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Ford's FR100 projects were shown at SEMA in 2003. Hard to believe it's been that long ago. Great question, John. Here's what I could dig up quickly. It looks like Tim Allen has the black one.
FORD GOES FORWARD INTO THE PAST While most of the show cars on display in Las Vegas are spin-offs of current production models, Ford took a look in the rearview mirror with its FR100 concept truck. It began life as a 1953 F-100 pickup, noted Dan Davis, head of the automaker’s Racing Technology team. Six inches were cut out of the bed, while the cab was stretched an equal amount. Under the hood, the FR100 featured the new 5.0-liter Cammer crate engine, a high-performance spin-off of Ford’s mainstay 4.6-liter modular V-8. The new powertrain puts out an estimate 425 horsepower, and will be offered in packages for use in a variety of racing configurations.
Years ago AMC built a sports car called the Marlin. The concept car was built using a standard model with hand crafted rear half including a custom made, one of a kind rear window. They used it for promo shots. I remember reading in Hemmings or some other car magazine that an AMC collector checked into finding this one off car and found that AMC removed the front bumper and installed a push bumper and used it for pushing cars for crash tests. The collector found it sitting in a back lot in AMC's Kenosha, Wisconsin assembly plant.
Not the car I mentioned I think, but could have been. This was a picture from an ad for the car.
The first 2 truck pics were taken in 2003 at the grand hotel in pigeon forge. The pic of the panel was taken later as its taken at Knoxville chillehowie park
There are a lot of posts on the HAMB about custom show cars. It's amazing how many times someone will reply with pictures of the cars sitting in a field or in a warehouse missing parts and messed up paint. I suppose they were build for a few good years of shows and then sold to whoever. I have a friend who has a '57 Ford retractable convertible. Back in the '80s he built it with all kinds of custom touches and took it on the show circuit winning different trophies. The first time I saw it was a couple of years ago and it was sitting in his pole building half apart and covered in a quarter inch of dust. The custom upholstery was out of it and the paint was far from the condition it was in pictures of the car he showed me back in it's show days.
I was at both of those shows gathering parts for my project and the FR 100 trucks and the FR 100 panel were awesome. Wonder if they could be in a Ford Specialty Museum? Had not really thought about them all these years. On a side note, If I remember correctly the 2004 Knoxville show was when I first met John Niolon. Either that year or the next was when Stacy David of Gearz fame was there. Meeting John was a bigger thrill!! Have a Blessed day, Steve
Don't underestimate yourself, John. Some of the most fun I've ever had at big shows or events was turning down autographs and swag from quote-unquote TV stars of so-called car builder reality shows. The look on their faces is priceless when they realize you're not impressed. I'd much rather bench race with any one of you guys than hang out at the booth of the rich and famous.
Back around 25-30 yrs ago I made the rounds of the car shows. Saw a lot of big name builders and there cars. I was to say the least not impressed. I got to see ZZ Top`s 34 eliminator up close and even got to look inside and under the hood. I was not impressed. It was very flawed for a pro built car. Crappy details under the hood, access to the engine plugs on one side very bad due to the way the hood opened, was very restricked. Car had to be jumped to even get it to the Holley tent to be worked on. The battery access was inside the car and the interior had to come out to get to it. Saw Little Buttara John, and his attitude was unbelievable. All he cared about was trying to sell a build to you. I go to some shows now and am more impressed looking at a home built that has unique ideas by the owner.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
