1966 Ford F250 – Jason S.

My grandfather purchased this truck new in 1966 off of Fords showroom floor. It was ordered with a 2” factory lift and AC. My grandfather was a lineman and covered from Idaho to California. This was his work truck for over 20 years until he retired from IBEW. The truck was then his daily driver until his passing in August of 1993. As a kid, we had several hunting trips in this truck and was always so proud to be able to sit in the middle between dad and grandpa. My grandfather was also a HAM radio operator so when we were done hunting for the day we could go up on top of the mountain with the truck and call back to grandma to tell her about our day. That was the coolest thing back then but now with cell phones it’s an everyday way of life.
After grandpa passed grandma just used for a dump truck to haul out trash. After 18 years, grandma handed this truck down to my father via grandpas wishes. My father used it for his summer daily driver in Gibbonsville, Idaho for 25 years . This truck has over 492k on it through 3 engines. The original 352 had a whopping 200k when grandpa rebuilt it. The second motor only made it to 70 ish thousand. Grandpa then went and changed out the motor to a 390, this is the motor that is still operating. This truck looks amazing but has definitely had its trials and tribulations throughout the years. As I said earlier, grandpa was a superintendent for Jelco when he bought this truck. 1st week the crew laid a power pole across the bed of his new truck. Then several years later him and grandma got stuck at Bayhorse lake in the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho for a week in the creek before help showed up. Before my grandpa passed, my uncle Ken and dad rebuilt the rusted bed pan/floor, did all the body work and repainted it. It was so cool bring in my teens going to Ken’s house each night sanding and mechanizing on this truck. Before my dad and uncle revealed the truck to grandpa, my mom decided to hand paint this trucks name on it.
For as long as I could remember grandpa called his truck “ol Henry” as you see in the pictures this old truck that was rebuilt with love has it’s patina but all in all still shares the hard work that a family does for family.
This year on my 51st birthday August 14, I got a call from my mom and dad and said if I get home from work before they get back that my birthday present is in the driveway. I was confused because they were coming to stay with me for the weekend and wondered why they didn’t wait to give me present at dinner. When I pulled up and seen Henry on a trailer in my driveway, I just froze. All of the memories came flooding in and I’m not going to lie, I cried like a little girl. I unloaded it and put it my shop and just sat on a chair for hours replaying all the memories I have had with my grandpa and dad. As I sit every night going through my LMC catalog putting my parts list together just to get them widdiled down by my wife and budgeting my purchases, I find myself thinking back of all the good times. I just wanted to share this amazing larger than life gift that has now moved to 3 generations.