ?heavy Â½-ton? F-150 in 1978 as an emissions regu...

Across six generations, from 1953 to 1983, the entry-le...

Across six generations, from 1953 to 1983, the entry-level F-series pickup was the ½ ton F-100. The F-100 replaced the 1948-1952 F-1 (and equivalent single-digit F-series). The F-100 was supplemented by the ?heavy ½-ton? F-150 in 1978 as an emissions regulations workaround and by 1983 the new series was so popular the F-100 was finally phased out after the introduction of the compact Ranger pickup, which filled its payload niche.

Four-wheel drive first came to the F-100 in 1959 and it was discontinued as an option after the pickup?s fifth generation, making all 1980-?83 F-100s two-wheel drive. Ford shifted its sales emphasis to the F-150 and the F-100 ceased to exist at all after its 31st model year.

The F-100?s first year was 1953, Ford Motor Company?s Golden Anniversary. The new designation replaced the original F-series. These trucks were billed by Ford as ?Triple Economy? trucks, but modern enthusiasts seem to call them ?effies? or ?fat fenders.? The final year of the first F-100 sported a fairly noticeable restyling when the cab was updated with a wrap-around windshield, inline with passenger-car styling trends.

The 1957 model year brought a heavily restyled ?Fridge? generation that used substantially the same chassis. That generation, the second, lasted through 1960, and was replaced for 1961 was a more car-like cab and bed. Perhaps the greatest single change to the F-100 in these years was the debut of a factory-built 4x4, replacing earlier Marmon-Herrington conversions of larger-capacity Ford trucks that had been available since the 1930s.

The third generation was in production through 1966 and is often called the Unibody era, though the single-piece cab-and-bed styling responsible for that name was only available through 1963. The bigger change came in 1965, when Ford introduced its Twin I-Beam front suspension and the long-running Ranger trim package, both of which brough passenger car-like comfort to Ford pickups. The 352-cu.in. FE-series big-block V-8, available in cars since 1958, made its debut in the F-100 for the 1965 model year, where it was the first F-series engine of over 200 hp.

The third-generation F-100 chassis (the fourth-generation of the F-series overall) was retained when Ford trucks underwent their next heavy restyling, resulting in the 1967-?72 ?Bumpside? trucks. That same styling was bulked up and tweaked for the fourth-generation F-100, called the ?Dentside? era. Dentsides still utilized the chassis introduced in 1965 but with newly available equipment like optional disc brakes, galvanized sheetmetal, and a fuel tank mounted outside of the cab. The Dentside era also saw the first of intrusive smog controls on engines, making them more complicated and less dependable than the simpler, earlier eras.

The final generation of the F-100 boasted the first new chassis since 1965. Those ?Bullnose? generation trucks received Twin-Traction I-Beam suspension up front when ordered with four-wheel drive, but the F-100 was no longer available in that configuration, meaning all 4x4 F-100s have a solid front axle.

Drivetrains ranged from the venerable flathead and Y-block V-8?s of the 1950s and ?60s, serving alongside sturdy and economical overhead-valve straight sixes, to FE-, 335-, and Windsor-series V-8?s in the ?70s and early ?80s. The F-100 was also the host to the first V-6 in a light-duty pickup, when Ford replaced the 4.9L I-6 with the 3.8L Essex V-6 for 1982 and 1983. In the latter year, the V-6 was the only engine available in the F-100, as the diminutive 4.2L Windsor V-8 (the only optional F-100 V-8 for 1982) had been phased out.

Transmissions in the F-100 ranged from various column-shifted three-speed manual transmissions and floor-shift ?granny gear? four-speeds, through the Borg-Warner electric overdrive (1953-?72), automatic transmissions, and even four-speed-overdrive manual and automatic gearboxes in the final generation.

The F-100 lived on for a few more years in Argentina, where the last examples were manufactured in 1987.

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