1966 Ford F100 Flat Bed

Chuck Most · 2025-07-30T18:30:19Z

One family, three owners. When Richard "Rich" Gillies bought a brand new 1966 Ford F100 six and a half foot Styleside, he had no idea it would still be in his life a half century later. His son Richard Jr. (Rick) bought it from him in 1983, and Rick handed it off to his son Rich III in 2009, when the latter turned 18.

Rich III has spent countless hours but not a lot of dollars keeping the '66 on the road. It's never been his primary vehicle, but it's the one that's stayed with him. And it's the one he's always had the most fun driving... which is saying something when you consider he's owned a Shelby GT500, a CTS-V, and a Magnum SRT-8 in the past, and currently dailys a 2014 Chrysler 300C SRT-8.

It was Rich III who replaced the mangled front sheet metal (from a 1992 deer collision), crafted the mesh grille, and fabricated the flatbed and ladder rack. At the time he got the '66 he was self employed washing windows, cleaning gutters, and doing landscaping, and the '66 was the "company vehicle". After a fall from a customer's roof, he opted to get out of that business and find work that offered health insurance.

He got a job as a maintenance technician at a local plastic molding plant, and the '66 became more of a project. He lowered it, rebuilt the factory,352 FE, and located the front bumper from the '57 F350 wrecker his grandfather used to drive and installed it on the '66.

Rich III isn't a drinker, but his dad and grandpa were big Blatz guys. Well, his dad still is, though Rich Sr. had to give up the beer in his early 70s to curb some possible gout issues. He started drinking it back in the '50's just because the name made him laugh. Anyway, Rich III added some "Blatz Beer Powered" markings to the doors. Rich III is quick to point out that the truck was never operated by his grandfather or father while they were drunk, but they were absolutely at least a little bit 'faced most times the truck was under repair or maintenance. His father once modified an old STP slogan: "Blatz... It's basic car maintenance!"

Rich Sr., now 84, calls the truck "The Ford of Theseus". It's the '66 he bought brand new almost half a century ago, but it's also a very different beast today. And it's probably going to stay in the family for years to come. Rich III's oldest daughter Richelle is going to be turning 16 in 2026 and has been fascinated by her dad's crusty old truck for as long as she's been able to walk, and says she's often imagined driving it to school. She barely even acknowledges the existence of his SRT-8, which would be the one Rich III assumes would be the typical sixteen year old girl's choice.

This is the Moebius 1966 F100 kit, with a scratch built flatbed and ladder rack. The grille is from the AMT '64 Mercury Marauder, and it watches over a '60 F100 push bumper. The fog lights are from an MPC '80 Road Runner. I swapped out some front letters to spell "DOOD" like those aftermarket Raptor grilles.