Dear Truck Trend,
At 64, I'm new to trucks. I was a sports car guy, from Scoupes to Celicas and now Mustangs. But how do you put an air-conditioner and a refrigerator in a Mustang? Well, one time I did squeeze a Christmas bicycle in one, a '99 model, and had to get my son-in-law to help me get it out without tearing up the headliner.
In 2009, I purchased my first truck, a 1989 F-150 4x4, 4.9-liter inline-six, five-speed manual, XLT, with power windows and some other baubles that didn't work. But I added air horns, a cattle catcher, driving lights, a headache rack, and a loud stereo system. When bought, Big Blue had about 186,000 on the clock. Presently it has 200,862 miles, and is scheduled for sale and delivery in about a week. The reason: A local dealer had a 1997 F-250 XL 7.3-liter diesel on its website for sale.
At the time, I was doing numbers on a 2013 F-150 XL, and when I got to $24,000, well, being retired, I got extreme sticker shock, went to the dealer's site, and found this one, called Big Red. I always wanted a 250, the truck I could not wear out. Big Red was an extreme mess, from ripped, torn, and worn driver-side seat to a quarter-inch of dirt and mud on the floormats and paint peeling on the roof.
The seat has been fixed with another layer of foam, two layers of black gorilla tape, and a top layer of gray duct tape, and the truck will get a camo cover. About the first layer of crude has been Armor All'ed off, and the roof paint job will have to wait for spring to get repaired. But that diesel is just unbelievable.
Big Red has been well-used with 134,000 miles on the clock, which I have been informed is just about break-in for a diesel. And I wanted those Big Boy cab lights, but with the XL, they are an option, so I've been rooting through my J.C. Whitney catalogs for a new brush guard and seat covers. Formerly, the 250 had been used by a contractor and has utility boxes and a rack on her, which will come off.
Looking at your January/February issue, I wonder if anybody else out there feels the 2013 GMC kind of looks like a new F-150 or Super Duty. I checked the stats of sales, and, wow, I'm impressed by how many F-150s were sold. I like the look of a Ram, and I do like the side rail boxes, under the heading of "Why didn't Ford think of that?" I just hope that, when the patent runs out, Ford picks it up and runs with it. Can you tell I'm a Ford man? The advances Ford has made sometimes cause me to phone the dealer for a tutorial.
Elmer W. Ingram Jr.
Glenolden, Pennsylvania
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the terrific world of trucks! Sounds like you are very happy with the F-250 -- and the work you've put into it must've been quite transformative. The new Silverado looks a lot like the current Silverado HD, but maybe other Truck Trend readers can give us their opinions on its looks. What do you think? Do you see Ford styling cues in the 2014 Silverado?
-Truck Trend
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have a question or comment about any thing you've seen on TruckTrend.com, please email us at trucktrend@sorc.com.