Ford Bulldog Emblems on fender

[davbell22602]

Why did ford use bulldog emblems on the fenders on my 67 F100? Is there a story behind it?

 

[73F100Shortbed]

They look like Mack emblems. also says Mack on collar. Just something someone added to the fender.

 

[smokey]

That is a Mack bulldog someone added them. They were big around here in the 70-80's you would see the bulldog on the hoods of many trucks.

 

[LEB Ben]

Yeah...Ford didn't do that...a PO did.

 

[Austin]

I have one! It lives on my hood.

 

[wareagle]

I will soon have a beautiful AU emblem on the back window of the truckster. Even thinking about painting it Auburn orange and blue.

 

[davbell22602]

Yeah...Ford didn't do that...a PO did.

Yes they did. There's a story behind it.

That was part of a special option "Mack Pack" package (#73d) that Ford only offered for the first year of the bumpsides. It included the bulldogs on the sides of the hood and one on the lower left corner of the tailgate. Inside there was a smaller version of the bulldog on the glovebox door. The Mack Pack option was only offered if you also ordered the large towing mirrors, 4-speed manual transmission, two-speed rear end and factory CB radio. This was at the height of the whole "wanna-be trucker phase" in the U.S. so Ford thought the Mack Pack would help sales. Turns out they were wrong and only sold 38 of the Mack Pack trucks. 7 of those were used and destroyed during filming of the box-office flop "Highway To Freedom". That movie was about a newly returned Korean war POW and his fight to get the Army to give him his back pay for the 13 years he was in a North Korean prison camp.

Anyway, of the remaining 31 Mack Packs, 25 were shipped to Saudi Arabia for use on the royal family horse ranches (5 Mack Packs for each of the 5 ranches). Those Saudi royals have always been way into thoroughbred horses and at the time they were also into the whole "wanna-be trucker" thing. But, like most filthy rich people, they decided after about 3 months of playing trucker that they wanted new toys. So they decided to convert 25 gull-wing Mercedes' into flatbeds for all their horse ranch hauling (that's a whole other story). They parked all the Mack Packs and forgot about them until it was tax time (I know, weird that the Saudi royal family would have to pay taxes, go figure). Well, again like most filthy rich people, the Saudis hate paying taxes and since they quit using the trucks, they had all 25 Mack Packs crushed and dumped in the Black Sea to avoid paying taxes on them (which would have only been about $1.42 each!).

The only Mack Pack I've ever seen reportedly went to Edsel Ford's son when he was attending the Air Force academy in Colorado back in '67. Seems that even though young Edsel Jr. was rich and from such a well known family, he wasn't being treated any differently than any other Air Force cadet, so he was not allowed to drive in his first year at the academy. The story is that he decided to give the truck to his roommates dad who was fighting ovarian cancer at the time. Yes, you read right, ovarian cancer. This was during the early years of "gender reassignment" surgeries in the U.S. and apparently the doctors at the time didn't think removal of the ovaries was necessary. Well, the dad didn't pull through the cancer, so the Mack Pack was bequeathed to the son. Of course, he still couldn't drive it, so he put it in storage. Once the son graduated from the Air Force academy in '70, he was immediately shipped out to the Philippines to serve as a bomber pilot in the Vietnam war. Well, unlike the Corvette owners of his era, the pilot did return after the war. Unfortunately, he was never able to get over the loss of his father and could not bring himself to look at the Mack Pack, let alone drive it.

Fast forward to 2007 when the pilot passes away. His grandson, who had never met his great-grandpa, let alone heard of his old pickup, goes to clean out the storage and finds the Mack Pack. Of course, being 19 years old, all he sees is an old truck with bulldogs all over it and no Type R decals, no giant fart can stainless mufflers, no altezza tail lights, nor any of the other things that make a cool car. So, the kid decides to put the Mack Pack on Craigslist and see if any old geezers are looking for a pickup. Well, it just so happens that none other than Tommy "Big Rig" Williams is in Colorado Springs visiting his ex daughter in-law (again, whole other story).

Now if you haven't heard of the Mack Pack then you probably haven't heard of Tommy "Big Rig" Williams. Tommy was the member of Ford's design team who actually came up with the idea for the Mack Pack! So Tommy reads the Craigslist ad about a low miles '67 Ford pickup with bulldogs all over it for $750. Naturally Tommy figures it's some kinda clone or "tribute" like all the Chebby guys call their fake SS Camaros and Chevelles. But, because he has nothing better to do than listen to his ex daughter in-law complain about how her new boyfriend is always spending money on piercings and tattoos, Tommy calls the kid up and arranges to meet him at the storage unit.

About an hour later Tommy is standing in a storage unit looking at a beautiful two-tone (Wimbledon white and Calypso Coral) 1967 Ford F100. Not only does the truck have all the bulldogs in place, it is original right down to the drained and preserved Motorcraft battery it left the factory with. After pickup up his jaw, Tommy opens the driver side door and looks at the odometer and can't believe what it says: 00104 miles! Well, because he knows what to look for and where, the first thing Tommy does is look up under the seat. You can imagine Tommy's surprise when sees the original build sheet still tucked in the seat springs. After pulling it out and stepping outside he looks at the build sheet and sees that magical code "#73d".

