This week’s Fan Car Friday comes to us from Tom with a 1951 F-1 Pickup truck that he has had for the greater part of a decade. Fan Car Friday is a segment where we want to share with the world the automobiles that our fans have. We have absolutely no affiliation/relationship with the cars, the build or the owners. This post was made with consent from the owner.

This 1951 is a vehicle with a long history, though maybe not quite as long as the restoration may have taken. When Tom was first learning to drive some 60 years ago, he was using his mother’s car. It’s fun to drive, not so much when you have to do it in your mother’s station wagon though. After he finally got his license he spent weeks searching for a car without finding one he could afford. It wasn’t until his gym teacher at school put up a for sale sign on his pickup that Tom bought it without consulting his parents first (probably due to them being against the idea of him cashing in his bonds early to help pay for the car).

It may have been slow, it may have been heavily rusted and covered with dents, but it was his. And nothing is cooler than the first car you get to call your own. Being the oldest of his friends and first to drive, he was always stuck as the chauffeur while everyone but his girlfriend climbed into the back of the bed. As years of high school and then trade school went on, the truck took more damage and eventually became Tom’s beater while he moved onto bigger and better things. But all those years he still kept it in his possession. The storage location may have been behind a shed at his parent’s house, but it was still his.

After Tom was treated so well by the truck for so many years, he wanted to return the favor by making the truck something that was without room for improvement. Tom is a good man, he always put his family first and the dream truck restoration sat dormant in the back of his thoughts for many years. It wasn’t until the last decade that this dream became a reality.

When Tom finally had some money to play with he wanted to make the truck world class. That meant an automatic transmission for long road trips, beautiful new oak running boards, rack & pinion steering, and a chromed out 429 Cobra Jet engine. Then he decided to make the truck everything he could and more, being an old truck he was able to make it a full frame off restoration. He replaced the entire chassis with something more reinforced and rust free, new shocks, modern suspension, a 9” rear end, power steering and an adjustable steering column. For some of the more up to date luxuries he also added a CD stereo with new Alpine speakers all around, nicer gauges and a hidden kill switch (should anyone ever try to steal his beauty).

You often hear how the owner of a car says they love how it puts a smile on everyone’s face. For Tom though, his favorite thing about the F-1 is how it never fails to put a smile on his face when he takes it out of the garage for a trip.