1996 Ford F250 – James M.

My name is Jimmy Martinez and this is the story on my
1996 Ford F-250. My grandfather who has now passed away bought this truck from the original owner in 1999.
He drove it mainly using it for his tree service business hauling fire wood and a chipper until right before his passing in 2007 then my mother (his daughter) inherited it. My mother and my father drove it very little and when the 2008 recession came and it became too expensive to keep the truck. Sadly they had to sell it because of course their children and food on the table were more important, I was 7 when they sold it. I always remembered the memories I had riding with my grandfather when I was
little so I set out to find the truck as soon as I was old enough to want to drive. Fast forward from 2008 to 2023, I was talking with my uncle at a family Christmas gathering(who I never would’ve thought would know the gentleman my parents sold the truck to) and he told me he knew where the truck was. He also told me the truck been wrecked so I was worried my dream truck would be totaled. I was very excited and he told me we could meet the gentleman later that week to go look at it, unbelievably the truck was only 40 miles from my house so I was flying to go see it. When we got there the gentleman had dozens of old cars and trucks around his house so I followed him through the snow and his wonderful maze of junk cars until he came to a black ford covered with an old trampoline mat, I couldn’t believe my eyes and was completely in shock. As I looked it over and saw the damage on the driver side he told me in the summer of 2018 he was loading a backhoe onto a gooseneck trailer on a slight downhill grade without blocking the tires and the truck rolled away jackknifing the trailer into the cab which broke the back window and side window out, as well as damaging the driver door and C pillar. I made a deal with him and brought it home with a big smile on my face and thought about fixing it so I could drive it again. At first I was gonna take it to a body shop but then I decided I’d take on the task of fixing it myself. I worked diligently for about a month when I had time until it was perfect, I didn’t want thought about fixing it so I could drive it again. At first I was gonna take it to a body shop but then I decided I’d take on the task of fixing it myself. I worked diligently for about a month when I had time until it was perfect, I didn’t want to make a mistake being that it was the first time I’d ever done any body work. I had to buy a donor cab and remove the rear corner from both cabs it was very slow going. The only thing I didn’t do was paint the cab since I didn’t have the facility for such a task. That was last September it is now August of 2025 and I’ve been driving the truck and absolutely love it I feel my grandfather every time I get in the drivers seat. I hope someday to pass it down to one of my children so they can enjoy it.