
Click Here to read all about this Ford Roaster and to view other pictures.
Source: hemmings.com




This
1959 Thunderbird is described as “ready to drive” by it’s owner/seller.
It’s located in Brentwood, New York and is up for sale here on eBay, where bidding is just over $4,000 with no reserve.
The
Thunderbird was marketed as a “personal car” when it was new; this one
definitely fits that description! If you look closely at these first two
pictures, you’ll find a few “personalized touches” that may not be to
everyone’s taste, although they don’t bother me. You can see both some
white and teal pinstriping that looks to be the real thing and late
model Thunderbird wire wheel covers. However, the car really looks nice
in the two-tone teal and white. I suspect the 23,789 miles are the
second trip around, but you never know.
I
don’t think I’ve ever seen pinstriping on a door edge before. But look
at the great interior! And if I’m not mistaken, that rubber
weatherstripping looks to be either new or in really nice shape.
Although
I admire the safety attitude of someone that would fit brand new seat
belts, I think I would look for some more period looking fitments in
teal like this set.
And yes, the console is supposed to be teal as well, but I’m guessing
the owner substituted a better condition black one for the original
teal. I do see some nice clean detailing and good rubber here as well.
Unfortunately,
the seller didn’t include any under hood or under car pictures. I hope
they look as nice as the exterior and interior do. The seller does
mention that the brakes, exhaust, spark plugs and wires are brand new,
and it does mention air conditioning in the listing, although nothing
else is clear. Perhaps a pre-purchase inspection is in order? This looks
like a pretty good car, but I’d want to know more before bidding. How
about you? If it’s as nice underneath as on the outside, would you be
interested?
I
don’t think I will ever get tired of all the great old farm trucks that
seem to be coming out of barns all over America. From pick ups to
flatbeds to dump trucks and more, these are great pieces of American
iron that were almost always well cared for by small farm farmers who
needed to preserve their investments in the machinery their work relied
on. They often have low miles on them, having spent much of their time
just going back and forth to town or from farm to grain mills or other
day to day journeys. Even in areas where vehicles usually rust away from
road salt and snow, farm trucks seem to have survived pretty well.
Very
clean dashboard. How is the seat though? F-5’s are 1 and 1/2 ton trucks
that in 1949 were offered in standard and cab over configurations. You
could get either the 226 ci or the 239 ci flathead V-8 (a six cylinder
engine was not available, at least according to the sources I have
found) and either a 3 speed or one of two different 4 speed
transmissions were available drivetrain choices.
The
seller says that all the trim is present, the glass is good (not cloudy
as so often is the case with old trucks) except for a broken wing
window. Not much rust is visible. This last picture, a bit muddy, does
show a pretty clean view of under one wheel well.
Seller
says this is a dump body, and also a stake truck, no picture of any
dump mechanism or description of it, so that part is a bit unclear. Does
it run? How are the brakes, electrics, clutch, etc.? No clues in this
very sparse ad. Which engine and transmission it has are also not
mentioned, and will have to be learned about by calling the owner.
Here’s
a similar F-5 in more or less restored form. The asking price does seem
quite a bit too high at $6,000, even with its very low miles and clean,
original appearing condition. Unlike pick up trucks, you can’t use an
F-5 for everyday cruising, so the market for these bigger trucks is much
more limited, and the cost to refresh or restore the bigger trucks is
much greater too. These trucks have plenty of fans, and this is a nice
looking truck, so I hope someone out there will be getting it back on
the road sooner than later.