You never really forget your first vehicle. Some of us are lucky enough to say we still have them, but then there's the rest of us who've had to see them off for one reason or another. Sometimes we're relegated to replacing our first car or truck with something more "practical," for lack of a better term. Other times, fate intervenes and our dreams of holding onto our first vehicle are crushed in one disastrous moment. For Chris Smith, the latter of these two situations was the reason he parted ways with his initial means of transportation.
Chris' love for this particular truck is his birthright, for all intents and purposes. You see, both Chris' father and grandfather had a passion for the Blue Oval in their blood and drove F-100s as well. Chris grew up around this body style and spent many of his formative years riding in the ones his folks owned. So, carrying on the tradition of eventually owning one was all too appropriate. When Chris turned 16, he fulfilled that legacy when he got his first truck: a '69 F-100.
For about the next year and a half, the truck was his daily driver until tragedy struck. Chris was in an accident, and although he walked away relatively unscathed, the same couldn't be said about his '69. It was totaled. He had to bid farewell as it was towed off to automotive heaven. Chris vowed that one day, when finances allowed, he would purchase another '69 F-100, spare no expense in its restoration, and put his heart into building it exactly the way he wanted. Over the next 14 years, the inevitable wife and children came along, but Chris never lost sight of his dream. After seeing an ad in a local paper, he was able to capitalize on it.
Chris knew right away he'd found the right platform to turn his vision into reality. The paint was faded and the brakes were poor, but, all in all, the truck was pretty straight and really just needed a thorough freshening up. A handshake and $750 later, Chris was well on his way to giving this '69 a second lease on life. After driving it for about a month to get a feel for what the F-100's resurrection would entail, Chris spent practically every night over the next two years rebuilding the truck.