Naturally Tommy asks the kid why he only wants $750 for such a nice old truck. The kid replies that he found a really cool set of Rotas for his Civic and he couldn't care less about some old truck that isn't even slammed on 'bags. So, Tommy gladly pays the kid his $750 and immediately calls for a professional car transport to haul his find home to Coral Gables, Florida.

A week later when Tommy gets back from Colorado he goes into the doctor for his regular physical and finds that he has been living on borrowed time. It turns out that the surgery he had to remove the last 17 feet of his lower intestine wasn't enough and he will likely not live to see another birthday. After taking stock of his situation, Tommy decides that there is at least one thing he can do to give his family a leg up in the world before he dies.

You see, back in '67 when the Mack Pack failed to sell, Tommy was canned from his job at Ford. Apparently the CEO at the time, Edsel Ford Sr. blamed Tommy for the poor reception of the Mack Pack. Tommy tried to find work elsewhere, but Edsel had put the word out in Dearborn that Tommy was a jinx. Tommy eventually wound up losing his wife and house before ending up in Florida where he worked at an AMC dealership. Well, if you know anything about AMC, they were doomed trying to sell Matadors, Pacers and such. After AMC folded, poor Tommy couldn't find work to save his life because everyone in the auto industry actually believed he had caused AMC to go down the toilet.

That's when the real irony set in. You see, despite his degrees and experience designing automobiles for Ford Motor Company, Tommy "Big Rig" Williams wound up working at McDonalds. Yep, the home of the Big Mac! But, Tommy was a real trooper and stuck it out, eventually working his way up to assistant manager on the night shift. After 17 years with McDonald's, Tommy finally pulled the plug and went on Social Security. Three months later, he is in Colorado visiting his ex daughter in-law when he reads the Craigslist ad.

So, Tommy goes ahead with his plan and calls up the folks at Baret-Jaxon. Two months later, Tommys family is in Florida for his funeral. After the service is over, the youngest grandson is approached by an elderly man who says he was friends with Tommy. He hands the youngster an envelope and walks away. Inside, a check from Baret-Jaxon for $238,954.

Nobody knows for sure what happened to the remaining 5 Mack Packs, but it certainly appears that you have stumbled onto at least the remnants of one.

FYI, just one unrestored bulldog from the hood is likely to fetch upwards of $500 on ebay.

 

[LEB Paul]

Cool tidbit of info, but why'd you ask if you already knew?? lol

 

[m78]

Cool tidbit of info, but why'd you ask if you already knew?? lol

And your source of info is ?

 

[LEB Ben]

Yeah...very cool. And I'll ask the same question as Paul...why ask if you knew? Really, I'd like for Bill to verify this.

 

[davbell22602]

Cool tidbit of info, but why'd you ask if you already knew?? lol

I didn't know when I started the thread/post.

 

[LEB Paul]

Google saved the day?

 

[davbell22602]

no google didnt save the day. Another ford forum did.

 

[mustangtoby]

Very interesting info, good read. I always love to hear about things like this.

 

[Fordzilla80]

I saw the thread on Eff Tee Eeeeeeee.

Bill will probably find it there.

Either way,sounds like you have yourself a pretty rare truck man.

But I know the trucker thing didn't end in the 60's,as the Factory CB was still offered up until around 1981.

 

[davbell22602]

I saw the thread on Eff Tee Eeeeeeee.

Bill will probably find it there.

Either way,sounds like you have yourself a pretty rare truck man.

But I know the trucker thing didn't end in the 60's,as the Factory CB was still offered up until around 1981.

Thanks. I got this truck for free in complete pieces with title.

 

[Fordzilla80]

Well that's the best price of all.

 

[flareside_thunder]

Actually Shaun the Centurion packages had a CB option into the gen 9 Era...and gawd I feel like chit...I saw one of those trucks a few years ago in a hole in the wall junkyard down here.......(kicks self in arse)

 

[Fordzilla80]

Actually Shaun the Centurion packages had a CB option into the gen 9 Era...and gawd I feel like chit...I saw one of those trucks a few years ago in a hole in the wall junkyard down here.......(kicks self in arse)

Well,I was more or less referring to what was shown in the Ford brochure.I don't know much about the Centurion's ordering process.

 

[BKW]

Cool tidbit of info, but why'd you ask if you already knew?? lol

The ENTIRE story is CACA del TORO, and I said so (as did others) on FTE.

Even the guy that wrote the story admitted it. The post with the story now has a HUGH disclaimer in RED.

A coupla things: Edsel Ford Sr. DIED in 1943, he was never the CEO of anything when he was alive. There was no such thing as Motorcraft before 1973.

The Korean War began in 1950, ended in 1953, so no one spent 13 years in any POW camp. Returning POW's are usually paid within weeks, so how many would have to fight to get their back pay? N-O-N-E!

The trucker thing is a decade too soon, it didn't begin until the late 1970's. There was no such thing as a factory CB radio until 1978. How many people have over SEVENTEEN feet of intestines?

And...What male suffers from ovarian cancer?

Just like the OP and others on FTE, some of y'all here on FTF were taken in by this MYTH!

davbell22602: If you still believe this myth (since I see nothing you've typed to the contrary), would you believe FoMoCo?

Call FoMoCo's 800 number, request a copy of your trucks original build sheet...it's free. When you receive it, you won't see diddly about any so called Mack Pack, cuz there was no such thing.