1956 Ford F-100 - Build A Winner - The 2006 Truck Of The Year

"Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." Coach of the NFL Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi knew a great deal about winning, sacrifice, hard work and success. From 1959 through 1967, he guided the Packers to five NFL championships and two back-to-back Superbowl victories.

Shortly after the 2003 F-100 Super-nationals, Steve Haessly approached Rex Hasch, owner of Hasch Body Shop in Bryan, Ohio, about building a truck for the '56 F-100's 50th anniversary. Their goal was to construct the winner of the 28th F-100 Supernationals and Ford Family Reunion, where the '56 F-100's 50th birthday would be celebrated. As the only two back-to-back winners of the Truck of the Year award at the F-100 Supernationals, Steve and Rex have winning in common.

In fall '03 they began the project. Steve acquired a Total Cost Involved chassis equipped with a polished stainless Mustang II IFS. A Winters 9-inch, 3.25:1 geared differential suspended with All American chrome coilover shocks and TCI's four-link made up the chassis' rearend. Steve installed a polished stainless 18-gallon Rock Valley fuel tank along the driver-side running board brackets, and plumbed the fuel and brake systems with stainless steel lines.

For powering the '56, Steve found a '75 460ci Ford big-block and C6 transmission. He bored the block .040 over and installed Sealed Power rings and pistons. A Comp Cams camshaft with .515-inch lift intake and .520-inch lift exhaust, and 262.0 duration intake and 275.0 duration exhaust went in place with the rest of the engine's internals before Pete Bland and Brett McDougal buttoned up the block with a Weiand Tunnel Port EFI. Steve mated the engine to the rebuilt and polished C6 transmission via a TCI Automotive 2,800-stall converter and optimized the trans with a trans cooler.

While Steve completed the F-100's drivetrain and chassis, Rex performed extensive metal surgery on the exterior sheetmetal and cab. From Steve's collection of F-100 parts trucks, Rex pancaked the best hood and split it horizontally at its nose. He rounded the door panels' lower corners with the rocker panels. He gave the nicest cab a 1.5-inch top chop. Rex widened the bed and elegantly curved the tailgate. The bedsides received double walls. The rear fenders became two inches wider. Rex also made sure to incorporate the fender-opening reveal lines with the running boards. He then created his private brew of DuPont red. The chassis rails and the pickup's exterior and interior metal panels all became perfectly drenched in the same custom red hue.

The Thursday before Mother's Day '06, Rex picked the '56 up from Lyons Custom Trim in Brookville, Ohio, for some last-minute changes. They discovered a problem, which they resolved by robbing parts from another project truck on the eve of Mother's Day. Wife Becki, good friend Sonny Schenider, and Steve spent two days cleaning up the truck for the show before the Haessly family departed from their home in Marietta, Ohio, for the event in Knoxville, Tennessee. We're happy to report that Steve Haessly and family and Rex Hasch are now three-time winners of the Truck of the Year at the F-100 Supernationals! Coach Lombardi said it and lived it, as do the Haesslys and Mr. Hasch, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing."