By the CTP Staff – Photography by John Jackson
Randy Martin’s love for the early F-100 trucks began when he first encountered a ’64 Ford truck that a guy was having trouble getting running. Randy ended up paying off a $500 stereo bill that the guy owed for the truck—he didn’t have any trouble getting it fixed and running, and so began his love affair for Ford trucks … but his real journey had yet to begin.
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Randy had previously engaged in large racing boats, but eventually decided to get out of boating altogether and set his sights more on land-based hobbies … like classic trucks!
In 2019, Randy visited Legens Hot Rod Shop in Martin, Tennessee, to talk about his desire to build a hot rod Ford truck. Randy was born in 1966, so he was looking to build a ’66 Ford F-100. But as you may have already figured out, after looking at the ’66-model Ford trucks he quickly learned he liked the looks of the ’67 Ford Bumpside F-100 a lot better! (With his birthday being in late 1966, and the ’67 F-100 being the first Bumpside that had already debuted that previous year, the decision for Randy’s first full hot rod build was obviously clear!)
Steve Legens found a couple of trucks, but they didn’t pan out. He ended up hearing about a ’67 Bumpside that was south of Nashville. It was a very nice farm truck that looked like it wasn’t used in the farm truck fields, like most were. It had very little rust and the body and bed were very straight. At some point in its life it had a ’68 grille installed. Steve picked it up and brought it back to Legens Hot Rod Shop to begin the build process. Randy located a very-hard-to-find ’67 Ford grille to complete the puzzle. Randy wanted it very close to the original style, but with subtle changes, just like Legens Hot Rod is known for. Legens likes subtle changes that make the eye question what is different.
Legens contacted Eric Brockmeyer Design to gather ideas between the three of them so that they could move forward with an officially rendered game plan. One day Randy came to look at the truck as he had not picked a color. Legens had a ’63 Corvette split window in progress and it was Corvette Blue, which really appealed to Randy, but he wanted to add some mica but at the same time take some of the black out. Legens made several sample sprays and then hit it exactly with a custom mix of what Randy wanted color wise. To match the flawless exterior, Speed & Design Hot Rod Interiors was contracted to do the inside of the truck in an elegant, all-black leather (including a Snowden Ent. bench seat, door panels, and custom headliner), which is accented by a Dakota RTX cluster in the stock dash (with controls for Vintage Air Gen 4 system) and a Scott Drake Shelby wheel atop an ididit column.
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All of that gorgeous bodywork and paint, leatherwork, and so on couldn’t ride on just any old chassis, so Legens commissioned Art Morrison Enterprises for a custom, GT Sport IFS-equipped foundation with a rear four-link supporting a Strange Engineering 9-inch via Strange’s Ultra Series monotube coilovers. Baer Pro+ 14-inch brakes are semi-concealed by a set of Schott Mach Vs (19-inch front/20-inch rear) with Falken Azenis ZR-rated radials at all four corners. Last but by no means least, Legens performed the fabled Coyote swap, though the original FE was no longer part of the equation to be swapped in the first place! In this case, a 5.0L Gen III Aluminator crate was used as the based, with a FAST-controlled, Weber-based, Borla Eight Stack induction, custom stainless exhaust using Borla mufflers and Sanderson headers, Modular Motorsports Racing billet valve covers, and a Bowler Performance 4R70W transmission.
Now, for those of you who may be wondering where the name “Crazy Horse” came from … Randy named the truck as such due to his love of, you guessed it, none other than Neal Young!
Click on this issue’s cover to see the enhanced digital version of Randy Martin’s Legens-Built 1967 Ford F-100.
