Hi all, With my old mans mild custom '56 Ford Courier on its way across the Pacific and a bone-stock '60 F-100 soon to be parked in the driveway instead of the '49 Chevy, I've been wondering how 'traditional' a custom pickup or sedan delivery is. I'm sure that many custom builders would have had their parts haulers but did they give their workhorses a few custom touches, or were they generally just plain-jane working vehicles?
There are many custom trucks that where built back in the day. The first one that comes to my mind is the Chuck Porter '49 F1. Chuck owned a body shop in CA. Here's a link with more information: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Chuck_Porter's_1949_Ford It has also been featured in Rodders Journal in the past. -Chris
Some shops did customize them and still do as a rolling billboard. This one came out of the Barris garage I don't know how much of it he did but it came out of his garage. So did this one And he takes credit for this one too
Ed Roth. Alaya's. Alexander Brothers. (Though not much of a "work horse".) Dick Dean. And the beat goes on.
Southern California Plating shop truck. The company's chief engineer was George Duvall (of windshield fame), and he and Frank Curtis designed the truck. It was completed in 1936. You can read about it on Kustomrama HERE :http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Southern_California_Plating's_1935_Ford
Gil's truck is pictured above in post #5. Bruce Geisler bought it in the early fifties, and painted it pink. Geisler found the truck decades later in a wrecking yard, and bought it back. The old look is back, but the Jimmy six is long gone.