• Here’s a fully restored version of Ford’s 1960s affordable pickup.
• It has a reliable and thrifty inline-six paired with a three-speed manual to get the most out of it.
• There’s even a hidden underfloor storage area in the forward part of the cargo bed.

Fall season is here, and it’s time to throw on your favorite cozy sweater and head down to the local pumpkin patch for some harvest-time goodies. Hold up—leave the keys for that crossover on the peg; we’ve got a far more festive Ford for you.

Just plucked from Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), it’s the grandpappy of the current Maverick, a 1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero in a cheery red. Wouldn’t this little truck look great with a bed full of pumpkins, or loaded up with crates of apples? It’s enough to make you want to buy an apple orchard and start selling pressed cider at the farmer’s market.

The Falcon was Ford’s compact car offering in the 1960s, and it was pretty popular. For around the same price as a Volkswagen Beetle, buyers could opt for a car that had most of the attributes of the larger vehicles they were used to, but still boasted inexpensive operating costs.

The straight-six engine was even called the Mileage Maker, a nod to being designed more for frugality than tire-chirping power. Still, in this example, the 170-cubic-inch six makes a respectable 101 horsepower and 156 pound-feet of torque, and feeds that power to the rear wheels through a three-on-the-tree manual gearbox.

One super-cool feature of these little Falcon Rancheros is something called a smuggler’s trunk. A section of the bed closest to the cab lifts off, and there’s storage hidden underneath. It’s the perfect spot for a roll of tools and other essentials you’d want to always carry with you.

Being a Deluxe model, this little pickup has plenty of shiny chrome and features the modern touch of a Bluetooth-enabled stereo hidden to look like a vintage original. Riding three up on the bench seat would be great fun, not hustling, just cruising and listening to the snap of crisp leaves under your tires.

The auction ends on October 7.