Ford's 10 Simple MYSTERIOUS Truck Decisions of The 70s

Do you have another mystery? Feel free to post it below!

To this day, I can remember dad ordering his 78 truck over the telephone and going through the options. When I heard him say “short bed” 5 year old me thought it meant to sleep in. I said “No dad, get the tall bed”. What can I say, I was 5-6.

The vanity mirror actually makes perfect sense if you remember the time. A lady driving,or more importantly owning a Lincoln would not have been that unusual. However, a women driving/buying a pickup truck would have seemed less likely. So the mirror was there for the farmers wife/girlfriend.

A co-worker of mine had a 79 F-250 4x4 300 6 cylinder 4 speed stick. It was a very basic farm truck he bought at a rural dealer. It had standard axels and lock out hubs 16" wheels 8' box. He absolutely beat it to death doing crazy off road stunts. I've never seen another 3/4 ton 6 cyl 4x4 but wish I had one now. I had a 78 F-250 300 6 cyl 2wd it was a great truck but wouldn't off road at all. The late 70s pickups were great work trucks unlike what is out there now. My 78 F-250 cost $3300 new. Thanks for the video.

I thought I knew a lot of things about 70s Ford trucks, but a couple of those things were new to me!

Thanks for the long video. Very interesting facts.

The biggest mystery about modern cars is why the hell do people keep buying garbage on purpose

I wish I still had my 77 F-250 camper special with the 460 built with a 4 barrel high-rise manifold and Edelbrock carburetor with this and that I could do a one tire fire burnout all the way up the road well into 3rd gear I miss that truck.

Here in British Columbia, MacMillan Bloedel ordered so many trucks from Ford, they came in their company colours right from the factory. I found the original tag hanging in an F-700, from Ford in Kentucky. It listed the body colours as; “MacMillan Bloedel Red - MacMillan Bloedel White”.

Fantastic video so much of what you've stated I already knew. I had spent close to 15 years working on and specifically restoring these trucks love them they're the best trucks ever made thank you for a great video

So glad I ran across this video. For years I wondered why my front end in my 78 F-250 4x4 had a different front end then most of the other F-250’s. I guess it had the snow fighter package. It also had dual factory batteries, so I’m assuming it was a camper special. Makes me feel bad as it’s long gone. I completely rebuilt the truck. I moved, and reluctantly had to sell it. Next buyer totaled it. 😢

I remember the radio thing. When you bought an aftermarket tape deck (a good one like a Pioneer Super Tuner) - they'd have adjustable knob spacing and spacers to accommodate that. BUT, we were broke, young, and tried anyway. Lots of filing and disappointment.

I had a 1975 F150 woth a 460, 2 wheel drive. Beautiful truck. Wish i still had it.

With the options like radios and vanity mirrors you need to remember that almost all of these were primarily work vehicles and business owners didn’t always care whether the truck cabs were all that pleasant..

Possibly the reason for the smaller gas tank behind the rear axel was for ground clearance under the rear of the pickup and spare tire location?

I agree, my father’s F250 4x4 Crewcab came with a 351W and it was a gutless pig. He spent half his time cursing the engine and often had to drop down into second gear and crawl up hills as it had no power.

The reason for the small gas tank is for the spare tire. If the tank was any larger you could not have a spare. Broncos spare was located inside behind the rear seat I do belive. You could also not get a 390 in 4x4 although everyones grandfather, uncle, brother and various family members had one or owns one. 360 was the biggest power plant for 4x4s until 1977 when they offered the 400.

You mentioned the F130...a guy near me advertised his truck for sale saying it was not an F250 it was an F260. Was there such? I assumed he thought this due to the vin

Thanks for all the cool info, subscribed!

One thing that got me was the Highboy only had a 360. From what I understand, the 390 wasn't offered for the Highboy. It's a simple and popular upgrade and offers better torque. I'm guessing it had something to so with smog and engine pinging under load which was a big issue back in the day.