The 1948 Ford F-1 has a three-speed manual transmission with a floor shifter.
CROMWELL — It was 77½ years ago when Ford introduced its popular and enduring F-Series line of pickup trucks. Over the decades, more than 41 million have been built and sold, making it the second best-selling vehicle in history behind the Toyota Corolla car.
Harold “Hal” Johnston of Cromwell spends his free time driving in what a clever magazine headline writer once dubbed the “past lane” in his first-year 1948 Ford F-1 half-ton model. The F-1 lasted through the 1952 model year.
Johnston’s F-1 is Meadow Green in color. It’s powered by a six-cylinder, flathead engine and has a three-speed manual transmission with floor shifter.
Harold “Hal” Johnston of Cromwell and his first-year 1948 Ford F-1 pickup.
“I’ve had the truck since December of 1973. It was originally a vehicle that belonged to the state soil conservation department,” Johnston said recently. “The person who drove it since it was new … was Howard Paddock. He had a farm here in town and worked part-time for the state.”
After 10 years of service with the state, the F-1 was retired and purchased by Paddock, who used it until the end of 1973.
“We heard it was going for sale and my father knew Howard Paddock from being in town. We talked to him and we bought it for $150,” Johnston said. “We took it down and got it inspected and so forth, did a couple of minor repairs that the Department of Motor Vehicles wanted at the time and we’ve had it ever since.”
The 1948 Ford F-1 pickup owned by Harold “Hal” Johnston of Cromwell.
Unlike pickups of today, the F-1 isn’t luxurious. It has crank windows and a plain bench seat. But it does have some noteworthy accessories in the form of a factory grill guard and fogs lamps.
While Paddock owned the F-1 for 15 years, he didn’t mistreat it.
“He used it around the farm. It had some wear and tear on it, but for the vintage and for what was around in those days, it was in pretty decent shape. He took pretty good care of it on the farm. Very little rust except for the fenders. Typical stuff. But other than that it was in good mechanical shape and we started driving it kind of like a second vehicle,” Johnston said.
The 1948 Ford F-1 is powered by a six-cylinder flathead engine.
The timing of the ownership transfer was propitious.
“I was a freshman in high school when I got it. Did some body work on it and repainted it. I took my driving test in it. All of my brothers and sisters all learned to drive standard with it. It’s been involved with a couple weddings, different parades,” he said, adding he’s met quite a few people who remembered a truck like it in his area. “Come to find out it was the same truck. They had worked for Paddock or had driven it at times.”
With the passage of time, the F-1 has not only appreciated in monetary value but has gained in sentimental value, too.
Owner Harold “Hal” Johnston has put a period license plate on the truck.
“It’s been kind of like part of the family. It’s a fun truck to drive. It’s reliable,” he said. “When my daughter got married five years ago, we had it at her wedding. She wanted it there, and had some flowers decorated on it and different things.”
The F-1 has been upgraded periodically. The cab and chassis got repainted in the mid 1980s, and the bed in the mid 1990s. The engine has been rebuilt as well. Johnston said it’s easy to operate.
“You rarely do much shifting with it because of its low gear ratio and the six-cylinder flathead has plenty of power, plenty of torque. It’s really fun to drive. It’s comfortable. I think it is very unique to still have one around that was the first year of the F-series. I’m sure the value’s gone up since we’ve had it,” he said. “I really don’t look at it as an investment. It’s just kind of like an old friend of the family at this point. It’s something we drive, take it out weekends and some decent days when it’s nice.”
The 1948 Ford F-1 is accessorized with a factory grill guard and fogs lamps.
Johnston also has owned Model T and Model A Fords over the years, but the F-1 is the vehicle that has lasted. And he’s never had thoughts of customizing it.
“I’ve always kind of been partial to the stock vehicles, whether it’s a Ford truck like this or something from the ’60s and ’70s,” he said. “They were built pretty reliable. They were built durable. Why mess with it? Why change it? It was good back then. The truck’s got 270,000 miles on it. The engine’s been rebuilt and so forth, but they built ’em to last and they just built quality, so why change that?”
The 1948 Ford F-1 pickup was the first model year of the the company’s enduring F-Series trucks. Ford didn’t adopt the F-150 name until the 1953 model year.
