American Rodder Article 12/64 Pg. 1	American Rodder Article 12/64 Pg. 2	American Rodder Article 12/64 Pg. 3	American Rodder Article 12/64 Pg. 4	Jack Whitby Ford Ad.
Marketing	DST Conversion Marketing	Photo by George Cureton	Vintage Photo	Popular Hot Rodding Article 8/64 Pg. 1
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March 15, 2005

In an utterly amazing internet story of the right people talking to the right people who knew the right people, the lost has been found!  And it's in amazingly great shape!  A fellow from the Slick 60s Ford Truck forum tracked down the original F-100 XL in the eastern united states.  The current owner wants to remain anonymous and not deal with the many offers to buy the truck.  I will relate what I know, which isn't much, and let the pictures speak for themselves.

"The guy who owns it bought a thunderbolt and drove it until the truck worked its way though the dealer owners on some deal from Ford. If you notice one of the rear fenders in the original post had STU WILSON on the rear quarter. Anyway there is a long story of how it came to be the current owners. He even told me where the original owner is in the picture Jack Whitby.
He ran a best of 11.97 at the track and has street driven this truck with a cammer which is going back in it! The ladder bars are F800 tie rods! Depending how the truck reacts he would give the appropriate bar a turn, loading that side and make it go straight. The truck has less than 3K on the odometer and is in excelent shape. The rear sits on top of the spring pack. The front has 2 or 3 inch spacers. Lots of weight transfer and wheels off the ground which some of you have already experience I believe. I had a great day as this just came to be this afternoon and I will update everyone as to its progress. Glad its in tact and survived! "

I'm so glad that it has remained in tact all these years and will be put back on the street and track some time soon.  Especially with a cammer in it, this has got to be the most valuable '61-'66 Ford Pickup ever.

August 13, 2005

Some momentum is growing in this project.  The owner has vowed to get the truck back together and on the road and displayed.  He was recently contacted by a magazine who wants to do an article on the truck. To enable that, several Ford truck enthusiasts helped the owner wash up the truck and move it into the light of day for the first time in many years.  Pretty exciting stuff! I can wait to see both the article and more progress made on this historical truck.  Note the front end is about 3" higher than it would be with an engine in place.

December 17, 2005

On December 10th I was lucky enough to get to visit the truck in person and meet the owner.  What an incredible experience that was.  The truck is amazingly well preserved.  The owner was even more interesting than the truck, I was there for 5 hours and heard countless stories of his exploits in the truck.   The plans continue to be to do a preservation restoration on the truck, trying to make it look like it did in '63 while maintaining as much of the original paint and graphics as possible.   I can't wait to see progress being made on the truck and it's eventual display in restored form.   Since the trip a great deal of information has been verified / discovered with the help of the fine and knowledgeable folks at www.fordfe.com .  I can't thank those guys enough for their contributions to the project. 

				I even got to sit in it!
Door Tag - DSO starting with 84 indicates "Home Office Reserve"				Signed by Paul Hatton of Garden City, MI We will try to contact Paul to help with the restoration.
			The vinyl top is in great shape, the texture is called "Cobra Vinyl" and was an option on Thunderbirds of the same era.
Less than 3000 miles on the clock	With the original 427 the tell tail on the Stahl tach on at least one occasion saw 8200 rpm!	Knocking down this flange was the only mod necssary to install the 427 SOHC (cammer).	Frame Mods - Originally there was a tubular cross member installed behind the cut crossmember with the motor mounts, but it was removed so you could pull the pan with the engine installed.	Holes cut in the core support for T-bolt style ram air hoses.
	To maximize weight on the rear axle, a large battery, rear mounted fuel tank, and an unusually heavy spare tire (filled with water) were used.	Axle over leaf spring, and traction bar mount.	Rear traction bar mount and adjustment.