This 1948 Ford F1 is the truck my wife has always dreamt of for as long as she can remember. So in an attempt to at least have a project started before any kids came around, we quickly found ourselves driving to Orlando from Savannah to buy one we saw in an ad. I ended up buying the truck for my wife with the intention of slowly rebuilding it over time.

Looking back, I still don’t know how I made it from Orlando to Savannah in one piece. On the 4-hour ride home I really got a feel for the truck and quickly realized, as the truck shook, rattled and rolled, that it would need a lot more work than I had hoped for. Nevertheless, I was excited and smiling ear to ear all the way home, as everyone on the road from young kids to old bikers gave me a thumbs up. It was awesome!

I made it home safely and right away started getting a game plan together, with the help of my good buddy James Anderson, who is an old hot rod guy. James taught me how to weld and introduced me to the world of Hot Rodding. I was hooked instantly! Before I knew it, the truck was stripped down to the bare frame, and I was welding in a Mustang II independent front suspension along with a modern rear end.

The truck is fitted with a 4-wheel disc brake setup and a ’93 5.0 HO motor mated to an AOD 4-speed transmission with custom driveshaft. “Lucy,” as we call her now, is equipped with a tilt column, power steering, power brakes, and even air conditioning. We welded in a new floor and firewall to it. Besides that, it is all the original steel except running boards we got from LMC Truck. LMC made it too easy to update all windows and rubber seals, and I even got an awesome stainless steel front grille for the truck.

As far as paint goes, I went with a Toyota Speedway Blue color; however, due to my wife being Active Duty Army and always moving, I decided to leave all the imperfections on panels to save time and money. The goal has always been to build a reliable daily driver, one that I can use every day and not be afraid to use it or put a scratch on it.

Lucy is not a show truck by any means but is a trophy truck to me. I built something from the ground up with my own hands and built it to last. It took me 3 years to build it to its current state before the kids came along and before my wife’s next duty assignment. I have enjoyed a finished truck with my wife and 2 kids all around Georgia and California. Although our truck is in storage on account of my wife getting orders for an overseas assignment, I am looking forward to getting back next year and using LMC Truck to help me upgrade my interior and create many more memories.