Editor's Note: Getting your truck into Readers' Trucks is a snap, of the camera, that is. All it takes is a couple of good-quality photos of your ride that are in focus and well lit. Due to the volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot return photographs. Please shoot and send photos of your truck only (no people, pets, Polaroids, or printouts) to: CCT, Readers' Trucks, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870. It is important that you include a detailed description of the modifications you have made to your truck, including any interesting stories behind it.
Homegrown Bed Floor
Billy Hale of Blytheville, Arkansas, found his '49 Chevy pickup in a neighbor's backyard with an oak tree growing through its nine-foot bed. He used stainless steel strips and oak to make his bed floor, but he didn't mention if it was the same one growing out of his truck. A glutton for punishment or a guy with real patience, Billy rebuilt the '49's original 216-inch boat anchor engine and dropped it back in. Other delights include six-volt electrics and a torque-tube driveline. His most amazing feat was transforming the '49's rusted body, fenders, and bed into an ultra teal metallic beauty.
Ocean-Green '57 Low-Miler
With only 200 original miles on the odometer, the first owner of this 1957 Chevy sold it to Cliff's dad in '57. In '62, the title was transferred over to Cliff. Except for a deluxe cab with a panoramic rear window, this '57 was built as a base model. Its 235-inch Stovebolt was tossed in favor of a Power Pack 283 with an all-synchro three-speed tranny back rapping through dual glasspacks on downshifts.Hawaiian Orchid
If we'd seen Frank Rubalcava's super fine '51 F1 at a truck show instead of in our Readers' Trucks mailbox, it would have been a five-page feature. The cab features a four-inch chop with shaved door handles and a whole bunch of block sanding to make its '92 General Motor's Hawaiian Orchid ripple-free. For power, Frank's running a sweet little stock 305-inch Chevy small-block motor with an aversion to burning gasoline... That means it's economical.Road-Racin' Ranchero
Falcons raced at Monte Carlo, so why not drop a 710-horsepower 358-inch Cosworth Ford into a Ranchero and race it? That's exactly what Larry Miller of Huntington Beach, California, figured. Mike Eisenberg at MAECO in Northridge, California, set the little hauler up like one of his vintage racer Shelby Mustangs. With modifications too numerous to list here, judging by the photos Larry included of his Ranchero on a road course, it goes like hell.