Like The Box it Came In: The 1961-67 Ford Econoline

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The Ford Econoline was designed for utility, not for style, but it still made a memorable impression on the automotive scene in the ’60s and ’70s. 

 

It’s not difficult to guess where the inspiration probably came for the Ford Econoline: from the Volkswagen Type 2 series, which arrived in the USA in the ’50s in both passenger bus and commercial truck form, selling in reasonable numbers and capturing the attention of the Motor City’s product planners. Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge would soon offer their own interpretations on the theme.

Ford’s contribution to the trend arrived in 1961, using Falcon drivetrain components on a simple unit-construction chassis. The base 144 CID six, housed in a sheet-metal box next to the driver, offered all of 85 hp, and a live axle and leaf springs at the rear and a beam axle and leaf springs in the front carried it down the road. The Ford E-Series (formal designation)  was simple, light, and economical, clicking all the right boxes for value-minded buyers in the ’60s, even if the styling was remarkably straightforward. At 14 feet long and just over six feet in width and height, it was essentially a cube. As many would say, without malice, the Econoline looked “like the box it came in.”

 

Some Econolines were badged as Falcons and fitted out for passenger use in three trim levels: Station Bus, Club Wagon, and the Deluxe Club Wagon (above) with flashy bright metal side trim. The boxlike packaging supported three-row seating for eight, and camper versions were also produced. The Econoline’s pickup body style boasted a seven-ft cargo bed, and in a 1965 spring promotion, Ford offered an Econoline Pickup Special with Poppy Red paint, Falcon wheel covers, chrome bumpers, and the wide side trim from the Deluxe Club Wagon.

 

Econoline commercial vans were offered with cargo doors on one side, both sides, or with doors only at the rear, along with a host of other options. Buyers who found the 144 CID and 170 CID sixes inadequate could opt for the 240 CID “Big Six” starting in 1965, and that year a variant called the Supervan arrived with 18 inches of cargo box added to the rear, but without disturbing the stubby 90-in wheelbase (above).

Annual production for the first-generation Econoline ticked along in the the 60,000 to 80,000+ range, generating a total of around 552,000 vehicles for the ’61 through ’67 model years. For 1968, a new and larger Econoline van was introduced, but in the 1970s, the original Econoline boxes would catch a second wind with the hippie van movement.

 

17 thoughts on “Like The Box it Came In: The 1961-67 Ford Econoline”

  1. I purchased a brand new 1961 Econoline Pickup with the wrap around rear windows. I was 20 years old, a junior in college. A young man with contrarian taste. 85HP didn’t bother me. I drove it coast to coast more than once, sleeping on a cot in the back under an aluminum cap.
    Given a modest scholarship, working summers and waiting tables or washing dishes, and especially the low price of public universities at that time, I always ended up with more money at the end of each year than when I started. Enough to shell out $1600 bucks for this useful blue box.
    My how times have changed.

    • As a young mechanic I worked quite a bit on an Econoline pickup in which the owner had swapped in a 289 V8. He managed the heavy work ok but had trouble working out the details, and he came around regularly. For a kid like me, it was a very cool truck.

  2. The Econoline’s were popular with the military but after they had outlived their usefulness the military decided to “gift” these vehicles to local government units – cities, counties, etc. The “giveaway” included not only Econoline pickups but ranged all the way up to deuce and a half’s, etc. There was just one catch. The government never released the Form 98 (government vehicle title) and the receiving entities were to love, honor, cherish and never sell or give away the vehicle to civilians. It didn’t take long before the receiving governments discovered they had no or little use for the vehicles so they sat in parking lots slowly rotting away. Naturally it didn’t take long for people to begin making offers for them, at least for the Econolines. Once they were restored to running, usable condition their new owners ran into roadblocks in getting license tags license so they could drive them. The lack of titles caused many headaches in that department. My home state finally began licensing them via the “back door” method……I haven’t seen one of them on the road in ages.

