1956 Ford F-100 - Outside Influence

Funny how things start, isn't it? You can go for years subconsciously knowing exactly what you want, but it usually takes some outside influence to wake you up to the fact. Which is exactly what happened to Colin Holder. For him the outside influence came in the form of a T-shirt."I had a Anglia and my wife had a V-8 Model Y but we never managed to actually get to a show together. We'd start off that way, but something would always get in between us--like a truck, combine harvester, small town, that sort of thing. Then we'd spend the rest of the day wondering where the other one had gotten to."

So the Holders really needed something big enough to get them all to the event together, including their chief polisher, son Alex. That way, they'd arrive en masse, and stand a good chance of staying that way. "It was only when I saw a T-shirt with an orange '56 F-100 pickup on it that it hit me. That was what I wanted."

And as luck would have it, Colin knew what truck he wanted and were he could find it. A really cool, already-rodded, dead-straight F-100 residing in a nearby garage. It was close to the best he could find too. It had been rodded back in California, every panel being run over with the proverbial metalworking steam iron. Bad news was it had been sitting for 18 months.

According to Colin, it has an excellent history. It was originally owned by a family who bought it, back in 1956, for use in their antiques business. Pickups are the perfect tool for such work, especially in California since it hardly ever rains (well, the southern bit anyway). So hauling around your freshly Frenchpolished chest of drawers, dinning table, or china cabinet isn't a problem, because chances are it isn't going to get wet.

When the family closed the business, they had a surplus pickup truck. And what should any self-respecting Californian do faced with such a dilemma? You guessed it, rod it! That's why it ended up with a Ford small-block and a Plymouth Volare front clip. Couple the front with a Ford 9-inch rear mounted on leaf springs with air shocks and the truck was brought down to a more reasonable height.

Of course the best is like all the rest, if neglected deterioration starts to happen and this truck was no exception. Colin at first just wanted to get in and drive the F-100.

Actually, he tried for a year to drive the truck, but it kept breaking down, tow trucks kept having to be called, and sometimes it happened in the most inconvenient locations. At the end of the year Collin decided it was time for the truck to be torn down and rebuilt. This wasn't really all that surprising, though; you see, the truck wasn't yet orange.

Everything was rebuilt, right down to every nut and bolt. Everything was stripped, welded up, and smoothed out. There is no plastic filler in the truck's body--where rust was removed and some filling was required lead was used. Martin at Martin Motors in Herne Bay did all the bodywork and then applied the special blend of Citroen Tangello Mandarin paint, which is only available in Italy. But not content with just that, Martin mixed in 30 percent white pearl to create a very unique color indeed. Besides the eye catching color this truck has been given its share of mods. The most obvious one is the tonneau cover--framed out, covered in alloy sheet with mirror polished stainless steel underneath. The cover was created by Nick Fleetwood at Pro Tonneau, who called Colin shortly after installing the tonneau, and after these photos were shot, asking if he wanted to give it power allowing Colin to raise and lower in with as little as a flip of a switch. Some of the other mods you will notice are the re-chromed grille, a neat set of Budniks, and a matching steering wheel. With all these mods the outside of the truck is very close to achieving perfection.That 302ci Ford small-block the truck entered the country with was replaced prior to Colin buying the truck with a 429ci Cobra Jet, and during that first jinxed year a roller rocker broke and found its way inside the heads. Colin had the heads completely rebuilt and the engine is now capable of pulling Colin's trailer without a bit of fuss.

Which is exactly what this truck is all about: Forgetting your troubles and just driving, having good times with your family, and enjoying your Tangello Orange dream. And we agree that it definitely would be a great truck to be seen in.