We're hoping this '61 Chevy Apache will have the same impact on you that it had on photographer Joe Greeves when he first saw it at Slamfest in Tampa-and that it had on us when he showed us his photos. The out-of-the-ordinary choice of raw material and unusual selection and application of paint tend to draw attention to Russell and Eva Griffin's two-tone pickup.inline_mediumwraptextright26727094/featuredvehicles/0911cct_1961_chevy_apache_pickup_truck0911cct_01_z+1961_chevy_apache_pickup_truck+classic_front_grill.jpgTrue

If you have a neighbor who doesn't call the cops at the first sign of loud music, or a throaty motor for that matter, you're a fortunate individual. Pete Thomsen can say he's one of those lucky individuals who had just such a neighbor. Not only was the man who lived across the street from his dad a nice guy, he had a soft spot for cool old trucks. Pete's father had a '49 Studebaker 1/2-ton pickup that he drove as a regular old workhorse until he decided to part with it in the early '70s. His neighbor bought the truck for a modest amount and drove it 'til it blew a freeze plug. From there, like many of us can relate to, the old Stude was put out to pasture and sat, and sat ... and sat.inline_mediumwraptextright26739595/featuredvehicles/0911cct_1949_studebaker_pickup_truck0911cct_01_z+1949_studebaker_pickup_truck+front_grill.jpgTrue

When it comes to building a truck, it's always easy to pick out the guys who have experience in having done it before as opposed to the guys who are doing it for the first time simply by asking what it is that they're starting with. Having said that, this really only applies to the guys who set out to build a truck at a level of completion like Gordon McGilton has done with his '51 Ford F-1. Those guys who are building workhorses or primered hot rod trucks aren't concerned with every panel being straight and the sheetmetal in perfect virgin shape. Patina is oftentimes the name of that game; the more distressed the more impressed. But if one's setting out to build a five-star truck, those with experience know that the better the foundation, the better the end result.inline_mediumwraptextright26732512/featuredvehicles/0911cct_1951_ford_f10911cct_01_z+1951_ford_f1+custom_truck_grill.jpgTrue

"Slick Crazy" in California
Jack and Toni of Alpine, California, sent us a bunch of color prints depicting their '61-66 Ford truck collection. In upcoming issues we'll revisit and show you more of their collection. In the meantime here's the family's '62 and '63. Jack wrote: "It was in 1975, at the age of 10, when I watched my oldest brother Tom butcher a perfectly good '65 T-bird convertible to steal the FE motor for a slightly worn-out '63 Ford Unibody. My brother, in his senior year of high school, proceeded to race the old truck up and down Long Island until he blew it up entirely. As a grown man, I moved to San Diego, in 1986. It was then I found my second wife and our first '66 F-100 in a trailer park with no engine for the cost of $300. My friend had just totaled his '81 Corvette, so I proceeded to put the Corvette drivetrain into the old girl. The next "Slick" was the Clairemont Family Farms truck. This particular '63 F-250 Unibody, with a Y-block and three on the tree, was bone stock and purchased in Spring Valley, California, for $1,400. My wife and I rubbed out the paint and used the '63 F-250 to help build our family's first house. The old "Slick" trudged back and forth to the dumps and the local supply stores until she burnt a piston. I called my dad in New York, with whom I spent many of my days growing up helping him patch together our family vehicles in the driveway of our family home. My dad told me to 'just pop the head and drop the pan with the engine still in it and throw in another piston.' I heeded my father's advice and the truck is still purring to this day with the same spark plugs in it."inline_mediumwraptextright31002603/featuredvehicles/0911cct_1963_ford_f250_pickup_truck0911cct_06_z+1963_ford_f250_pickup_truck+front_bumper.jpgTrue

