Featured is a fine looking 1962 Ford F-100 Styleside Half Ton Pickup. The F Series for the Ford Motor Company has been a big success offering durability, performance and innovation along with plenty of options.
Ford made pickups long before the first F-Series debuted in 1948, but it was that first F-1 model that began a long tradition that has seen trucks go from farm working machines to family daily drivers. First introduced in 1953, the F-100 represented the peak of Ford’s light truck lineup.
The F-100 was a 1/2-ton pickup that was offered in a single cab body style with short or long truck beds. These truck beds were available with the sleek Styleside bed sides, or the fendered Flareside bed sides. Over the years of production, the F Series trucks were offered with a standard inline six engine, or an optional V8. Depending on the year, displacement for these engines ranged from 223ci to 300ci for the inline six, and 292ci to 352ci for the V8. Plenty of power options.
1962 F-100 Styling
1962 was virtually a carbon-copy year for Ford trucks, though minor changes were made in styling – both up front and at the back.
A keen eye will notice a slightly different grille for 1962 that replaced the Ford lettering in the grille with a single horizontal trim piece. The Ford letters were moved just above the grille where they would stay for almost 20 years.
The same two cab offering from 1961 carried over to 1962. These were the Standard Cab and Custom Cab. The Custom Cab had all the items found in the Standard Cab plus a few more such as an insulated headliner, arm rest on left door, sun shade on passenger side, chrome trimmed dashboard instruments, foam rubber in the seats, a white steering wheel with a chrome horn ring. The spacious cab, with its simple but functional dashboard layout and comfortable bench seating, offered a comfortable environment for long drives.
Although the overall styling didn’t change to any significance, the fourth generation introduced several innovations for the truck market. The two-wheel drive Styleside trucks featured a Unibody chassis with a single piece cab and body, but this design was only offered from 1961 to 1963.
The Ford “Wrongbeds”
What would be called the Wrongbeds were introduced in 1961. This is where Ford went ahead with a change from conventional American pickup truck construction. Ford body engineers built the cab and bed as a single welded assembly piece. The name they gave it was “Integrated.” as there is no gap between the cab and the cargo box. Ford’s reasoning was that this would provide a sleek and more modern look. This also reduced cost since there were less body panels and welds required. This one piece construction was also referred to as “Unibody” which actually not a Ford but a Chrysler trade name. The F-100 Wrongbed was another name for the F-100 Unibody.
Problems reported appeared to have a lot to do with the single wall between the cab and cargo box. The biggest problem reported with the one piece build included some body twisting especially with a very heavy cargo load. The Unibody couldn’t flex like a traditional pickup with a heavy load. If the body twisted even slightly you could have issues with the cab doors opening and closing properly or even opening and closing at all. In essence, the Unibody was never intended to be a heavy duty work truck.
1962 Ford F-100 Specifications
Standard engine is a 223 cubic inch inline six. The F-100 also packed as an option a more powerful engine, a 292 cubic inch Y-block V-8. Horsepower is 135 and 160 respectively.
Transmissions include a three speed manual with overdrive and a three speed Heavy-Duty Cruise-O-Matic automatic.
Brakes are four wheel hydraulic drums.
Suspension includes I Beam front suspension, leaf springs and double acting front and rear shock absorbers.
Three wheelbases were offered with the 1962 F 100. The Shortbed 114.0 inches..the Longbed 122.0 inches..the Wrongbed 120.0 inches.
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Reference material for this article includes..Ford F-Series : America’s Pickup Truck by William Scheller…Ford Tough : 100 Years of Ford Trucks by Patrick R. Foster.
The 1962 Ford F-100 pickup truck was a classic American workhorse that epitomized the rugged, utilitarian charm of mid-20th century automobiles.
There’s no denying Americans’ love affair with pickup trucks, both brand new and vintage. In the classic and collector vehicle world, just about anything with a cargo bed has seen skyrocketing prices in recent years on anything from early pre-war trucks to contemporary pickups.
Even today, well-preserved examples of this classic truck are highly sought after by collectors and restorers.
Current asking price range for the 1962 Ford F 100’s in excellent condition are typically in the $30,000 to $60,000 range. Good condition examples may be found in the $24,000 to $30,000 range.
(Article and photos copyright Auto Museum Online)