The second evolution of my truck.

My daily driver in high school, was a 1974 Ford Pinto. OK, before you start in on Pintos, they were actually good, tough little cars. By today's quality standards, they were great little cars.

The red '74 on the left is mine. The tan '73 on the right is my friend Mark's. Mine was basically stock, except for stereo, wheels, and the front spoiler. Mark's was the first "tuner". Seriously, he was 2 decades ahead of his time. He had a thumping stereo, chrome wheels, front and rear spoilers, hood scoop, aftermarket mirrors, aftermarket steering wheel, and a built engine including performance cam, performance carburetor, a header, and aftermarket exhaust with a low restriction muffler and dual, chrome, box tips that stuck out under the license plate. Sounds like one of today's tuners to me.


Anyway, the point is my cheap car meant I could spend some time and money on my truck. By the time I was in college, I had done the following: Taken the body apart and primed it in gray; warmed over the flathead engine with aluminum Offenhauser heads and intake with 2x2 bbl. carbs; replaced the bucket seats with the original, recovered; replaced the steering wheel with the original; repaired the hole in the roof from the sunroof fiasco; added dual exhaust.

The engine components are "gold" to match the radiator that I had polished.
 

The original steering wheel has the original Ford 50th anniversary horn button.

This seat was upholstered by a guy that did furniture. This was the first car seat he ever did, so it was a bit rough. He became pretty good at it and did several interiors for people around town. It became a big part of his business.

When I got to college, I fell in love with a red 1979 Turbo Mustang. I just had to have it. When I took this picture, it was of the Mustang. The truck just happened to be behind it. The picture became prophetic in that I spent so much time and money on the Mustang, the truck fell into the background. Strange huh? My truck didn't care, it waited on me.

 While in college I also met my soul mate. She and I did everything together. I still lived at home, and worked in the same town, but I commuted to college, about 12 miles away. I was either at school, at work, or with her. I'd always been a rather private person, so most people didn't know I was seeing someone that serious, They just knew I wasn't around much any more. She lived on campus and made the 2 hour drive home about once or twice a month. On one such trip she was killed by a drunk driver. My world caved in around me. With the help of a few very good friends, I slugged through it. I never got over it, but I moved on. My truck still waited on me.

Over the next few years I spent some time in college, and had a couple of businesses with a very good friend of mine. He was a "car guy" and so was his dad. His dad had a beautiful '46 Chevrolet truck that was featured in the 1995 Jasper Engines calendar.

 It was a seriously nice ride. His dad died several years ago, I wonder if he still has it? I haven't talked to him in a long while, I need to give him a call.

As another decade came and went, I was working as an Architectural Designer. I worked for a small Architecture firm, then a big Engineering firm, then another small but busy Architecture firm. All the while, my truck sat and waited on me.