Dear Ford Motor Company…

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Large displacement V-8 engine, 5 speed manual transmission,4 wheel drive, roll up windows with wing windows and air conditioning,

Leave the rest of your electronic garbage on the floor where it belongs, don’t even put a freakin’ radio in it.

Spartan is the word and the name.

You won’t be able to keep up with the demand. Guaranteed to sell millions.

I absolutely love this.

46 thoughts on “Dear Ford Motor Company…”

  1. Unfortunately, they’ll never build it. Sad really. Too many nannies in the electronic vehicles nowadays. Just heard they recalled 30k Mustangs because they had to reprogram the steering. THE STEERING! What the hell electronics do you need in the steering?

    • It’s a Drive-By-Wire electrically assisted rack-and-pinion. The “electrically assisted” part means it’s under software control.

      • They’re doing this for the side benefit of making it easier for the deep state to off someone driving down a lonely dark road in the middle of the night.

    • Former Ford fan here. Why fly by wire steering? With all the crap under the hood. there’s NO ROOM for a steering column.

  3. I decided to check the power steering fluid on the car. There is no pump. It’s electric. Was gonna raise the idle a bit,, no cable. The pedal sends a signal and magic makes the car go.
    Vent windows are a selling point for me. Kick panel vents were great, too.

    • Metal headliner … bench seat option … vinyl flooring (non carpet) and a bed liner already installed. Simple radio, even just AM / FM with a decent speaker. And heavy steel rear – front grille guard.

      Personally, I can drop the 4×4, my last two trucks have / had it but I rarely engaged it as careful judgement of road conditions removed me from getting stuck.

  4. The best part is that if you stripped out that useless garbage, you can sell the truck for closer to $12K. Look at the Toyota HiLux. Of course we can’t get the HiLux because of the stupid chicken tax from the ’60s.

    I know the goal is to make cars unaffordable and force everyone into 15 minute cities, but come on man.

    • Currently no regulations on rebuilding from scratch. I’ve got a few to do, including a K-5 for the Old Lady.

  6. I put down my requirements for a vehicle; daily driver. It was a bit more extensive than your list but not much. One big issue was ease of maintenance. I dont want to have to remove an intake manifold to change spark plugs/coils, or remove the wheel well liner to access the washer bottle.
    Federated systems, not total vehicle integration; electric stuff like steering and throttle by wire are fine as long as they are self contained and not totally integrated with other systems. Small displacement turbocharged engines are fine as long as you offer a nig hi torque motor as an option. Absolutely no electronic sound enhancement and dont make the factory exhaust offensively loud and raspy (Ford Mustang)
    I could go on…

  8. Did you read the reposts that Ford is developing tech to enable their vehicles to report OTHER vehicles that are speeding or otherwise driving unsafe and report that info to law enforcement?

  9. I noticed the bed was different. No gap between the cab and up sweep behind the rear fender well. Kinda cool looking. I’ve always liked the 70’s body with the extra seat in back.

    I have a 95 F150 that I use most every day. It’s an ugly beasty but it works. Every time I turn the key it starts. Rubber mats and peeling paint don’t detract. Crank windows, vent wings, 5 speed and a straight six. Down here in south Texas, the rust doesn’t eat everything. They are still available. Wonder if someone could make a living by resto-modding them like the picture?

      • A fool and his money…. I’d rather do the work myself. Even if it is tough and dirty, I have a some sweat equity in the project. And it’s the product of my ability, not my check book.

        I don’t understand the idea that if I commission someone to do work for me, pay through the nose for it, I can brag about it. It’s just weird. And it seems all the cable tv shows about cars is just that. ugh.

        • Basically, they took an old school bump side and dropped it on a new frame and powertrain.
          I buy an old truck to get an old truck. Not a reskinned new truck with all of the issues I am trying to get away from.

          Built not bought is still a badge of honor amongst car guys.

          Good to see you are getting far enough ahead to get some time to visit us STxAR. Hope you are done with your move.
          Be well.

          Leigh
          Whitehall, NY

    • That slabover side is probably a one-off cover that hides a bed that has rusted out. The fuel filler door is missing.

      I had a 78 XLT Supercab 4×4. It had the 400M, granny-gear 4 speed, 4:11 gears with a locker in the back and a spool in the front. It also had the factory 3″ lift and 35’s. I did upgrades to it over the years such as disk brakes all the way around. I traded it in on a 99 F-150 with 85k showing on the odometer. It had 185k on it. The bed on the 78 rusted away but the cab never had any rust. I replaced the bed when the truck was 11 years old, it was a problem with that series of trucks. The current truck is a F-350 Lariat 4X4 with a 6.7 in it. Unless it get wrecked it will be my last truck.

  10. 302 V-8 or 300 straight six, either one but with a coil, distributor and real plug wires.

    C-6 automatic or if you drive a lot of highway miles the E4OD overdrive clone of the C-6

    4WD with NPG 203 or 205 transfer case, manually operated

    Largest gas tank that will fit, one on each side if you live in wide-open spaces

    MAYBE A/C if fitted with old-style controls; make the heater core replaceable without dis-assembling the truck (have a 98 F-150, been there done that)

    Extended cab PLUS 8 ft bed with liner and 4-6 places each side for ratchet-strap hooks; factory hitch receiver with 4 and 7-way hookups for trailer lights-brakes

    • If you are looking at a Ford engine of 300 cubic inch range, the 300 straight six was a money loser for Ford – ran forever, rarely gave problems, decent mileage, not huge in the horsepower department but had enough torque to pull out tree stumps all day.

