The Chevy that was a Ford

Several weeks ago I was talking to my friend and former co-worker David Nelms, and somehow the conversation turned to their selling off some items from his late father-in-law's estate. Among the items was a one-owner 1968 long bed truck. For some reason, I thought the truck was a Chevy, but when I went to buy it, it was a Ford. That was fine, since this is the fourth Ford truck I've had.

The first one I owned was a monstrous 1976 F-150, black, with a stretch cab and lots of dents in the side where the former owner's daughters had learned to drive on his pine-tree farm. My 3 sons all did part of their learning to drive on that truck, but it finally gave up the ghost.

The second one I owned was also black, a 1990 Ranger that Nathan was going to trade in on a car, but let me buy from him instead. It was the one that had an oil leak and ended up burning up on the side of the road during our move from ATL to Epworth.

The one I own now was one I swapped for...BJ's Acura Integra that wouldn't pass ATL emissions anymore for a garish yellow Ranger that had been in an encounter with a deer. BJ's driving that one right now, but it has a mysterious electrical drain that causes the battery to go DEAD in a couple of days if the truck isn't cranked. Several of BJ's friends have expressed interest in buying that truck (I think because of its color), so we may get enough from that truck to pay for this truck.

This one is also a 'Ranger' but it's from the era when that still meant a full-sized pickup. In fact, I think this model was the precursor to the F-150, back when most trucks were just F-100's. It's not been cranked up in about 2 years, so it's at the shop right now being 'gone over' by my mechanic. I'm hoping that all it needs is new gas, some hoses/belts, etc. The battery, believe it or not, still had enough juice to honk the horn and run the brake lights when we were loading it the other day.

Thanks to Jon Clore for helping me go get this powder-blue beast, and to Chad Ray for checking it out for me. I hope to be able to haul things again before long!