In 1961, when Ford introduced the F-Series' fourth iteration, the company went for a major styling changeover from the successful three preceding generations. Its trucks came in lower and longer, with new engine and gearbox choices, not to mention dramatic versions such as the Unibody design.
Although the latter ultimately proved unpopular at the time, with the Blue Oval discontinuing the body version fairly quickly (from the 1963 model year), it has its ardent fans today. That also means these models are rare and highly desirable among collectors and fans of custom trucks.
It’s easy to understand their appeal now that a vast majority of trucks have the cab and bed seamlessly integrated, but the flush appearance must have caused a big stir back in the day. No worries, because some examples still achieve the same effect, albeit with a little help from the personalization department.
Case in point, this 1961 F-100 Unibody that got to spend some quality time with Solomon Lunger, the host of the “Ford Era” YouTube channel, who’s a declared all-time fan of this particular body version. Better yet, this custom ride has a lot more going for it, as it’s one of the best restomods we’ve ever seen based on the fourth-generation F-100.
While the Root Beer-like paint job does a great job of hiding a lot of the truck’s features in plain sight, just a casual look from up close will quickly reveal this vehicle has the motherload. It comes with low-riding full Porterbuilt air ride level three suspension front and rear, magically customized styling touches (including a seamless 2-inch/5-cm chopped top), as well as the modern Coyote grunt under the hood.
Apparently, the owner says it’s not a show truck as it’s meant to be driven “a lot,” but they got us fooled considering the attention to details. By the way, the video’s description features an overview of the changes, so we’ll let you enjoy the walkaround up to the 2:55 mark when the hood screeches open to reveal the equally stylish 5.0-liter monster hiding inside.
From then on, there’s a lot of drone footage (including some driving around) starting at the 3:55 mark, so we’ll just go ahead and call out the highlights that most impressed us. Up front, there’s a cool front license plate delete, in the back there’s 3D raised Ford lettering, and the color-matching bed looks sweeter than nectar...
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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