F-3 Tow Truck Restoration a Labor of Love

Glory Years

From community service to national champion, this F-3 tow truck has longstanding family ties. Purchased new in 1951 by Zook Motors in Kane, Pennsylvania, the wrecker worked diligently for years, before retiring in the late 1960s. Acquired by Greg Rich Jr., in 2012, it took eight years and a labor of love to bring the old F-3 back to its former glory.

Photos courtesy of Zook Motors.

Outfitted Tow

The Alpine Blue F-3 was built at the Ford plant in Buffalo, New York. It was optioned with a 5-Star Extra Cab and a 100 horsepower, 239 cubic-inch Flathead motor. The total cost came to $3,423 in 1951—about $38,500 in today's money. The F-3 was then outfitted as a tow truck by the Maday Body and Equipment Company also of Buffalo, NY.

Service Fixture

Rich Jr.'s lifelong romance with the F-3 began at the impressionable age of four, when his father, Greg Rich Sr. began working as the Sales Manager for Zook Motors in 1954. By then, the truck had become a regular fixture, collecting cars in need of service in the small town of Kane and the surrounding area.

Coveted Time

In the F-3's online listing, Rich Jr., recalls being smitten. “I fell in love with this truck the first time I saw it. I was amazed at all the chrome and rigging on it and the idea that it picked the front of a car up and towed it away.” At age sixteen, Rich Jr. got to drive his coveted truck.

Difficult Grinding

Rich Jr., worked for Zook Motors for three years as a mechanic’s helper until he joined the U.S. Army in 1968. He reflected on his early attempts at operating the F3. “At that time, Ford trucks had no synchronizer in the four-speed transmission. I had a difficult time getting used to shifting gears and consequently did a lot of grinding away as I shifted.”

Visit Paid

Discharged in 1971, Rich Jr. returned to Zook Motors. By then, the F-3 had been retired to the dealership's old body shop. Rich Jr. continued along his chosen career path in 1973, but the old Ford lingered in his memory. Close to his own retirement in 2008, Rich Jr. paid a visit to John Zook, the former owner of Zook Motors.

Sentimental Reasons

After four years of wrangling, Zook finally relinquished the F-3 in 2012. Rich Jr. had enlisted the help of antique car restorer, Bill Bertres to assess the truck's condition. Despite its poor condition, Bertres encouraged Rich Jr. to take on the project for sentimental reasons. The F-3 was then stripped down and sandblasted. Replacement bodywork was located, while the boom and winch were completely rebuilt.

Family Lot

Over eight years Rich Jr. reassembled the truck to like-new condition. After completion, the F-3 received a national AACA Zenith Award for best restoration. In 2021, Greg and his supportive wife, Mary Rich, stopped by Zook Motors. Still, family-owned, it had been seventy years since John Zook had first driven the F-3 into the dealership's parking lot.

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