'65 Dreamin'
Randy Roberts of Humble, Texas, told us he has put over six years of blood, sweat, and tears into the '65 Chevrolet he calls '65 Dreamin'-not to mention a whole bunch of money. He bought the '65 C10 for $350 in northeast Texas, and didn't waste a minute before tossing the stock 250-inch six it came with into the scrap heap and scored a 350. On top of the 0.040-overbored 350, Randy bolted a 600-cfm Edelbrock carb coated in Endurashine to a chrome-plated intake manifold. The cam is a mild grind intended to help the '65 chug away from the light, paired with 3.43:1 gears and a 700-R4 automatic overdrive transmission. Inside the cab Randy has all the power options, plus air conditioning, at his command. To keep an eye on things, Randy has a billet dash cluster packed full of Dolphin gauges. An Alpine sound system keeps his wife and daughter supplied with tunes to travel with. The exterior of Randy's '65 Dreamin' was sprayed in PT Cruiser Electric Blue paint after he welded and filled the body seams. Randy says he's been showing the truck for a little over three years now, and it has won an award from our sister publication Classic Trucks. In closing, Randy said, "I would love to see my truck in your magazine."inline_mediumwraptextright25648223/featuredvehicles/0911cct_1965_chevy_c10_pickup_truck0911cct_01_z+1965_chevy_c10_pickup_truck+restored_front_grill.jpgTrue

It's an all-too-familiar scenario. You begin what seems like a simple task only to question your own judgment and intentions. Before you know it, you're deeply committed to making every detail perfect and spent a heck of a lot more time than you'd planned. But is it to your chagrin or satisfaction? Musicians do it in the studio, women do it with wardrobe changes, and classic truck owners do it with their projects. Why? It's a labor of love.inline_mediumwraptextright25609685/featuredvehicles/0911cct_1955_ford_f100_pickup_truck0911cct_01_z+1955_ford_f100_pickup_truck+fully_restored_classic_truck.jpgTrue

Larry Mason of Lake Isabella, California, wanted to build something a little on the heavy-duty side, but he wanted to keep it on a small scale. No problem, he started with '49 Ford F-6 that began its life as a Union 76 oil field boom truck, and then kept chopping until he ended up with the size truck he wanted. To squish the cab down a little closer to the ground, Larry tried his hand at top-chopping. The deep chop came real good, so Larry kept on chopping. Next in line was the F-6 leaf springs which Larry whacked in half, and produced quarter-elliptic springs that were mounted longitudinally. The original 239-inch Flathead V-8 had almost no miles on it, from sitting most of its years, but the compound four-speed had to go. With the help of a good neighbor-a metal sculptor-Larry made an adapter and bolted up a T-5 and the '49 picked up another gear. It looks like our friend Larry has started something, so we're sure we'll be seeing more "Rig-Rods" on the road in the near future.inline_mediumwraptextright26386540/featuredvehicles/0910cct_1949_ford_f6_pickup_truck0910cct_01_o+1949_ford_f6_pickup_truck +customized_classic.jpgTrue

When Gary and Jill Castro of Carpinteria, California, picked up a rough '71 Chevy Stepside pickup from their son-in-law, they never envisioned that it would ever end up as nice as the truck you see before you. What started as a modest attempt to breathe new life into the old workhorse soon snowballed as many of these projects oftentimes do. Gary was kind enough to tell us the story firsthand, so we'll let him take it from here.inline_mediumwraptextright30495624/featuredvehicles/0910cct_1971_chevy_c10_pickup_truck0910cct_01_o+1971_chevy_c10_pickup_truck+front_bumper.jpgTrue

It's not often one can relate Jake and Elwood Blues' Bluesmobile to trucks, but when it comes to Max Cross' '60 Chevy it's more or less a kissing cousin. Underneath all that classic GM sheetmetal lays a cop motor, cop brakes, and a cop tranny.inline_mediumwraptextright30503895/featuredvehicles/0910cct_1960_chevy_pickup_truck0910cct_01_o+0910cct_1960_chevy_pickup_truck+front_bumper_shot.jpgTrue

