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It was early in February of
1945 when Allied troops were preparing for a victory in
Europe and Japan, the end of World War II was in the
foreseeable future. The American public was seeking new
civilian vehicles which they had not seen for three years,
the American farming and small business industry were
desperately in need of the trucks that moved America. In
February of 1945, Ford came to their rescue, announcing
that Ford Motor Company would be delivering trucks to its dealers soon and most importantly, the half ton
pick-up's, will be shipping in
May...
On May 5th, the first half-ton truck rolled off the assembly line, bringing the most needed vehicle to our farmers and small businesses across the country
but 1945 civilian vehicles were still few and far between. This
particular 1945 Ford half ton was exhibited in the Henry Ford
Museum for over 30 years in its original un-restored condition and a few more years in the
Thomas Edison Museum nearby. It was then purchased by a
private party and treated to a full body off the frame restoration, with no expense spared.
Shortly thereafter, it was entered into the Dearborn National Event
2013 for judging and achieved a 996 point score, giving it the prestigious "Dearborn Award", a rare and coveted achievement for Ford collectors.
It's next scheduled journey was the Barrett-Jackson auction in January of 2015
when the current owner made the restorer an acceptable offer,
the auction visit was canceled and subsequently shipped to
the current So-Cal owners collection for additional
details and drivability improvements...
This owner is an avid collector
who has owned 300+ cars over the years and when one is acquired, it is massaged,
tediously improved and most importantly, "everything must
work and it must be drivable". The first thing done was a complete color sanding and buffing of the paint to show quality. As much as he enjoys and reveres original cars, and he owns many, he thought this car needed a bit of "Hot Rod". He proceeded to pull the engine and transmission, which is an original matching numbers combination (a rare find these days) and started his hopping up of this great classic. He added a mild camshaft to the .60 over bore and a pair of NOS Canadian Ford aluminum heads bumping up the compression just slightly. He didn't stop there. He then purchased a new H&H Scot (Superchargers of Turin) blower and two brand new
Stromberg 97 carburetors and his in house caretaker and early Ford guru proceeded to fabricate pulleys that would allow the whole thing to run on one single belt like they did in the forty's. Pulleys like this are not available any longer and he was told that it couldn't be done.
After several hours at the lathe, the custom pulleys were finished and installed on the masterpiece.
With a fresh transmission rebuild and put back in the truck. It hums like a fine tuned watch. He was not done yet. He added full leather interior to replace the Ford vinyl along with Porsche style carpeting with yellow piping to match the trim on the outside. Original Ford windshield washer, NOS
under hood light and more...
He thought at this point to keep going and to make a truck that Ford didn't offer in 1945. A Deluxe Model with a period correct Motorola radio with Ford script offering AM/FM and iPod
inputs. Also added was a Ford deluxe clock, heater, new gauge faces and calibrated gauges.
As previously noted, the owner likes to drive his cars so he was not done yet. These trucks came with very low gears back in the day and having 3:78 or 4:11 gears does not make it
suitable for hi-way driving. So, his in house expert, custom fit an original and completely rebuilt Columbia two speed differential with original vacuum controls, just as Ford did back then. This truck can cruise at 70-80 mph all day long with the lowest of rpms. It runs very cool, even on the hottest days of So-Cal as evidenced by the ride home from the Grand National Roadster Show,
when it was 103 degrees outside. It has some very rare original Ford accessories as evidenced in our video
and photos...
In closing, this is an
extremely rare and very drivable Post War pick up that is unique in itself. Take a close look at our video and listen to this sweet
blown Flathead V8 with electronic ignition and Columbia
2-speed axle hum as it knocks off the miles at freeway speeds....
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