1941 Ford Truck - Southern Comfort

Everybody tells Terry Timberman the same thing about his early Ford truck. "That is really a nice truck, but something looks odd. It is a '41, isn't it?" After he informs them that it is a Ford 1-ton truck, they are still amazed. Surprisingly, there were only subtle differences between the 1/2-ton that everyone recognizes and the larger commercial 1-ton version.

A few years back, Terry's wife Linda heard about a '41 Ford pickup that had been sitting in an old man's garage for many years. He was no longer able to drive, so he wanted to sell the truck. She decided to surprise Terry with a new street rod project and bought it sight unseen. Because they have an engine rebuild shop, she thought that the truck would be a nice combination street rod and shop vehicle, plus a nice surprise for Terry. Boy, was it a surprise all right.

What had appeared to her to be a 1/2-ton was actually a 1-ton truck. They hauled the truck back to the shop, where it remained in a side yard with a For Sale sign posted prominently. The price had been reduced to $25, but there were still no takers.

After Terry finished rebuilding a '46 Ford sedan, other members of their New Orleans Street Rod Association continued to tease him about the ugly truck. He caught enough flak about the ugly duckling that he decided to see what could be done with it to make his friends eat their words. The bed was thrashed, but held the hood, fenders, and bumpers. Terry knew this was going to be a real challenge -- one that was against his better judgement. He already owned a '46 Ford Tudor Sedan, a '57 T-Bird, a '64 T-Bird, and a '64 Ford Galaxie XL-500 convertible. A cool street rodded shop truck would round out the collection, but he felt that he should start with something much easier than this one.

The truck was originally in good condition when Linda purchased it, because it had been parked inside most of its years. After the Timbermans bought it, they lost interest and let it sit outside for almost a decade. After deciding to see what could be done with the old truck, Terry turned to his friend Pete Tauffro, who owns Reliable Street Rods. Pete didn't wave a magic wand over the machine to change it to a Cinderella coach. It was more like 13 months of hard work, and now the truck really looks good and gets lots of attention because of its 1-ton chassis. In the end, this was just fine with the Timbermans. The truck has even won some class awards at World of Wheels shows.