“Heap of the Week” was a segment in The Forge’s past, especially popular during the time between 1981 and the early 1990’s that featured autos along with the stories and now we are continuing “Heap of the week” with a senior here at Santa Barbara High School.

This edition’s Heaps of the Week is: Charles black, 1965 Ford Falcon Ranchero. Charles got his truck in February 2022. Charles first received his car when, “My stepdad initially bought it for himself until I started driving it, and then he gave it to me, and I slowly paid it off.” To pay off the car Charles “got a job at Trader Joe’s about a couple weeks after [he] started driving the car and started making payments on the car from each of [his] paychecks.” 

A car can be special to most people for different reasons, and for Charles it’s special to him because it’s the “first big thing I had to purchase for myself, and it’s a cool car.” The car is old, but Charles is looking forward to modernizing it by modding it. Right now, the car  “Is all completely stock, with no modifications, although I have a couple of ideas in mind that I would love to add.” The ideas Charles has in mind are putting some white walled tires on, swapping a 302 V8 engine in, installing power steering and brakes, and doing some minor general repairs to the dash and the linings. 

His favorite thing about driving an old car is the rumble and sound of the engine. The bench seat inside is one of his favorite things about it, but there are struggles driving a 58 year old car. It’s very hot in the summer with no AC,  somewhat has a heater in the winter  and it takes a couple minutes to warm up when it’s colder. In addition, the gas mileage is roughly 18 mpg. That concludes this “Heap of the Week,” lookout for next edition’s auto!

Charle’s 1965 Ford Truck [Image Credit: Charles Black]