Dj vu
This is not your everyday situation. Tom Spruill from Philippi, West Virginia, drove a '53 Ford as a daily driver back in the late '70s. Wanting to follow in dad's footsteps was his son, Bret, who purchased a '53 at the age of 13 in the hopes of building a daily driver of his own. Well, when Bret turned 16 his truck wasn't finished, so he used Dad's truck to go to an afterschool function and totaled the truck. Bret felt so bad for totaling his dad's beloved daily driven Ford that he told his dad to take his '53.
Fast-forward over two decades later to 2001, when Tom finally got things rolling on the handed-over Ford truck. The frame is stock, but now it's boxed with a Fat Man Mustang II frontend, rack-and-pinion steering, and disc brakes. Out back is a 9-inch Ford with POSIES springs with reversed eyes and flipped front hangers controlled by No Limit traction bars. The wheels are 15-inch solid steelies, and a Mustang gas tank is located between the frame. Power is from a .30 over 460 Ford with a mild cam, 750-cfm Edelbrock carb, MSD ignition, and Sanderson headers. Tom's son, Tom, laid down the Toreador red paint, and the interior is R&P vinyl stitched with a classic feel by J&J of Davisville, West Virginia.
All the work on the truck, minus the exhaust, was performed in Tom's garage or his son Tom's body shop, and although it took almost 27 years to finish, Tom says the family never let the dream die, and that's why the Ford is finally on the road.