The title says it all. For some dumb reason, when we got back from the show and I was lookin at all that was said and all I missed Melissa's story. I thought it would be nice for everyone to tell their own story on how and when we made the decision to get into old F100's and what trucks we've owned over the years. My older brother had a '54 F100 for his first vehicle and he used to pick me up from school in it. I was 8 years old and he was 16 years old. The truck was pearl white with blue metallic flames on it. Then he sold it and bought another truck (53 with a '56 grille in it) I was hooked on F100's from then on. I've got a pic in my gallery of me when I was 8 years old in front of his truck.
Or hop over the side into the bed, using a rust hole for a step and bending the whole side over. :P ...because who wants to walk 7 more feet around to the back...
I was given the truck a long time ago as a gift. (I guess no one bought it, so I got it!)
I was probably in my early teens or younger when I saw an F100 on the TV, I am not even sure what the program or film was now. But I remember asking my Dad what that truck was. He didnt really know and just said its some american stepside, possibly a C%$&y.
Well I did a little research and found that it was in fact a 1956 Ford F100. This was back before the Interweb and all that. I ended up looking in the local Library through those old paper things called books. I told my dad that I would have one of those one day as it looked like the coolest thing you could get. He just looked at me and smiled as if to say "I dont think so". This was back in the late 70's living in outer London UK.
It took until I was nearly 40 to get one, but I did and it it is a 56 too.
Now all I have to do is get it built!
Lee
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1956 F100 - Currently Undergoing rebuild www.1956f100.com
Usually thru one of the two doors - that is if they haden't been removed or fallen off.
Now that right there is funny
Long story short......... was into 73-79's then 67-72's then somehow missed the next couple of generations and wound up with a 53 that I stumbled upon in boxes that I could not pass by.....was looking for a 40's project at the time but you get what you get
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Sparky
Junk is something you've kept for years
and throw away three weeks before you need it.
Me? I needed a truck, my last one got totalled 13 days after I had finished it. But this time I wanted something with style, something that would be fitting to a Blacksmith artist, the kind of truck you want to look at, that stands out and people notice, the kind of truck that makes an impact when I pull up to do business.
So I looked through countless photos, checked year after year, model after model. But I also had to work within my limits and see what I could find. But after searching for a while I decided the vintage Ford simply had much more style than Chevy or Dodge or anyone else, then I became fixated on having it have to be a '56... then I spent a year looking for one only to buy it and have it not fit on my trailer, lol! Thats ok, its about to work out very awesomely.
I get into genealogy form time to time and with this I found out my Grandfather and three of my Uncles all worked for Ford Motors in the fiftys. Had allways been a Chevy man over the years. When I got to looking up Fords in the fiftys I fell in love with the cool look of the the F100's from the mid fiftys. At that time I just plain had to have one. Cann't wait to get my 56 rolling and use it for genealogy road trips and going to shows. I plan my 56 to be a driver and not a show truck. May not be the best looking one out there but I don,t care but I'll be rideing on cloud nine.
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Jack
1956 F100- future road hog
1996 Ranger- daily driver
1989 F150 - future motor donor for 56
2003 Regal
When I was a little kid my great grandfather's 56 F-250 was in our garage with a blown engine and I used to play in it. When a 292 was put in the truck, it became the work truck for our extended family and I rode to cool places like the dump and lumber yard with my grandfather and uncles.
Eventually I inherited the truck and it is now my most prized possession.
Although the grandfathers and some of the uncles are gone now, the truck remains and makes me feel closer to them. It's like a member of the family.
I keep feeling like I'm hanging out in the wrong place, but since I've met more of you in this forum than where I "should" be in the 61-66s, I guess I'll keep posting, haha.
I touched on it in my story, about how my brother in law has a '66 longbed, and I remember going to the F100 Supernats with him and my sister. I remember going over to the house a few times as they were restoring it.
I remember him calling me and being like, hey I found a '65 for sale, wanna go check it out? I was like, sure. I was a late bloomer, wasn't even interested in driving until my senior year of high school. Didn't get my license til I was 17 and 4 days before my senior year. So I don't even remember truck shopping, or looking for something to drive. He just happened to find it and I bought it. *shrug*
I don't remember being specifically into Fords leading up to that. My dad had always worked on family cars at the house and I was around the grease and the tools. Always a tomboy, rather be helping dad than playing with dolls.
I dunno really. Just something about the body lines of the Slick 60s appealed to me. I'd love to have a '51 or so some day. Maybe build a Mercury with a MEL series big block and call it MELx2 since my nickname is Mel, heh.
After I got my '65 though, I was hooked. Have been ever since. Just something about an old Ford truck turns my crank. I am definitely a truck girl though. I got a '06 Fusion for a daily driver, had it a little over a year and can't wait to get rid of it. I hate driving cars, I don't care what kinda gas mileage it gets, its still a car and its just not me.
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-Melissa-
'66 F100 -- Little Black
'78 Bronco -- Brutus
My wife's uncle built my truck. He was a helluva fine mechanic and fabricator.I used to drool over this black beauty 1955 Ford F-100 in his garage way up that STEEP West Virginia driveway whenever we would make the trip up there.He died of lung cancer in early '04. I bought it not only to keep it in the family, but because I had always loved it's looks. I have showered it with love and money ever since..
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"A man that chops His own wood is warmed by it not once, but twice" Henry Ford.
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How did you get into old Ford trucks?
