My first vehicle was a 1950 Chevrolet 1/2 ton pickup that I bought in 1973 when I was 16 years old. Over the next year my Dad, brother and I spent most weekends working on that truck and making it just right for a 16 year olds first car.

Last year my Dad (now 83) starting a losing battle with his 2nd cancer. I was spending a lot of time at his house and the discussions always seemed to go back to those days when we were working on cars and spending time together. I realized that these were memories I wanted to create with my Son and Grandsons. I started searching for an old pickup that we could work on together and build those memories.

I found a 1949 Chevy 5 window truck that had a partial restoration back in the 1990’s but had been sitting for the past 15+ years. The body was mostly intact, but it needed a lot of TLC. The gas tank was full of rust, the hoses were rotted, the wiring was a partial 12 volt conversion and most things did not work. It had bucket seats form a 1970 Cadillac, a motor from a 1969 Camero, brakes from a 1976 C10 pickup and a host of other parts that we are still discovering where they came from. We named the truck Frankenstein because of all the donor parts!

The boys and I spent the next several months getting the truck running and getting a the transmission rebuilt. We gave it new tires and wheels, a chrome grill, a bench seat, a Locar floor shifter, electric wiper conversion, 12 volt heater and on and on and on. Needless to say there have been boxes showing up on my front porch from LMC truck for the past 18 months!

My goal was to drive this Truck to my Dad’s house on Father’s Day last year and take him for a ride. He did not make it to Father’s Day so I never got to give him that ride. However every time I went to see him I took my computer with pictures of the work we were doing on the truck and we spent house talking about the progress we were making.

There is still more to do on this truck. I would like to get a proper paint job on it and put a new crate motor into it but for now we will take it to local car shows and spend time together as a family enjoying it!