The New Grocery Getter/2-tracker

[keithshotrodshop]

Drove out to New York City to pick up this thing, where it was sitting in a pretty bad neighborhood in Queens. It's a 1989 C-350 made by Centurion Conversions. It has a 460 EFI big block, A4OD transmission, 208 transfer case, High Pinion Kingpin Dana 60 Front, and a Sterling full floater rear. I've wanted one of these since high school, when they were still making them, but I couldn't afford the $47,000 sticker price, so I had to wait till I found this one on the net for 400 bucks.

Truck was used as an ambulance for the New Jersey Forestry Department for many years, so the interior is trashed. My plans with it is to get the rust in the rear floors fixed, repaint it, and put in a simple interior, Cloth seats and vinol floors. Depending on how I set up the interior, it can seat 8-12 people. Eventually I'd like some mud terrain (in the 37 inch range) tires to find their way under it as well as some selectable lockers. Plan is to keep it as a family vehicle, and use it on two tracks and mild trips. It'll kinda be my world exploration vehicle. It has only 205,000 miles on it, and runs great. Just needs some body work and a new interior. Someday when the motor goes, I'll probably swap a 12 valve cummins into it.

[WhiteRhino]

Way cool!

[Roadhouse]

I always like those, and wonder why Ford didn't make a big SUV.......then they came out with an Excursion, then dropped it.

Anyway those old Centurion conversion are cool, I did see a dually version of one at the dunes years ago.

[keithshotrodshop]

Was it this one?

[Roadhouse]

Ya, it was Randy Thomas'...I camped next to him one year at the dunes.

[WhiteRhino]

Ford dropped the Excursion because they can no longer meet the EPA regs for the deisel. And that was the major selling point over the Suburban.

[keithshotrodshop]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(WhiteRhino &#064; Feb 26 2007, 06&#58;51 AM) [snapback]22865[/snapback]</div>

Ford dropped the Excursion because they can no longer meet the EPA regs for the deisel. And that was the major selling point over the Suburban.
[/b]

That&#39;s a real shame. I really liked the Excursion. To me, the major selling point of the Excursion was that it was actually built like a truck, not an over glorified station wagon. I like the Suburbans, but GM has yet to understand that straight axles belong under real trucks. One of the great points of the Centurion is that it is a true 1-ton SUV. The Excursion and Suburban were/are only availble up to a 3/4 ton. The tow rating on my Centurion is 12,500 lbs. Strangely, if it had been equipped with a diesel in 1989, it only would have had a 9,000 lb rating.

[Roadhouse]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(WhiteRhino &#064; Feb 26 2007, 06&#58;51 AM) [snapback]22865[/snapback]</div>

Ford dropped the Excursion because they can no longer meet the EPA regs for the deisel. And that was the major selling point over the Suburban.
[/b]

That and the fact they wheren&#39;t selling as good as Ford had planned.

[cj7fun]

Damn, that&#39;s an incredible score&#33;

Where in Queens was the truck? I travel there semi-often for work and find myself in some pretty blighted neighborhoods.

/shameless hijack.... if you need a hood for that truck, I have an OEM hood, never mounted, still in factory primer for sale.

[RockyTop]

Nice find&#33; I remember those as a kid as well. Those remind me of "Quigley&#39;s" too.