1979 Ford F350 4x4 Lariat Supercab Truck - Original California Survivor - RARE!

Ford F-350 1979 Description

Gorgeous California manufactured, California Plated 1979 Ford F-350 4x4 Lariat Supercab Survivor with 86,976 original miles.
If you know how rare these are, you know what a find this is. It took me six years of looking hard before I found this one. I've owned her for 5 years and have never seen another one on eBay.
This truck was purchased and built to order in 1978 and delivered in 1979. The owner was a pilot in Los Angeles. He bought the truck to keep in his airplane hanger in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains at Lake Almanor where he would fly his private plane in from Los Angeles for vacations and then go camping in the truck from there. That's why this 40 year old truck has so few miles on her. The truck was always stored in the airplane hanger when not in use.
I have the Marti manufacturer research report on this truck which alone cost $300 and six months to get after going through original Ford manufacturer production data from 1979. It comes framed and includes the door data plate, a copy of the original window sticker showing custom options, and unique build data.
To give you an idea how unique this truck is, from the research report, of the:985,105 1979 F Series Ford Trucks, only1,682 of those were F350 Supercab 4x4 Trucks. Of them,1,552 came with the 400-2V engines. Of those,885 had a C-6 automatic transmissions21 of them were painted Dark Blue Metallic / White. Of them,9 had Blue Knitted Vinyl Bench Seats.1 of these was ordered with the Ranger XLT Lariat PackageThis is that truck.
Truck Trim levels in 1979 in order from lowest to highest were:RangerRanger ExplorerRanger XLTRanger Lariat
This is a Ranger Lariat with a full sized 8 foot bed. Of the approximately 1 Million trucks ford made that year, only a small handful of F350s were made in the highest end Lariat trim. The 350s - especially the 4x4s - were almost all ordered as work trucks with a lower trim level. Of the 885 Ford F350 4x4 Supercabs made with automatic transmission (less than 0.1% of trucks), only a small percentage were Lariat trim level, and only a small percentage of those were California originals. This is likely the only one, and very likely the only survivor if there were any others.
I can count on one hand the number of Lariat level trim F350 4x4s I have ever seen anywhere in over 10 years of looking. This is the only one I have ever seen from California. Google it and go back as far as you can find - good luck. This truck is 1 in a million - literally.
1979 was the first year of the Lariat level trim (so you won't find a twin '78 which was the other year they made this body style) and 1979 was the last year for the great body styles of the 60's and 70's.
I've been on the fence about restoring this truck since I've owned it and never pulled the trigger. It's time to pass that decision along to someone else. She's in such good shape with just the right amount of character for her age that I could never bring myself to do it - although she would be even more of a jaw-dropping knockout with a refresh. While I've had the truck I've put her to good use, as you can see in the pictures. She isn't perfect, has a few dents and old paint - looks like a touchup in a couple places from many years ago. Pretty much the only thing I've done is clean her up, add new rims and tires (BFG TA / KO 2s) and replace the locking 4x4 hubs with super-rare new old stock originals (good luck finding those too). Dropped a rubber mat in the bed to prevent any further wear and tear there as well.
As far as I can tell, everything works except the gas tank switchover to use both tanks. Don't know why that doesn't work and didn't need both tanks so never bothered to fix it. The engine is original. The truck has A/C. This is not a restored truck and it's not in mint condition. It is in great condition for its age an gets comments at every stop light. It would be an easy restore project or just keep it with the 40 years of character she shows.
If you don't plan on bidding, thanks for looking and sharing my love of old Ford Trucks - especially this one.
I have the clean title out and ready to sign over to the winning bidder. Good luck, have fun and I hope she goes to a good home.


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