Humble beginnings don’t get much more humble than a farm truck right? Which is why Grant’s custom slammed slice of Americana was a must for this year’s magazine; it has a perfect blend of new tech housed within a retro shell.
Built in 1966 this F100 truck spent the majority of it’s life fetching bales of hay and generally being used for the exact purpose it was intended e.g. A “truck”
That’s not to say it wasn’t loved, oh no the original owner from Idaho always kept it mechanically sound and running tip top, well I say it was really well looked after during the shoot Grant was keen to point out a bullet hole that was eyeing me up by the tailgate because well, America right! Don’t forget this is the equivalent of the white van we have over here, which is the backbone of Britain if you watch enough TV adverts etc. etc. Anwyay…
Let’s skip forward to the current non-gun wielding owner shall we? He spotted the listing on Craig’s’ list and he took it upon himself to import it all the way from the states to blighty. However during this process he received a couple of photos during shipping that caused him a bit of concern, he had originally purchased it thinking it was a shot wheel base truck and had cleared that with his Mrs however the new photos showed is was way bigger than he thought and wouldn’t necessarily fit in the parking spot for his house. Luckily it turns out his Mrs is just as much of a fan of old trucks as Grant “phew” job done and it was now in his ownership. He spent the best part of two years driving it around in it’s stock form but this didn’t last long and he soon got his hands dirty and turned into what you see here today.
Starting from the ground up the wheels are original, ripe with that lovely period looking patina but the rears were banded to allow for a fatter tyre. The entire chassis was also heavily modified with around 2 inches removed from under the cab, new gearbox crossmember, engine and gearbox raised, massive rear chassis notch, custom built parallel 4 link and a custom built watts link both designed and built by Grant. There’s also various cross-member modifications to clear the prop shaft. Yeah turns out there’s quite a bit of work to make a truck look as damn cool as this.
The front suspension believe it or not is from a Jaguar, who’d have thought that a an old XJS suspension set up would work, or even fit something like this, mad right? The bodywork is mostly untouched and we can’t praise Grant enough for leaving it as is, because we dig it. The front wings were ‘tubbed’ to be able to clear the new front wheel placement when slammed and aired-out.
The rear truck bed was raised and the original floor was saved and re-used in the new position, the camper bed top was believe it or not a lucky eBay find and fit perfectly. The gearbox tunnel was modified to allow the entire truck frame to lay flat, the mods don’t end there either to be fair this entire magazine could be filled with a list of all the adjustments and modifications Grant has tirelessly slaved away either cutting, wielding, fixing or bolting to create his perfect truck.
One last thing that totally threw us and made us want to kiss Grant’s crazy petrolhead brain, on the dash there are two levers you can pull out and one says “heat” so obviously he took that switch/lever and wired it up to a custom linelock function, allowing him to “bring the heat” and create the perfect burnout hell yeah Grant! America salutes you! Hell…we salute you too!
He uses the truck whenever he can, he will often take it out just for a cruise or to a car meet and since the addition of the camper shell it’s super practical for him as well, he mentioned that tip runs have never been easier.
However, as you can imagine with someone like Grant there’s always something he wants to adjust or change up on the truck, so in the future he’s looking to give it a bit more horsepower, around 300bhp is easily achievable apparently out of the V8 under the hood.
So a four-barrel carburetor, inlet manifold, exhaust headers and a different camshaft will get him there. He’ll also be installing a removable tow-bar next year ready for a classic Eriba caravan that he has his eye on, how sick would that look?
Grant would like to first and foremost thank his wife. She has amazing patience or a superpower that blocks out his inane boring car chat and yet is always backing him with whatever decision he makes for the truck including the long nights tinkering in the garage and secondly his daughter Amber for naming the truck Destiny after the whale shark in Finding Dory.
His Dad is also always there when he wants to bounce an idea around or needs some help with the build. He is the reason he is interested in cars and was a (bad?) influence on him from a young age, he inspired Grant with his love of classic cars and hot rods.
Words & Photos by Nick Simmo Photographer
