Tom Phillips’ ’63 Ford Falcon Ranchero
At the age of 66, my grandfather decided that he needed a new pickup to replace his aging Studebaker truck.
On Aug. 26, 1963, he went to Al Eames Ford, the Ford dealer in Antioch, Calif., and purchased a ’63 Falcon Ranchero. Not the standard 6 cylinder with three on the tree, he bought a truck with the 260 V-8 engine and 4-speed transmission, AM radio, single-speed electric wipers, upgraded interior, padded dash and backup lights, but no seat belts or air conditioning.
Six years later, my new bride and I flew to California for our honeymoon. Granpap let us use the Ranchero while we were there to tour Northern California. We drove it north to the Redwoods and then to a cabin on Echo Lake (near South Shore Lake Tahoe).
In the late ’80s, Granpap chose not drive the truck, so he gave it to his son, Buster. Uncle Buster and family used it to haul firewood and boats to and from the cabin at Echo Lake, as well as lumber, garden bark, gravel (which overloaded the springs), sack concrete and mixer. Not an easy life. During this time, Uncle Buster swapped the truck rear end for a sedan rear end for better highway speed and gas mileage. The truck was repainted metallic blue after an “encounter” with a rototiller, and the engine was rebuilt at 75,000 miles to run on unleaded gas.
About eight years ago, the Ranchero was parked, covered with a tarp, and only started and driven occasionally. Cousin Ted became the owner after Uncle Buster passed away in 1995 and intended to restore the Ranchero. He began gathering parts.
My first car was a 1930 Ford Model A Tudor, and I had previously restored a ’30 Model A pickup, a ’31 Model A Deluxe Roadster and a ’31 Model A Victoria and thought I was done, but my brother-in-law suggested that perhaps one more was in order.
I contacted Cousin Ted and asked him what he had planned for the “yard art” in the driveway and that I needed a project. He had seen my work, so after a bit of deliberation and my sharing of the transportation cost, he agreed to ship the truck to Texas.
During the time I was waiting for the truck to arrive, I surfed the Falcon/Ranchero websites for information. One site, http://63-v8-4speedran- chero.s5.com/registry.htm, said that Granpap’s old truck was one of approximately 135 produced! Wow!
The Ranchero arrived in Dripping Springs on May 13, 2011, and deconstruction began. The truck’s odometer showed 1,610.7 miles. It had turned over once, barely.
The running gear was removed, and it was put on a rotisserie that a neighbor built for me for the Ranchero. All glass, front fenders, seats, doors, bumpers, tailgate, etc.,
were removed. The only major rust items, caused by the failure of the windshield wiper seals, were the floor pans, so they were cut out and replaced. Dents were hammered out. The wheel wells were the worse due to the abuse from the firewood loading. The entire truck was stripped to bare metal and epoxy primed, minor dents were filled, sandable primer sprayed, and it was sprayed Acrylic Urethane “peacock blue,” the original color, in my garage. Bumpers were straightened and rechromed.
My only upgrades are the Monte Carlo bar, AM/ FM stereo and the Protect-o-Top bed cover.
Two years, one month and three days after arrival in Texas, the Ran- chero was back on the road. Note that the seats and door panels are original. The drive is great. Lots of power. Kind of like a Mustang with a pickup bed. I’m a member of the Capital City Chapter of the Falcon Club of America and the