Tow Ready Classic: 1972 Ford F-250 Camper Special
These classic Ford trucks have great looks, but this Camper Special has more than meets the eye. Factory optioned for towing a camper of your choice, the seller says you can “drive to China and back” in this old Ford. With a charming appearance, and solid body and chassis, this F-250 is bid up to $1,975 with the reserve not met, or the buy it now option is available for $8,500. Check out this neat truck here on ebay out of Boynton Beach, Florida.
At the heart of the Camper Special is a 390 cubic inch V8 that is equipped with air conditioning, and extensive cooling upgrades compared to a standard 250. Built with the intention of towing, this Camper Special also has power steering, power steering cooler, power brakes, and a heavy duty frame. The seller reports that this truck drives flawlessly, and that the air conditioning is functional. Under the hood the engine bay is relatively clean, with little surface rust to be seen. All in all, this F-250 still appears just as useful now as it did in 1972.
Pleasantly original, the interior wears only a pull over seat cover that is not direct from the factory. Amazingly the rubber floor mat shows no wear, almost appearing as new. All of the dash components are in excellent condition, and the A/C console is flawless as well. The actual condition of the seat isn’t mentioned, but if there is any damage, reupholstering the seat seems like a worthwhile value for this very nice original interior.
Patina is tricky at times as many have varying opinions on what it is, and how to maintain it. The seller has “locked in” this current patina by using clear coat. For some this may not be their favorite way to maintain this look, but this method will lock in this look, while preventing the spread of rust, or further paint damage as time marches on. What remains of the original paint has a lovely shine, and actual rot seems to have missed this truck. The only rust the seller mentions is on the bed seam, which can be seen from the photos. This mentioned rust doesn’t appear concerning, and overall this truck looks like a very solid surviving work horse. With great classic looks, and a very useful towing ability, what would you tow with this charming classic Ford?
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Comments
What a great old truck!
Love me some old Ford pick-m-up trucks ! I like the originality of this one especially. No hoopty air cleaner, rims, etc..and the BIN price doesn’t seem all that lofty since these are coming into their own in the market. There is also a lot of support for these as well as OEM and aftermarket parts suppliers. Very cool truck. :)
Nice old ride. I still can’t fathom the price though.
That makes (2) F-250 trucks that have been through this site in a short time. Ford built good trucks in that series. My Dad had a ’71 that was otherwise equipped very much like this one except having the Ranger XLT package. And tough as nails I wish he would have kept it but it went down the road like so many other trucks he owned. He traded it for a Dodge Club Cab in ’74. Dad owned lots of Fords, Chevies and Binders, but he always had a soft spot for Dodge, and kept being drawn into that web….
Cool old truck just not a fan of CRUSTINA.
The power steering cooler was fairly common on many of the Ford V8’s of the period, and I always thought that its primary advantage was tearing the skin from you knuckles. Didn’t matter what you were doing under the hood. . . You could merely be checking your oil at the local fuel station, but if that hood went up you were going to be bleeding before it closed again.
I had a 1971 F250 Camper Special also, very similar to this but in gold. Midwestern winters caused the lower storage boxes to rot right out, and the front kingpins were so tight that the heavily boosted steering felt like full manual at all times.
I love the simplicity of these trucks whether Ford / Chevy / Dodge they all were built for one purpose “work hard “. Love this one especially being a loyal Ford truck man.
If DrinkinGasoline likes it…..I LOVE it!!! That guy’s a genius!
Huh, I always thought the Camper Special had the rear axle moved back. Guess I learned something new.
Also, unless the engine was swapped, this would be a 360 not a 390.
Seems like a clean truck, but these were going for $1,000 not that long ago.
You are right, there are circa 76-79 Camper Specials that do have the rear axle moved back and the spare stores in the pass side bed ahead of the r wheel.
Made for large slide in campers w lots of rear overhang.
Camper Specials were available on F250s and F350s. The F350s were the special versions that boxdin shows above. They had the rear axle moved back and the spare stored behind that big panel on the side.
Can you imagine a manufacturer tooling up for a special unit like that these days that sold in low numbers? Not a chance.
360 is i mopar motor not ford.
Also offered by Ford in trucks from 68-76.
JW
ford had a 360 motor way before mopar did ,, was the same lookin motor as a 360,, not real fast but a very durable motor ,, I had 3 of them at one time or another ,, they were all good engines
I didn’t know there was a bridge to China, that sure is good news, but its not showing on my gps. ( drive to China and back)
The 390 engine was available until 1976 in the ford f series trucks. I
I have a 67 F100 Ranger Custom Cab Camper Special that I parked 20+ years ago . It was originally from California and is all original with a 352 V8 and double stacked rear springs . Because of this listiing it will now get some overdue attention .
I have a 1973 F250 with a 360 it’s a camper special . If you offered me 12 grand I would turn you down sorry I couldn’t replace it for that .
This is my 72. Had a little over a year, sat in the original owners field for 16 years.
I had the same model bought new in 72. Put 310,000+miles on it with a slide in camper on it and a four horse trailer behind it for most of those miles. It had a factory 390 in it, auto trans. and no air cond. Sold it in 1983 for 400.00 for the truck and 400.00 for the camper. Due to Wisconsin winters it had doors and fenders that flopped in the breeze. (fixed with duct tape of course) It had more power than the chev. 2500HD I drive now, also with a slide in camper just a bit more modern and comfortable to drive. Got 10 MPG back then and get 10MPG now.
“…what would you tow with this charming classic Ford?”
I’d tow my 2008 F-150 to the repair shop.
“Rust free. Only a little on bed seam.” Then it’s not rust free, Mr. Seller, is it?
She’s a virgin, only a little pregnant.
Clear coat stops rust??