Terry and Terri Altman of Russellville, Arkansas' original build plan for their '55 Ford F-100 was for it to serve as a shop truck for their collision-repair business. But after attending the 1998 SuperNationals, Terry came home inspired by what he witnessed during the F-100 of the Year competition. He returned to the SuperNationals in 2000 with a freshly finished F-100 that won the People's Choice Award. But he wasn't completely satisfied with his efforts.
His love affair with F-100s began in high school when Terry purchased his very first vehicle months before he had a driver's license. During and after high school he drove the '53 F-100 daily until he was 19 years old. But as his new body shop business needed cash that he didn't have (and didn't want to borrow), Terry decided to sell his Effie for the funds to keep his young collision-repair shop pounding out dents and satisfying customers.A second '53 F-100 was purchased in 1982. When it was finished in 1983, it was nice enough to be featured in a Truckin' magazine story, "Family Tradition." But shortly thereafter, the young Altman family felt the need to own a home. Again the equity in their '53 F-100 was withdrawn, this time to provide the down payment.
As the body-shop business prospered and Terry gained experience straightening and painting sheetmetal, his thoughts once again turned to those two '53 Ford trucks he had let go to new homes. His passion for these '50s Ford trucks was still burning. So a third F-100 was purchased in the '90s, a '55--this one he hoped would be more like what he could only dream about as a teenager. It was decided that the goal would be to build a stunning-quality truck that was also practical. Of course it would be black to showcase the quality bodywork and paint preparation. No self-respecting bodyman would try to hide less-than-perfect panels under a coat of white or light-colored paint. Terry agrees with a friend who stated, "Black is the color that dares you to find something wrong!"
One controversial element of Terry's F-100 is the modern, 32-valve '91 Lexus V-8 engine. Terri and Terry apologize to anyone who might be offended by this choice, however, the outstanding results should speak for themselves. They remarked that it was the company's slogan that made a huge impact on their decision to install something other than a Ford or Chevy V-8 under the hood. "The Passionate Pursuit of Perfection" is what solidified the decision to install the '91 Lexus V-8. With its enormous wiring harness and several computers, it was a formidable mechanical challenge in itself. The slogan also describes the considerable effort Terry has invested in the construction of his beautiful black '55 F-100 in his attempt to make it modern but not radical. Every effort to maintain a sense of continuity was made, but Terry wanted to discover what adventures he might find on a road less traveled.
The one aspect Terry and Terri are most proud of is that this truck was built in their shop with a limited amount of money and the hands-on talent that has evolved over several decades (Effilution?). Not only did Terry build the chassis, perform the bodywork and paint, he purchased a sewing machine for upholstery and taught himself to use this machine that requires hours of practice to use well. Then he designed the interior and fabricated it himself. Again, the result was worth the effort.
After photographing the beautiful black truck, we suspect there's more than a little passionate pursuit of perfection to be found in the Altman body shop and its owners. Terri says they've been searching for an appropriate name for their truck, and while "I did it" has a certain familiar ring to it, we humbly suggest one with a little more originality: Licorice Lifesaver, a sweet name for a sweet black truck!
Under the one-piece Fairlane tilt-forward hood is a well-detailed 4.6L '91 Lexus V-8 engine that's stock internally, but wears a K&N filter element. Everything that could be chrome plated or polished was. The coated exhaust headers connect to stainless steel exhaust tubes and Stainless Steel Specialties mufflers. The IFS frontend is a Kugel Komponents polished stainless unit with Aldan coilover shocks.
The Lexus steering column is electronically controlled and still has the two-driver-adjustment memory. Terry borrowed the laser-cut Ford crest that's embossed on the seatbacks. The seatbacks are also recessed into the cab's custom rear panel. Lastly, a custom Ford crest was created to use as speaker grilles in the cab.
Boyd Coddington billet wheels, 20x10 in the rear and 18x7 in the front, wear Kumho rubber, P235/40ZR18 front, 295/40ZR20 rear.
...The paint is Standox Deep Black. Cailem Hon of Russelville, AR, assisted with paint application. | 
The bed interior is well-varnished oak with polished stainless steel runners.... |
Under the hydraulically lifted bed is a polished '86 Jaguar IRS with positraction and dual-coilover shocks on each side. Russell Roberts fabricated a stainless steel fuel tank mounted in the rear. | 
All the cab seams and vents are filled and smoothed. The firewall is filled and smoothed as well. |
Over a six-month period Terry practiced and practiced on his sewing machine... | 
...Finally he felt confident in tackling the fabrication of this interior of Adobe-colored Ultraleather suede. |
The '91 Lexus instruments are mounted in a custom dash (by the owner). Much of the wiring harness is from the Lexus--Jerry Hancock performed the additional chassis and interior wiring. Vintage Air A/C blows as cool as any luxury car. A remote-controlled Pioneer AM/FM/CD player, wired to Sony speakers through a Selenium amplifier, provides cruisin' tunes. Lokar Performance pedals complete the interior details. | |