  3. The Econoline has got to be one of Fords biggest success stories, or more accurately, the lowly Falcon from which it came. I believe 1964 was the last year for the Falcon script on the back door, and it should be mentioned, the H series cabover( 1961- 1966) was nicknamed the “2 Story Falcon” because it resembled the Econoline that came out at the same time. The 4 side door versions were extremely rare. I had one once I got for nothing, and had no idea how rare it was. It was junked anyway. Econolines, or any van, was huge. Every company, municipality, and utility used them. Most became tool sheds out back. And we simply can’t forget our “hippie” friends, that made a cultural icon out of them.. Far out, man,,,

    • Howard,
      One of our neighbors in the early 1960s was in charge of all ground-based vehicles for American Airlines, and he often brought crazy and weird trucks home. One time, either right before the Econoline was released to the public, or shortly thereafter, he brought home a white windowless Econoline extended body van, and it had dual opening doors on both sides.

      Like any car-crazy 9 year old kid, I was bombarding him with questions because this was the first time I had ever seen an Econoline van. He said Ford had made this special prototype 8-door van as part of an order by American Airlines. It had huge American Airlines logos on all sides,

      When he opened the double doors I saw the entire interior was filled with 3 big stainless steel racks. The back cargo section was walled off from the driver’s front area. The racks would hold airline passenger food trays that could be accessed from either side or the rear doors. A rack would be loaded in thru both sides and the 3rd rack from the back. Each time the food trays would be loaded at the catering area and taken out to the plane, unloaded and then the used trays from the previous flight would be loaded and returned to the catering facility.

      He said Ford agreed to make the 8-door vans because American Airlines wanted hundreds of these food vans, intended for every airport where American had catering facilities. I remember asking him why the van had license plates from Ohio that had the word “Manufacturer” below the main number. He said “That’s where it was built!”

      The wildest vehicle he ever brought home was a white F-100 pickup with a conveyor system instead of a bed. The conveyor carried luggage up to the plane, and the truck was driven up to the cargo doors. Almost forgot to mention, this truck didn’t have any cab body above the beltline, no roof, no windows, not even a windshield. There was room for the driver only because the conveyor went over the right side of the cab.

  4. Vivid in my memory is the gark green pickup assigned to the maintenance workers at the elementary school I attended as well as a nylint , buddy l, or Tonka van I had as a toy. The Falcon Econoline was forever fixed as a favorite in my impressionable young mind. Simpler times. Simpler cars.

  5. Loading doors on both sides were pioneered by International Harvester on some of their panel trucks. The four side doors on the Econoline, however, predated GM offering them on a van by four decades…and the Econoline could be had with a four speed column shifted transmission [“four on the tree?”], a rarity among American vehicles. Likely the same British Ford box offered in the U.S. Falcons and Mustangs with six cylinders, and floor shifted four speeds. Personally, I particularly admired the long overhang of the (EBO)
    extended body option of those late ’60s Econolines. Locally, there was a red one employed by a carpet and flooring company.

    • I wanted to include the 4-speed column shifter in the story, including a page from the owner’s manual, but there wasn’t room.

    • The Corvair FC (Forward Control) van was offered in an 8-door version – driver and passenger doors, 2 cargo doors on each side, and 2 rear doors. They are rare, but they are out there.

  6. My dad had the use of one from the company he worked for when I was very young, when dad was between cars it was our family transportation. It was never fun when it was my turn to sit on the engine cover, it was always hot.

    • I remember doing the same thing driving around campus delivering and collecting AV equipment as one of my many jobs as a university student.

    • I couldn’t make the photo link work but you must be proud. They are quite rare today, as you surely know. If you could send me some photos to bill.mcguire.mcg@gmail, maybe we could do an item on it with your permission.

  8. My father was assigned a basic one of these after New York Telephone Company got rid of the old utility cabinet on F-100 truck he started out with. They were all olive-drab green with black “Bell” logo. He complained that with the phone equipment he had to stock it with, that the standard engine couldn’t get out of its own way.

  9. Need to see a picture of the shifting rods. Which rod goes in which hole for the manual trani

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