This is my first truck. And first Ford. I was supposed to get a 2004 4.0 Ranger from my grandpa, but my dad bought it and I was handed down a 1993 F-150 XLT from a great-uncle that had just died right after my 16th birthday (I've slept in the back of that truck when we would go camping on a number of occasions, unaware that it would be mine in a few years). It's got the bulletproof 302 motor, 4 speed E04D automatic tranny and it's all electric stuff (windows, locks, mirrors, seats, etc). It's got 2 gas tanks and is rather depressing to fill both tanks back up, but for some reason, I've only met like 2 people who didn't like it. I think between the Ranger and this, I got the better end of the deal, and I think it's because it's got character, something most cars just don't have, especially from the 90's. It's old enough to be super simple to work on (Example: it has 2 throttle bodies and a for fuel injection instead of fuel injection for each cylinder, the vacuum chamber is still in the shape of a juice can, just like on old trucks, and it's the last generation of F-150's to have a motor that uses push-rods.), original enough to be cool, and nice enough to not be a pile of crap.
This was 2 days after I picked it up, by then I'd taken off the tubes for the bike rack off the front bumper and washed it, waxed it, ordered a mirror for it, took the chicano-style tail light covers off, polished the classy aluminum rims and cleaned the inside completely out.
Then I took the fender skirts off:
And tuned it up (simple stuff like plugs, wires, cleaning the throttle bodies, adjusted the idle), dumped the exhaust, took the camper, window sun visors and bug catcher off and slapped a tool box on:
And that's my ride. It's on it's 3rd starter (got one after the one I had on it went out, 9 months later, the replaced one went out. luckily, I have a lifetime warranty on it.), and the only other problem it's had is once it refused to start because some junk got in the fuel lines (easy fix) and the belt tensioner pulley's wheel spun off the bearings (I can show pictures if we need to). It's only got 128,000 on the clock, 23,000 or so of those miles have been mine.