Back in 2018, Chuck Johnson, the co-owner of Octane and Iron in Magnolia, Texas, received a call from a customer of his, Terry Shields, saying he’d “spotted a really cool-looking truck on the side of the highway.” Before he knew it, Terry was pulling up to the shop with that really cool truck—in the form of a clapped-out 1959 Ford F-100 in tow.
Johnson spent some time with Terry going over various game plans for a potential build. Fortunately, that lengthy conversation led to the decision of going with a single-headlight 1957 model Fridge instead rather than the heap Terry hauled in … and within just a couple days, the basis for the forthcoming project was located and procured nearby in Fort Worth. The idea was to use the best of both trucks but utilize the earlier front clip.
By the time the ’57 and ’59 were completely disassembled and inspected, Johnson realized that both cabs were in need of substantial sheetmetal repair—so, the hunt was on for a third cab! By searching the interwebs, a near rust-free Gen III cab was located in Ohio and shipped to Texas. “Three trucks later and we were ready to finally begin the build!”
With the exception of paint and body (done by RF Customs in Magnolia) and burgundy leather interior (done by BrettMichaelS Custom Designs in Houston), the “best-of” pickup was built entirely in-house, starting with an all-new coilover-sprung foundation from Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs with a 2017 Mustang-sourced 5.0L Coyote, 6R80, and Moser Engineering 9-inch for motivation in place of the old Y-block–powered, straight-axled chassis it originally rolled in on. Ancillary additions include a Vintage Air Front Runner, OAI-fabbed stainless exhaust with Borla Pro XS mufflers, custom-aluminum fuel tank by Scott’s, and 12-inch Wilwoods at all four corners (each capped by Detroit Steel Wheel Co.’s 18-inch Ambassadors).
Now, while the exterior of the F-100 may appear stock as can be, for the most part, there are some subtle variances—the most notable being the EVOD Industries whittled ’57 headlight buckets, something that was done out of necessity in lieu of the poor condition of the originals, not to mention the scarcity of decent original ones. Beyond that, a ’67 F-100 rear bumper was tucked and fitted in place of the stock unit, and the wood bed floor was replaced with a ribbed steel floor. You might say the same can be said for the interior … sort of! Stock-looking gauges are actually Dakota Digital’s VHX series (with custom OAI-designed, EVOD-machined bezels); while the steering wheel is a custom retro job by CON2R (on an Ididit column). Where it gets a bit non-stock’ish is that aforementioned, cush leather upholstery, which includes a Snowden bench seat and custom/formed door and kick panels.
When asked what events he’d been to, Johnson summed it up perfectly: “Terry built this truck to enjoy driving—on the daily—and has yet to leave it parked for spectators to enjoy!
Check out this story in our digital edition here.
