Vintage Ford Trucks: The Next Hot Collectible?
If industry insider predictions come true, your old truck might soon be hauling more than hay.
Ford trucks signify a lot of things to us Americans. They’re tough, durable, and iconic. We rely on them every day to safely transport us around town, haul our families, and tow our trailers. And this has been the case for decades now, almost as long as the automobile has existed on this earth. But there’s one thing we haven’t really thought of our trucks as representing. And that’s a sound investment.
But that’s exactly what a number of insiders think they’re about to become. Specifically, vintage Ford trucks. Bloomberg recently spoke with Pete Fischer of RM Sotheby’s auction house, who is among the many that believe these classic rides are the next hot thing in the collector market.
And there’s some compelling evidence to back up that belief. To the point where you might want to start thinking about buying that vintage Ford truck you’ve been eyeballing all these years before it’s too late.
The idea makes sense. It oftentimes takes decades before classic vehicles become blue chip collectibles. But slowly, trucks are beginning to pop up in collector’s garages.
“We’ve noticed that collectors with relatively larger American collections begin to add a few pickups for nostalgic purposes once they’ve acquired the key cars in their garage,” Fisher said. The appeal is obvious. Vintage Ford trucks carry the same iconic styling of their passenger car brethren. They’re cheap and easy to work on, and parts are readily available.
Of course, Ford isn’t the only choice on the vintage truck market. But there are, of course, plenty of reasons to believe that they’re the best investment of the group.
‘The Ford F-Series is essentially an American institution.’
“Ford has [produced trucks] the longest, since the days of the Model T, and introduced a V8 engine before both Chevrolet and Dodge,” Fisher said. “There is certainly a collector base for vintage Chevy pickups as well, while Dodge examples were not as popular until the 1970s…but the Ford F-Series is essentially an American institution.”
Fisher credits the second gen F-100 (1953-1956) as the most desirable right now. But as we’ve seen recently, ’60s and ’70s era Ford trucks carry a ton of appeal. And while the values of those models have certainly risen in recent years, they’re still very much affordable when compared to your average auction target. But if recent trends hold true, that might be getting ready to change.
