By Chuck Vranas – Images by the Author
As the years pass, there’s always one ride that totally instills itself into your memory banks for decades with its own unique style, powerful enough to make you want to channel its influences into a future build. It’s almost as if time stands still, securing its historic roots till tapped once again to bring it back to life. The ’56 Ford F-100 laid out across our pages owned by Paul Close of Tolland, Connecticut, is one such subject paying homage to days past. In fact, its early ’60s custom vibe was inspired by a prize-winning ’57 Ford Fairlane built by John North (and later owned by singer Gene Pitney) known as the “White Pearl.”
When your dad’s a mechanic who also had a passion for attending car shows and regional dirt track racing at Stafford Springs, it’s easy to see how Paul got started down the performance path at a young age. Learning wrench turning from him as a weekend helper in the family garage added fuel, leading him to a job in 1964 while a junior in high school at Gordon’s Atlantic gas station, which also had a full service autobody shop. Its owner, Gordon Carr, gave the youngster plenty of opportunity to not only pump gas but to also try his skills in learning the trade. The new skills led him to his very first build, a ’56 Ford F-100 rolling on whitewalls with Caddy caps, offering plenty of style for a teenager to make the scene.
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As the decades went by, plenty of neat rides passed through the home shop, however he never forgot the excitement of driving his very first F-100 back in the day. Some 50 years later he visited with his original boss (Carr) who had relocated to Maine in retirement. During the visit, it was discovered that Carr had started the restoration of a ’56 F-100 that had never been finished. A deal was worked out with Paul swapping cash for keys to complete the journey. Once home in the shop, he laid it all out to devise a plan for the truck as a fresh canvas to channel many of the custom touches, which he idolized from the White Pearl while also fusing upgraded handling and solid vintage performance.
With the original spine being rock solid, it was stripped, boxed, treated to custom crossmembers and bobbed front framehorns. To up the ante out back Paul added a refreshed ’80 Jaguar XJS IRS spinning 2.88:1 gears and featuring Girling coilover shocks and custom trailing arms. For plenty of razor-sharp handling, a matching restored Jaguar IFS (modified to fit) was installed, sprung by factory coils and Monroe shocks linked to matching power rack-and-pinion steering. When it’s time to cut speed, a modified ’80 Jaguar XJS power master moves fluid through NiCopp lines to fresh Jaguar XJS front vented discs with two-piston calipers and inboard rear discs with one-piston calipers. For plenty of classic style linking it all to the street you’ll find a set of American Racing Torq Thrust wheels sized 15×6 front and 15×8 rear, capped with a set of BFGoodrich Radial T/A rubber sized P225/70R15 and P255/70R15, respectively.
Having a lifelong passion for vintage Ford V-8s, selecting an engine combination for the F-100 was easy seeing the original purchase came with a freshly rebuilt 272ci Ford Y-block by Gordon Carr. Starting with a perfectly machined block, it was filled with an original rotating assembly getting bumped by a factory stick while a set of massaged iron heads breathe deep to make plenty of power. Up top, an Edelbrock three-deuce intake wears a trio of Holley 94-series carbs crowned by Tru-Helmet chrome air cleaners from Speedway Motors. It sparks to life with a factory ignition while exhaust roars through a set of reproduction Ram’s Horn headers by John Mummert to a 2½-inch exhaust with 26-inch Smithy’s mufflers. Other cool bits include custom lake pipes from Speedway Motors with O’Brien Truckers endcaps, Powermaster alternator, and silver powdercoated stock valve covers. Power moves through a ’56 Ford four-speed to a custom driveshaft to plant the goods.
When it was time to infuse just the right amount of mild custom touches to the sheetmetal, Paul had the perfect plan to pay homage to the White Pearl that he had idolized since his teens. Starting up front, he filled the lower valance, added a reverse-opening hood, and removed one rib from each running board. With a freshly struck steel bed from Mid-Fifty F-100 Parts he continued on by first filling all stake holes and rounding the bed corners and followed by smoothing the tailgate and adding a custom roll pan. Other neat details include a reproduction chrome grille from Bob Drake as well as all related trim parts from Mid-Fifty. Paul then metal finished the sheetmetal to perfection and set all the gaps. The truck was then sent over to Auto Authority (now Town Line Auto Body) in Tolland to have the team lay down a decadent coating of PPG White Satin Pearl accented by traditional gold metallic scallops bringing it all to life. The final icing of blue pinstriping came from the brushes of Brian Frederick. Finally, a fresh oak floor from Mid-Fifty finished by Paul with cherry stain and multiple coats of varnish completed the look.
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To bring an equal amount of allure to the business office, the factory dash was filled with a reproduction gauge cluster from CJ Pony Parts to monitor the vitals, complemented by dash-top Stewart-Warner tach and an underdash assortment of vintage Stewart-Warner dials. A Juliano’s banjo-style steering wheel mounts to a GM tilt column to carve a course with shifts clicking through a custom shifter while Vintage Air supplies the comfort and Sony powers the tunes. For a glimmer of unique style, a set of modified Jeep Wagoneer heated buckets and custom center console were handed over to Ken Nadeau of Ellington, Connecticut, to work his magic stitching up a winning combination of white Naugahyde with gold diamond stitched pearl inserts accented by matching side panels and headliner complemented by black loop carpeting. Final details include a Speed King drum pedal accelerator, vintage microphone shift knob, and wiring by Paul that pulls it all together. This is one classic truck that’s seeing plenty of miles covering the East Coast bringing along endless cool style wherever it goes, and to us that’s just bitchin!
Click on this issue’s cover to see the enhanced digital version of Paul Close’s Y-Block Powered 1956 F100 is Layered with Custom Cool.
