Unearthed: This Collection is Ford Truck Heaven

06/09/2022

Unearthed: This Collection is Ford Truck Heaven

06/09/2022

Barn finds are all the rage lately. The premise seems easy: go find some derelict old car or truck that's been sitting for decades, make a deal, bring it back to life and profit one way or another. Either you have a classic machine that will bring you joy, or you can send your prize to the auction block. Finding one barn find is tough enough. You need to hunt the backroads, the hills and valleys, peek in barns โ€“ with permission, of course โ€“ and do whatever else is necessary to locate your dream machine. You need to have the money ready to buy the vehicle, and you need to be able to haul it away the moment you make the deal so that you can get away before seller's remorse starts to hit and the deal gets cancelled. But what would you do if you found a treasure trove? You know...the old junkyard that never stripped or crushed anything, the small-town garage where the owner stacked up vehicles that they liked just to have them around, the farmer's shed full of all of the old work trucks, resting peacefully. What then?


Soddy-Daisy Solomon

Solomon Lunger...Ford truck fanatic, YouTuber, and obviously not allergic to rust.


Solomon Lunger is a man who can sniff out a Ford truck a mile away. That's his entire gig...he is devoted to Fords of any vintage, anywhere. He's made a career between photography and YouTube of finding interesting and vintage Ford trucks, like his Mexican-market Ford B100. But recently he's managed to eclipse his previous finds by locating a trove of vehicles in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. The gentleman who has been holding onto these vehicles is a private individual, but we got the chance to talk with him. Here's what you need to know: he knows each vehicles' story and knew where every key and document was for each one. This isn't his retirement fund being liquidated by any means, but he wasn't giving the vehicles away for any reason. He suffers no fools, but is pleasant, engaging, and it is evident that these vehicles have brought him happiness over the years. That being said, he's ready to move on.


Solomon originally intended to pick up three or four trucks from this collection. He did not expect to wind up scoring a trove of trucks and parts. How many vehicles did he wind up with? We went down to see for ourselves and even after the first few vehicles had been sold off, the amount of trucks on the property was nothing short of staggering. Follow along as we show you some of the neat finds that were included in the sale! And be sure to pay attention to the Ford Era's Instagram and YouTube channel...we don't think that Solomon is keeping everything for himself.


Soddy-Daisy front row

The scale of how many trucks on the property needed to be seen to be believed. Most of the collection is composed of "bumpside" (1967-1972) and "dentside" (1973-1979) Ford F-series trucks, though there is a small collection of Dodge trucks, a handful of Ford Torinos, and other odds and ends that were all unique.


Soddy-Daisy Crew Cab

One thing was for sure: there hasn't been a bigger collection of crew-cab Ford pickups of this vintage outside of a 1979 dealership lot. SuperCabs and Dodge Club Cabs were also easy to find.


Soddy-Daisy spare tire on Camper Special

Rare options abounded. This Super Camper Special has the unique spare tire carrier that puts the tire on the right-side of the bed, between the cab and the wheelwell. That entire body panel drops down to reveal the spare.


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