My ’58 F100 is a daily driver and my only vehicle, too. Well, I also own a Harley, but I use this truck for all my driving, local and long distance. I live in the Olympia, WA area now, but when I lived in the Scottsdale, AZ area, I drove it three times to Austin, TX and back… down to Tucson, AZ several times, and over to Albuquerque, NM twice, too. Living in the Olympia, WA area now, I have driven it to Austin, TX and back and for many road trips here in Washington, too.

I bought it back in April of 2017, and it looked just about like you see in these photos. The person I bought it from had swapped out the front end, which was from a 1976 Plymouth Volare. It has Power Steering and Power Brakes, which gave it a much better ride than the I-Beam that was under there, stock. He also gave it a power-train transplant and it now has a 351W (Windsor) with an AOD transmission (Automatic Over Drive), so it does very, very well on the freeways, too.

I have tinkered on it and kept it running, but also completed the interior; carpeting and insulation, the headliner, door panels, window/door gaskets, and the like. I recovered the bench seat and added seat-heaters, too. It has a radio in it, but that does not work. I’ve tested it on the bench, but there is something more than the tubes wrong with it.

In the last several years, I upgraded the differential (a 9-Bolt) and replaced the 3rd-member with a Limited Slip one. With that 351W motor, having traction on both tires is essential here in the wetter climate of Olympia, WA. I also added a ‘hidden hitch’ receiver behind the license plate and put the plate on a hinge for access to the receiver without changing the look at the rear. Lastly and most recently, I added back-up lights to the rear (none of the photos show that). This old truck did not come stock with back-up lights, so I found some “era correct” ones on eBay and installed them on the panel just under the tailgate.

The one thing I am VERY proud of with this truck is the flag. I have always flown a flag on my trucks, and this one just seem to ‘smack’ of Americana, but it also accents those rims/wheels, too!

This truck is solid, sound, and very reliable. It is likely that this will be my last vehicle. Quite likely! Although, I am pocking around at getting into a 1968 Ford Ranchero, but this ’58 does suit me well.

I am not sure how these images will appear, but the following is an attempt to provide a little back-story for each. I will use the filename of the image to help tie them together;
IMG_0409: This photo is in front of an abandoned gas station on the roadway between Santa Fe, NM and Los Alamos, NM. I lived in Scottsdale, AZ at the time, and took one of the road-trips to Austin, TX. On the way back home, I went up to the Albuquerque area and headed up to Los Alamos (we lived in Los Alamos years ago). I saw this old station on the way up there, and later that day on the way back, I stopped and took several photos/angles of the truck. It was JUST the right color, too!
IMG_1399: I retired last year and took another roadtrip to Austin, TX and back (Olympia, WA area), and was headed toward Moab, UT early one morning and the lighting and scenery just screamed “photo op’, so I stopped along the road.
IMG_0021: Last summer (2024) I snagged that old (travel trailer) from a neighbor and brought it home. I ended up completely removing ALL of the camper part, rewired the trailer lights, and registered it as a Flatbed Trailer. I have used it many times since, too.
IMG_0026: This was actually one of the original photos from the ad when I spotted this truck. Oddly, it was an ad on Craiglist, too. I bought is in April of 2017.
IMG_0503: This photo was taken in the summer of 2019 (I was still living in the Scottsdale, AZ area).
IMG_0055: No, the trailer is NOT sitting on my truck! Friends of mine were moving and the movers had parked this trailer for them to load the truck. There were already many other helpers there to load the trailer, so parking spaces around their home was limited and the roadway did not have much on-street parking. So, I eased my truck up under the trailer, and we all got a good chuckle out of it.