Car Spotting: The Old Ford Ranchero Can Still Go

By Mark Weisseg

I saw this in St Augustine recently and had to wheel my rental car as close as possible to get a good look at this Ford.

The car was at an auto repair shop and by where it was parked I assumed it belonged to one of the employees. I loved the antique plate because that was the signal that the driver drove the car. I mean why not? No snow to worry about here and other than rain and the occasional threat of a passing hurricane, the car was perfect for the area.

Parking here is tough and I saw a lot of small cars because of that issue. But, to be tooling around in this cool old Ranchero brought a smile to my face. I scanned the lot for other old cars and I did see a few but they were boneyard ready where this one was road ready.

I really wanted to open the hood without getting beat up because I was curious if this bugger had the little six slapped engine or did someone make the switch to a larger engine at some point?
I noticed the cool wheels and some old bondo work. Folks, I never understood that one. That is you took the time to prep, slap bondo on, sand again, and at times use a little primer, but never finish. Why not finish? Or, is it better to have it look like a daily driver and you need not worry about foul play?

Either way it was a cool little car that I would lay odds had its share of heads, pistons, maybe a block or two thrown in the back. That was the joy of these car trucks.
They could not haul much but they could haul some. You would never get that phone call from a distant friend asking for you and your little Ford to help move to a new apartment. But, let me assure you that this entire area is beautiful and very unique. But, parking is a bit of an issue so you do see many Bike riders and plenty of smaller cars. I was thinking at one point how in the world did they drive the huge cars of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s in this area? But they did and they all survived.

One last item of importance, note where he is parked? Clearly he parked his baby right on the corner of the lot so that the thousands who walk, ride, drive or run past this shop everyday get a big eyeful of this really neat car truck of the early 1960’s.

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