“How did you get into classic trucks?

Before I impulse bought a 1972 Ford F100, I had never owned a wrench in my life. In fact, I had never even owned a gas car. Only a compact electric commuter with 120 miles of range.

But I’d always loved the classic lines of American iron pickups from the 60’s and 70s’. Everyone time I saw one I would joke, “that’s my truck!” For years, to the point that friends and family started joking when they saw one, “hey, Mia, that’s your truck.”

Then I found her. I went camping for my 32nd birthday in the redwoods, and half under a tarp was a turquoise, white, and chrome 1972 Ford F100 “Bumpside.”

My first ever photo with Aquamarie in 2021.

She barely ran, she leaked everything. Front end was half taken apart. Blown compression in at least one cylinder causing billows of blue smoke every time she started. One mirror, the other torn off by a redwood tree in a storm years ago. Shredded upholstery, no headliner. A hole where the radio was supposed to go and a bed like Swiss cheese.

I was in love.

This WAS my truck, and I had to have her.

After asking around, I found the owner: a 17 year old kid who had worked for free for the whole summer on a local farm to get paid with the truck. He had initially been excited about it, but, honestly, had been thinking about selling it to get something smaller. More sporty. I offered him a few hundred bucks on the spot. “I’ll go to the ATM right now, I’ll bring you cash.”

Aquamarie’s original passenger mirror had been torn off by a falling redwood branch in a storm, denting the door. But I loved her anyway.

He thought about it, but after a moment he shook his head. “I was hoping to get a little more. And I’m not sure if I’m going to sell it yet.” We exchanged information and asked him to please let me know if he changed his mind.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the truck after I left. I sent the pictures I’d taken of the undercarriage to my then-boss who was a giant gearhead. “It’s not terrible,” he said. I heard, “she’s perfect.”

Then, I got the best Christmas present, ever. Mid-December, the kid texted. “Are you still interested in the truck?”

[the rest of this story is so fun but I have to go now! I’m sure no one will find this post before I come back to finish it. Subscribe from the homepage or on social media to get updates!]