As a 13-year-old Mr Duthie would drive the truck across his family’s farm in Waihola.
It was owned by his neighbours (the Gervin family) until he bought it off them.
When he bought the truck it had been off the road for a while and needed restoration.
Mr Duthie worked to restore it himself.
"I painted it myself and reconditioned all the brakes."
It was painted blue to match the colour of the tractors on the Gervins’ farm.
However, when he painted it he mistakenly used the wrong shade of blue.
"It said on the can it was Ford blue but there’s quite a few Ford blues."
He had kept the truck in near original condition, he said.
The restoration took about a year to complete.
"It’s not immaculate but it’s tidy and we still use it."
It still had the original 3.5-litre motor which caused a slow and thirsty ride.
He did not use it much, so the petrol cost did not worry him.
He took a trip back to Waihola a couple of years ago and admitted that it was a very slow journey.
But it could get up to about 100kmh on the open road, he said.
"That’s only if you push it along and don’t care about the vibrations."
