1972 Ford F-100

Pickup truck

8 - Cyl.

Manual

F10GRM42323

Gasoline

This 1/2 ton vintage pickup truck, named “ORANGE”, with its original 302 V8 and 3-speed column shift drivetrain, was purchased new by IRV SEAVER BMW of Santa Ana California in 1972 exclusively for delivery and retrieval of motorcycles. The truck proudly features entirely factory original and vibrant Calypso Coral paint, upholstery, interior, and original hand painted graphics advertising the motorcycle inventory Seaver BMW offered new. Their Dirt bike, Street, Enduro and Motocross line-up at the time included SUZUKI, BMW, BSA, OSSA and the three wheeled CUSHMAN TRUCKSTER, all of which are represented on the truck in ORIGINAL hand lettering from 1972. In the four corners of the bed are the original tie down eye hooks, rings and ropes with wire bound tips, used throughout the 20 years of service this truck earned its maintained keep from 1972 through 1992. On the tailgate, you can see a series of holes that served as mounting points for the loading ramps. Typically, a motorcycle only requires one ramp, thus one hole in the center of the tail gate? The outer holes served as a triple ramp system to facilitate loading and unloading of the CUSHMAN TRUCKSTER 3-wheeler, thus 3 ramps and 3 sets of holes were required in the tailgate. In 1992, after 20 years of reliable duty, the truck was ceremoniously retired from service as a delivery vehicle, and was presented to the service manager of the dealership as a going away present for his 30 year retirement.The service manager was the person who initially commissioned the graphics which you see. The truck changed hands several years later and has continued to demonstrate how durable the Ford twin I-Beam suspension truly is by being used daily as a work truck until 2005 and it now enjoys the opportunity to drive to car gatherings, get coffee each morning and basically just relax. Retired… Not a garage potato, but driven regularly. Hit third gear at 65-75 mph. and go all day, one hand on the wheel, left elbow on the door. Nicely geared. At highway speed, the exhaust hits a real sweet mellow spot. I have had the following documented maintenance done on the truck in the last year, with receipt log: New clutch, pressure plate, throw-out bearing, shifter lever to firewall knuckle pivot bushing, Intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, rebuilt both heads and valve train, rebuilt stock carb, new correct radiator, fan clutch, belts, water pump, timing chain and gears, freeze plugs, coolant hoses, pertronics electronic ignition, oil pump, oil pan gasket, all filters, new motor mounts, H/D gas shocks, oil filter change regularly, new front coil springs to establish stock ride height, alignment, drive shaft U-joints, new dual exhaust with right and left flowmaster mufflers exiting on a 45 degree angle forward of each rear wheel well that sound very nice in harmony when persuaded with your right foot (particularly mid second gear power band), four new tall Goodyear T/A heavy duty warranted radials (stock width G78-15) with aggressive tread design, etc. There are original factory chalk markings still visible on the firewall and inner fenders in the engine compartment, if you look around. Jack is mounted on left front inner fender in original bracket. The truck displays very nicely (proudly) in all its original commercial glory, bumps and bruises, original black vinyl heat pleated seating surfaces with visible tears in seams (I keep a moving blanket strategically folded and tucked in across the seat), hiding nothing. Original rubber one piece floor mat has lightning bolt motif in the center of transmission tunnel, shiny original orange paint showing through the voids. The rear bumper is the optional heavy duty factory diamond plate worksman step bumper with a trailer hitch and there are original optional Western mirrors on each door. The front bumper guards were also an original option and the rubber is very nice on each one. This hard working, entirely original hand lettered FORD truck, is a true slice of California Life, having never left the Los Angeles area since delivered new from Orange Ford in the city of Orange, CA and has been in California ownership since new with the original blue plates never having been removed. The front dealer plate surround has all but been broken away with the exception of the word ORANGE. Hence the name... On June 4th of 2011, this all original truck won the “GETAWAY TROPHY” for Best Un-restored pickup truck, at the FRIENDS of STEVE McQUEEN CAR SHOW held in Chino Hills California, at the orphanage where Steve spent a portion of his childhood. They put on a very nice show with some very important invite entries. Both trophies awarded this truck (one which is an early single barrel crusty carburetor mounted on a nicely finished wooden pedestal with an identifying plaque) are included in the sale, as well as the child’s miniature wooden push powered motorcycle shown tied down in the bed. This is a true “Runnin’ Machine” with a three on the column 302 that drives and sounds very healthy. For the vintage Motorcycle, Americana, and Truck collector, this is the one and the only Irv Seaver original California delivery truck. I’m sure there are plenty of 1972 F-100’s to be had, the majority of them more than likely returning to the elements due to rust, but this very dry and all original California truck is not to be duplicated. Some additional elbow grease and each inner wheel well will shine a nice orange like the rest of the truck. I will be more than happy to arrange an appointment for anyone interested, to see and drive the truck prior to auction end. The 1936 CZ going for a ride in the back, in the one photo, is not included with the sale of the truck. I get asked frequently if I would like to sell the truck, and in fairness to all, now that I have decided to do so, I will let the market speak for itself via ebay. You can own it, or just tell stories how you were one bid short... Take Care, Eric On Aug-26-11 at 13:50:44 PDT, seller added the following information: An afterthought on my part and a side note to some interesting additional history on this truck: On the passenger side of the bed, where you see the OSSA handpainted logo, you can see where the logo appears to have been "squared off" at some point in time. I was curious as to why, and through research learned that apparently Seaver Motorcycles offered BULTACO dirt bikes also at one point, in lieu of OSSA, and they simply placed an actual Bultaco self adhesive sticker, somewhat smaller in dimension, on top of the OSSA logo. The squared off aftermath of the OSSA logo is from an attempt by the dealership to "sand off" the portion of the OSSA logo peeking out from under the "new" sticker, so it would not interfere with the somewhat smaller BULTACO sticker applied on top of it. The BULTACO stickers on both sides were apparently intentionally removed at some point in time due to the lack of BULTACO sales. If anyone is aware of additional local history of this truck, please feel free to chime in, and with your permission, I will post it. All part of the lore on this truck... I have been told by more than a few people, during the course of having this truck at local shows and gatherings, that they vividly remember seeing this bright orange rig doing its thing back in the day, either delivering new bikes from the showroom, or picking up bikes to return to the dealer for service. Probably many a fouled 2-stroke plug frustration scenario or the inevitable improperly blended pre-mix fuel and the unfortunate aftermath?