Watch Roadkill’s Freiburger Reunite with His Old ‘65 F-250
Freiburger lets us in on his very cool nostalgia trip.
Usually, running into an ex can be all sorts of uncomfortable. But when it’s cars we’re talking about, reuniting with the one that got away is especially tough. Fortunately, that isn’t the case here. In this episode of Roadkill Extra, co-host David Freiburger is reunited with an impossibly cool ‘65 F-250 4×4 that he sold nearly four years ago. This is the truck that in his words “made me realize that you can have that kind of fun in an old car.” And luckily, this reunion is far more sweet than bitter.
In 2018, this F-250 looks absolutely perfect. It wears its half-century of hard work on every panel like a badge of honor. But it wasn’t always this way. Freiburger wrote features on the truck when he was the editor of 4-Wheel & Offroad and had it featured on the cover of 4×4 Power. “At the time,” he says, “a lot of people were not into the patina look or the patch-it-together-and-make-it-run look.” My, how things have changed.
And the look is more than just cosmetic. This truck is a road warrior that’s been lovingly kept on the road. Freiburger, who bought the truck for $800 in the ‘90s, says that the previous owner rolled it on a freeway on-ramp. He had recently replaced the stock 352 with a big block 390. So he got a new cab, hood, and fenders, and rebuilt the truck. As a result, the front fenders have larger wheel arches, suggesting that they came from a heavier duty Ford. The cab also probably came from an uprated truck. Freiburger points out that the battery mounted on the right side of the firewall was a feature on heavy duty models. F-100s and 250s had the battery mounted under the passenger side floor.
Inside and under the hood, there are tons of modifications Freiburger made, including a beer coozy he left slung over the shift lever years ago. In the cab, there’s a plate he made to mount a radio, some Autometer gauges he installed, and sound deadening. Other than a new tach and different seat cover, it’s exactly as it was when he sold it. On top of that 390, he installed a GM HEI distributor converted for duty on the Ford. Save for a new Holley Avenger carb, the engine looks just like he left it.
While he does admit “I really miss the thing,” the truck will feature in an upcoming episode of Roadkill. We can’t wait to see more of Freiburger reconnecting more with his cool old 4×4. And since he mentioned that he drove out to Arizona to visit it in another ‘65 F-250 4×4, we have a feeling that he and the boys have something special planned for his old ride.
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