      Now you know why they got rid of it.

      • In stock form, they were a dependable engine, with fair at best mileage. We are talking 150 HP and 14/17MPG. That was stock.

        My Blue 87 was anything BUT stock.
        The block was +.030, the head was from a ’92 with a small fast-burn chamber, and the pistons were for a one ton dump truck. That combination, along with a decked block, yielded a 11.2:1 compression ratio. Stock was 8.8:1.
        The head was gasket matched, full ported, with extensive bowl blending on the short side radius. It also had Crane Gold Race 1.73 roller rockers, studs and guide plates. It was connected to a port matched factory 6-into-2 exhaust manifolds that connected to a full 3″ exhaust, with a 3 1/2″ Borla DIRT Modified muffler. Intake was a port matched Offenhouser Port-O-Sonic 4 barrel manifold with a 600cfm Holley.
        To say this was a snotty beast was an understatement. It absolutely roared at mid-range and screeched like a banshee at 6800rpm. If I had to wager a bet, it made damn near 300 HP. It also consumed petrol at 8mpg, IF I babied it. Typically, it got around 6mpg.
        That combo had problems on pump gas. I ended up changing the pistons to dished 351W forged slugs and replacing the valves with Manley Street Flo’s and Comp Cams double wound Windsor springs, CrMo locks and retainers.
        Unfortunately, that truck died a horribly violent death.
        I still have that engine, though.

        Leigh
        Whitehall, NY

  12. An older F250 extra cab would be a good equivalent, probably cost less even with a new engine

  14. I agree with the 8 foot bed. The 6 foot on my Silverado 1500 is barely enough sometimes.

  15. Don’t forget to skip the airbags, shoulder straps and captains seats. Plain ole bench seat and a crotch cooler vent.

    • with the steel dash and die like real men did back in the day !
      dad bought a 1968 chevy C-20 with the 292 six engine and 4 speed cast iron box. 3/4 ton model. new and drove it for years until he asked his brother to sell it for him. NEVER HAPPEN.
      uncle Ken found out it was a real truck and drove it into the ground
      over the next 20 years. bastard didn’t even change oil in it !
      dad being dad let it go.
      shame as it was a great truck until he got it. I rebuilt the engine back in 81and replaced the clutch at the same time. dad told other people how good of a job I did but never me. after the bed rotted away and they put a 70 something one on it, never looked the same. just as well, uncle ken would have never let me have it.

    • The old IDI 7.3, not the electronic injected Power Strokes. Didn’t have the power, but ran forever. Dead reliable as well.

      Leigh
      Whitehall, NY

  17. If I was to advise the new president on one thing it would be to freeze all the automotive regulations and requirements back to 2010. All the big improvements were made by then and now the car companies are spending a fortune in engineering and R+D on less than one % of improvement. Cafe frozen at 2010 level, exhaust particulates and fumes 2010, crash improvement 2010. No DEF, no crazy hyper expensive Federal testing for new engines (think $250,000,000) for one new engine.

    The hemi would still be a thing. Multi-turbo, direct injection, small displacement, auto stop/start, cam phasing, variable displacement all gone. And with that most of the catastrophic engine failures and maintenance issues are also gone.

    Spin

    40 year SAE member

  19. The simple fact that you can not procure a newly manufactured American made truck in this country with a MANUAL transmission is all you need to know about the state of the “Demographic”.

    The wife’s new “vehicle” does not have a single gauge… nor a dashboard per se. What it has is a very large cellphone display instead.

    I abhor the entire vehicle. It is a RAT. Should I be driving and say I exceed the speed limit by a certain amount, it sends her both a text AND email saying where, when and how fast.

    Only a matter of time before it sends that directly to the jurisdiction in which the “violation” occurred and a summons is directly issued. At least it would be issued to the OWNER and not the DRIVER per se. heh heh heh…….

  20. If Ford sold 1,000 I’d be surprised. That’s not what the average consumer wants anymore. Even if any manufacturer produced it, I guarantee it would largely be priced higher than what their target audience would be willing to pay for it. Hell, a stripped 2 door base model 1/2 ton starts around $40k, doesn’t matter who makes it.

  21. Every day, I miss my ’85 Square. No a/c. No 4wd.
    Did have a 350 with 2 4barrels on it.

    Miss it every
    single
    day.

  22. Hey guys…take a moment and google the Ford CEO. MBA from UCLA and he hates the evil Internal Combustion Engine. Thinks all the trucks are way too big and should be smaller and electric!! So far, the idiot has lost multi-billions on the electric scam but I’ll bet he doesnt GAS..he’ll stroll off to retirement with millions. And here is my prediction for the future: Buffet now has 277 Billion in cash…I think he is positioning himself to snatch up Ford when they go bankrupt. Or maybe GM…same kind of idiot running them into the ground.

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