At $5,000, Is This 2000 Ford F-150 An Officially Sanctioned Steal?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice F-150 sports “NASCAR Official Truck” badging and upholstery. Let’s see if that accreditation makes us want to drop the checkered flag over its price tag.

Electric Ford F-150 Lightning Begins Production

For a car with over 400 horsepower and a very expressive body kit, it sure took a lot of effort for yesterday’s 1995 Dodge Viper RT/10 to justify its $26,400 asking price. That was made plain in the super-narrow 54 percent Nice Price win the car eked out.

Custom cars like yesterday’s Viper naturally have limited appeal as they are generally intended to satisfy only the builder’s interests. Factory customs—i.e., special edition models—require a broader appeal. They still, however, need to be unique enough to justify their existence and make the manufacturer a decent return on the package’s development investment.

This 2000 Ford F-150 Super Cab comes with the factory NASCAR option, a package that includes trim and practical upgrades, giving it a unique look and something of a connection for people who like racing with lots of left turns.

Ford first introduced the NASCAR trim option in 1998 as part of the truck line’s 50th-anniversary celebration. That model was only available in black with a wrap-around checkered flag motif decal and dual side exhaust for the standard 4.6-liter V8.

By the time the 2000 model hit the dealer’s showrooms, the NASCAR option had calmed down a bit, with a more subtle tape treatment outside, along with greater color options and the omission of the front air dam. The truck still has an up-rated suspension, body-color bumpers, a 3.55:1 rear end, and special NASCAR stitching on the front seat headrests. Availability of the package was also broadened to include the more practical four-door Super Cab 4X2 models like this.

Power for this NASCAR ad campaign is provided by Ford’s 5.4-liter Triton V8. Now, depending on the model year, these engines can have all kinds of weird problems, the most alarming of which is a penchant for blowing out some of their left-bank spark plugs on occasion.

This one has 214,000 miles under its belt, so it’s likely that if something of an engineering or manufacturing defect were to go wrong, it would have done so long ago. With that many miles on the clock, it’s questionable how many of the truck’s original 260 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque are still in residence, but at least according to the seller, the truck “Runs like new.”

The ad notes that some effort has gone into that achievement, including lots of maintenance and the replacement of worn parts such as the radiator. Now, it’s touted to have zero problems and to work as it should.

Aesthetically, it’s in pretty good shape, as well. The red paint still pops, and the factory alloys are in decent shape, carrying all their center caps. The ad does note some fading in the paint, and the pictures of the NASCAR tape decals show that they’ve seen better days. Still, it’s all perfectly serviceable and looks pretty good if you’re into Ford’s Taurus-aping aero-age trucks.

Things are similarly well preserved in the cabin, with typical ’90s Ford plastics and mouse fur upholstery all presented as a single sea of gray. The truck’s four-speed automatic is operated via a column shift, so there’s plenty of room to play footsies with a passenger or snuggle up at the drive-in on the split bench seat.

Other plusses include a clean bill of health from the smog test shop and a clear title. The asking price for the truck is $5,000, a recent reduction of $500 from just a week ago. What are we to make of this truck at that price?

What’s your take on this NASCAR-ified F-150 and that $5,000 price? Does that seem like a deal to get a solid pickup that just so happens to have some added flair? Or does that price tag mean this particular F-150 won’t be a best seller?

You decide!

San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to Don R. for the hookup!

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