OT; The Big Three

Today in the presence of two gentleman, (well maybe one gentleman and a Dodge truck owner) Anyhow the other guy and myself being Ford truck owners, and our good Dodge friend made a few off color remarks about Ford trucks.

I turned to the other Ford owner and said, "Ford have hired a man to place another wheelbarrow load of soil over old Henry's grave. Seems Henry is laughing so hard these days, he keeps vibrating the soil off his grave."

As a former GM employee I can FULLY appreciate the humor here...

Thanks for a good laugh Hugh!

Bob

Bob: I notice I made a typo, actually what I said was a wheelbarrow load per day.

I've never had great brand loyalty to trucks, since IH stopped building those pickups with I beam front axle and those nice long front leaf springs. They rode better than any heavy pickup the big three sold.

Yes indeed Hugh!

I had a '68 IHC 3/4 ton back in the early 70's. Aside from its thirst for gas it was a good - and a very nice riding - old truck.

I learned to drive in '56 IH pickup and that bassard would beat your kidneys out! Fifty two mph was all she'd do. I tore the hide off the back of my ankles more times than I care to recall because the seat rails stuck out like skinning blades and if was below 40 degrees, you might as well plan on jumping or pulling to get it started. But even at that....it was a credit to anything Ford ever built.

Mine was just the opposite. It would always start - even down to -20 deg.

What I DIDN'T like about my IHC were the brakes - they were marginal at best. (It did not have power brakes...)

It was OK empty. But with a load in the bed or pulling a trailer making a quick stop was terrifying. I'd have to grab the bottom of the steering wheel then stand on the pedal for all I was worth to slow it down.

I was brought up a GM man and I own all GM's. Well all GM till we sold my wife's Malibu and bought a Mini Cooper S. I was watching stocks when everyone else was bailing out and Forf (F) caught my eye. They were in the best financial position of the Big Three and I bought some at $1.90. I pulled out a little early, but still made profits. It is now at a little over $6.00. GM and Chrysler cannot even come close with the % gain of Ford. I may buy a Ford the next go round.

Charles

Bob: The whole 4 of them had better farm trucks when they had inline 6 cylinder engines. My two Internationals, 58 and 65 both had the 264 engine. GMs 292 was a good engine. Ford's 300 was iron clad, and that old Dodge slant 6 was bullet proof.

My first GM was a 72 and I had 3 more after that. Friend of mine was a travelling mechanic for heavy rquipment, and he bought his own trucks. Bought his first one in the 60s, 7,200 GVW and traded every two years after that, went to diesel in the 80s. He drove a lot more miles than I did. around 1995 we were comparing notes, and basically decided GM nickled and dimed that truck to death. Just maybe it will now die. I know in the early 90s I vowed I'd never have another GM 3/4 ton pickup.

By the way, my Internationals were great starters in cold weather, and we had a lot of -20F to -30F. Back in those days I was driving a 1/2 mile to milk cows at 5 am. Believe me, I never walked, and I was never late. I wasn't allowed to take the car. We had a nice fire engine red Pontiac Hardtop which Marg. drove to her teaching job. One day in the summer I took it to the dairy barn. As I left the barn I followed the cows down a cow lane on my way home. I had 3 quart glass bottles on milk on the seat beside me. A cow turned around on me, I had to jump on the brakes, wee bit better than the IH. Anyhow, two quarts of milk hit the dash and smashed, plus the cow stuck her horn through a headlight. I was not very popular with the young school teacher. We never got that sour milk smell completely out of the Pontiac.