The ‘freshly-dragged-out-of-a-field’ look seems to be all the rage right now – how refreshing then to come across such a beautifully finished early Fifties truck like
Mark Fox’s Ford F1

 Words: Keith Harman, Photography: Mike Key



Assuming you’ve already scanned the small-ads in this issue as most readers do before settling down to read the features, (am I right?), you won’t fail to have noticed the amount of late-model pick-ups for sale in both the private and dealer ads. Plenty of Rams, Chevys and of course, the ever popular Ford F-Series trucks, are always on offer in our classified section and its the F-Series that is not only a perennial, truck-lovers favourite, it’s actually one of the best-selling vehicles of all time. In fact, we’ve heard the statistic that somewhere in the world, a new one sells every 30 seconds!



What’s more, over Ford’s 100-year history, one in 10 of every vehicle ever sold has been an F-Series truck. The most popular of the range has always been the Ford F150, the lightest in the F-Series family, and the one most often bought privately as an everyday hauler/workhorse/personal vehicle by truck fans in all walks of life.
The F150 designation was introduced as Ford’s regular half-ton truck back in 1975 and basically took over where the previous F100 model left off. The F100 was introduced in 1953 and was so popular throughout its many redesigns that unfortunately any post-war Ford truck is generally referred to as an F100. But let’s set the record straight right here - the truck featured here even precedes the F100, it’s the granddaddy of them all and the first of the F-Series, it’s the F1. If you deliberately want to get up the nose of an F1 owner, then by all means refer to their truck as an F100, but you have been warned!



     The F1 was introduced in 1948 along with its bigger cousins the F2 and heavy-duty F3 and was Ford’s first all-new truck design after WWII, selling 290,000 units by the end of that first year, though in truth nothing much had changed mechanically speaking. To set the new models apart though, they boasted bigger, wider cabs, one-piece windshields, smoother lines and headlamps incorporated into the grille aperture, giving them a neater look. To keep things easy, only two engines were offered: a 226cu.in. six-pot of 95bhp and the 239cu.in. Flathead V8 with a whole five extra horses on tap! That first generation of F1s can be distinguished from Mark Fox’s model on these pages by the simple horizontal five-bar grille. This design stayed with the truck with small external trim changes through 1950 until it was replaced with the distinctive toothy grille that you see here, one year later in 1951.
     This particular ’51 was bought by Mark in 2001 after he saw an ad for it taped to the corrugated wall of the loo block at Shakespeare County Raceway! It was owned at the time by Northern hot rodder John Kellett, and Mark had seen it around the scene so knew already the truck; unfortunately, John had already left Shakey for home by the time Mark called him. Undeterred, Mark made arrangements to travel up from Tamworth to Leeds the following weekend and promptly bought the truck on the spot and drove it home.



As far as previous vehicle history goes, John was able to tell Mark that the truck had been imported from California where at some time in its life it had served as a local Fire Department truck, Mark believes this to be probably true as he certainly found plenty of red paint on it when he rubbed it down for its re-spray! It had also served as a tow truck for a race car by a previous owner, and it was probably that owner who had upgraded the running gear to the overhead valve V8 and auto that was in the truck when it came over.



     While in his possession, John had re-sprayed the truck in a straight blue and it ran painted steelies and hub caps which along with the already lowered suspension, gave the truck a nostalgic custom look while still remaining practical. Mark liked this look and so continued to drive and enjoy the truck like this for the next three years, the only real extra expense being a new double garage to put it in at home! Under the skin, the old Ford retains its stock original chassis although the rear end has been beefed up with a stout nine-inch Ford axle which is mounted on the stock leaf springs, though a set of lowering blocks and a set of Spax adjustable shocks provide suitable upgrades while getting the truck down to an infinitely cooler ride height.
At the front end, the look is achieved with a vintage Mor-Drop aftermarket front axle which features a five inch drop over stock, along with re-conditioned front leaves. Monroe shockers assist the ride and Mark tells us that since these pics were taken last year, he has further upgraded the truck with a front disc brake conversion from Classic Performance Products in California. A Volvo dual-circuit master cylinder is used in conjunction with the kit, and Mark reports a great improvement over the old stock drums. The steering is all stock on the F1 apart from the nifty Moon blue ’flake steering wheel now in place in the cab. 



     We mentioned briefly that the old Flathead motor was long gone by the time the truck had been imported, but keeping the old ethos of a Ford-in-a-Ford, its replacement motor is now a small-block Ford 289cu.in. V8 coupled to a C4 automatic transmission.  At present, the motor retains its stock inlet with a two-barrel Holley carb, though Mark is planning to fit a four-barrel at a later date, and dress-up is limited to a set of alloy rocker covers and a chrome air filter. Electronic ignition is another addition that Mark is planning to install soon.


    
Apart from the low stance of the truck, the next most eye-catching feature is the paintwork, and since Mark is a sprayer by profession it wouldn’t do for the F1 to sport a less than stunning finish on it, now would it? Over the winter of 2005, Mark took the pick-up back to bare metal in preparation for its current Rover Trophy Blue Pearl shade. On stripping it back, he was pleasantly surprised to see very little in terms of damage or old repairs; in fact the doors were so good they only needed some previous mirror mounting holes to be filled. Similarly, the cab had never been welded up anywhere and the only repair work was on the lower edges of the fenders where they meet the running boards, a common place for corrosion on old pick-ups. Mark is grateful to his employers, Inman’s Auto Crash Centre in Birmingham for allowing him to do the job at work. It was then left to Chris Johnson at Pinstriping UK to add the final touch of pin striping to the hood, which he did at a show last year.



     Once completed, the truck went back together with new seals and rubbers from John’s F-Fun Hundreds Parts in Anaheim, California, the new blue paint being set-off nicely with some re-chromed brightwork on the bumpers and grille. Speaking of which, Mark has since added a couple more of those chrome teeth to the front for a truly distinctive custom touch. The Radir Tri-Rib wheels were on the truck before the respray, but look even better now with those wide whitewall tyres too. The rims are 7x15 all round in case you were wondering.



This just leaves the interior, which on early pick-ups can be fairly spartan affairs, though a nice feature of Mark’s truck is that the dash was always intact and uncut and even included the original radio. Look closer though and you’ll see that the radio has had custom knobs machined for it by a friend of Mark’s, a cool touch. These trucks feature a lot of painted metal inside the cab and Mark has painted it all to match the exterior, the only trimming being the blue and silver metalflake bench seat that was re-covered by Spirit Interiors of Tamworth. The headlining and carpets in the truck are pre-made kits that Mark bought from the states and installed himself. The final touches to the cab are the Gennie Shifter, shift lever and chrome handbrake, which replace the original dash and steering column mounted items.
     With so many early trucks running around in their fresh-from-the-farm patina’d paint, it’s nice to see one finished up as nice as Mark’s mild custom version is here. Mark no doubt will be out and about the shows this year with his club, the Castle Cruisers of Tamworth which usually attend the major rod runs of the season. If you see it, take time to check it out in detail, and remember, it’s the granddaddy of the Ford truck range of today and most of all … it’s not an F100!

Paul would like to thank his wife Paula, best mate Aza, for general help,
and Skippy for making up the dual exhaust.




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