Jorv Gavic had a problem we all wish we had: no room at home for all his hot rods and trucks. His solution was to buy a building and turn it into his own personal shop. It turned out to be a great "weekend hideaway" for working on projects and lacked only one thing-a shop truck.inline_mediumwraptextright30438207/featuredvehicles/0910cct_1937_ford_pickup_truck0910cct_01_z+1937+ford_pickup_truck.jpgTrue

Roger Woody remembers 1955 pretty well. He was a kid in grade school in the small town of Christianburg, Virginia, where his dad worked at the local Chevrolet dealership.inline_mediumwraptextright30502176/featuredvehicles/0910cct_1955_chevy_pickup_truck0910cct_01_o+0910cct_1955_chevy_pickup_truck+front_bumper.jpgTrue

The saga of Steve Kelban of Parkville, Maryland, and his '48 Chevy started when a friend allowed him to use his barn and Steve began removing everything he didn't want on the truck.

Itch by ItchSteve and Chickey's '54 FordIt all started 31years ago when Steve Hernandez of Granada Hills, California, was 18 years old and had a friend with a '54 Ford F-100 in his backyard in Simi Valley, California. The friend wanted to restore the '54 someday, but time and money was an issue, so he asked Steve if he wanted to buy the truck for $500.

"I spent 45 years in management of motor freight-so yeah, I'm a trucker." Jim Adams III.

When Sonny Goulet brought his '51 Ford pickup to Art and Mike Chrisman's CARS shop in Santa Ana, California, back in early 2006, his initial intentions were to have the Chrisman's freshen up the Flathead engine and polish up all the aluminum bits. Slapping a blower on the Flatty was also brought up to the boys and it was then that Art informed him that the cost of doing the Flathead over was about the same as building a blown 392 Chrysler. Being the only non-Ford engine Sonny would consider dropping in the F-1, the decision, as he puts it, "was a no-brainer." But the addition of the early Hemi engine soon turned out to not be the only upgrade made to the truck.

We might be full of it, but it seems like in the 21st century there's a lot more fullsize pickups on the road used mainly for pleasure than there ever was in the in the mid 20th century. A theorist might contend the trend started to build momentum not long after the end of WWII because nearly a decade of development was lost to the war years. In the aftermath, the pressure was on for Detroit to catch up and deliver some new and exciting trucks, and it came through with flying colors. Once people got a taste of V-8 power and creature comforts that rivaled fully equipped cars, the luxury pickup race was on.

Art Chrisman's '52 Ford
We learned Hemi-powered Ford F-1s are nothing new at CARS when we shot Sonny Goulet's Chrisman-built '51 F-1 for this month's cover. The '52 F-1 Art's brother bought brand-new was the Chrisman brother's push truck right from the get-go. In 1955 when the Chrismans took the first NHRA Nationals in Great Bend, Indiana, the prize was a brand-new 354-inch Chrysler Hemi engine. Art and his brother hauled the '56 Hemi motor back home to California in the back of the F-1, and then stuffed it under the trusty Ford's hood before the next race. Art told us one time up at Bakersfield after the March Meet, they were ready to go home and had the dragster loaded up on the trailer and hooked to the F-1 when he got a wild hair and blasted the whole kit and caboodle down the strip right through the traps. When Art got out of the F-1 he heard from what he thought was a deserted dragstrip: "Art Chrisman, please come to the tower." Art soon learned the officials were still in the tower and saw the whole thing. Art got chewed-out for the stunt because if anything had happened, the insurance company would flip. After the stern (wink-wink) reprimand, Art was told the Firepowered F-1 ran 92 mph loaded!

Earl Higgins cut his teeth as a youngster hanging around his father's body shop watching the guys sling lead and apply paint, eventually lending a hand around the shop and learning the trade. But life as a bodyman was not to be and Earl ended up running his own heavy equipment company working as a grading contractor on various construction sites around the Southern California basin. This line of work often led him to areas less traveled where the random dilapidated car sat, having been neglected for years.

Editor's Note: Getting your truck into Readers' Trucks is a snap, of the camera, that is. All it takes is a stack 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. Send photos of your truck (no 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.

Some folks say there are as many reasons for building a custom classic truck as there are truck owners. In fact, there are two reasons why people like Henry Layden build trucks like this extraordinary '36 Ford pickup. One is the satisfaction that comes from taking a tired old truck and building it up into a cool, one-of-a-kind ride. The other is the fun that comes from driving a truck unlike any other on the road, something that is uniquely your own.

Forty summers ago, the whole world tuned in on their TVs as, 240,000 miles away, a pair of fellow earthlings planted their footprints in the dust of the moon. For most people then, as now, a voyage like that was beyond their capabilities-and certainly their budgets. Even so, nobody (hardly anybody) begrudged those guys their trip to the moon. Instead, we appreciated it as a remarkable achievement and a huge inspiration.

Garry's Chase Truck
Here's the story of Garry Pardini's '52 Chevy told in his own words. "This particular 1952 1/2 ton was sold brand-new by Chase Chevrolet to Stephens Marine in Stockton, California. After it served its time as a parts truck, Stephens passed it down to an employee. From there it changed hands a couple of times between others in the company. I purchased the '52 Chevy in 1974. My inspiration to own a truck of this vintage came from a photograph of a '48 Chevy 1/2 ton my dad used as a delivery truck for his retail store called the Toy Box, located here in Stockton. It was a black and white image, but my dad told me it was dark green in color. The '52 was a driver when I got it. The chrome was dull, the body had small dents here and there and the paint was scratched and faded. The floorboards were rusted out from a leaky cowl vent and a missing drain tube. The bed wood was rotted out. The engine was the original 216-inch inline six. The transmission was a three-speed column shift. I ran across a roof visor off of a blue '54. My best friend who at the time had been taking some body shop classes at the local J.C. offered to paint the visor. He also wanted a shot at the dents on the driver door and fender. When it was time to paint we decided to include the roof and interior. I picked Seacrest Green from the original '52 color charts. The shade was quite a bit different from the faded avocado green. I ended up with a two-tone green truck.

Building custom classic trucks can be a lonesome hobby. Start talking about golf or fishing or football and you'll be the center of attention with the guys at work or around the neighborhood. Start talking about the old truck you've been building up and you're going to see some blank stares and hear some crickets chirping. Hanging out with fellow custom and classic truck enthusiasts is no guarantee that they'll share your vision either.

Jeff Ford was perusing eBay one day, looking for a classic truck that he could hand the keys off to his son Jordon when he happened upon a clean '68 Ford F-100 Ranger. On a whim, he decided to bid on it, doubtful that he would meet the reserve set by the owner. The auction ended and just as Jeff figured, the reserve was not met. The next day, however, the owner decided to lift the reserve and lo and behold, Jeff was the highest bidder. A short time later and the previous owner, Rusty, had brought the truck out from where he built it in Tucson, Arizona, to Jeff's home in Costa Mesa, California, to hand over the keys and pink slip.

The super-clean, show-quality leather interior was done by Brian Hagwood's Headliners Plus in Gulfport, Mississippi, and features contoured Honda buckets. Details inside the cab include Dakota Digital instruments, ididit tilt steering column, and a leather-wrapped billet steering wheel. The kickass sound system in the '57 is thanks to Billy Brown, Robbie's brother, from Benchmark SoundWorks in Alpharetta, Georgia. Billy pro-installed a 7-inch Pioneer DHL9000 flip-face head unit with a touchscreen monitor with Infinity 6.5-inch mids and highs located in the kick panels and behind the bucket seats along with a 6.5-inch Bazooka tube for bass. Billy then added remote start, keyless entry, and security system.