In this day and age, 24-year-old Riley Fanning is lucky enough to have a dad who supported and encouraged him getting into classic cars and trucks, and Bill, the elder Fanning, is lucky enough to have a son who wanted to. At 16, Riley found a clean, original '60 Ford F-100, complete with a 292 Y-block and three-speed that he would soon be the third to own. Being in high school and with a fresh license to drive, Riley was on top of the world, as was Bill-this is every father's dream, right?
The guys got a game plan together and decided to get the minor bodywork and paint done at a local shop called Main Street Collision, so Riley wouldn't just be driving a shabby old farm truck. Next, of course, came wheels and tires for the teenager, who chose a set of 15-inch American Racing Pythons and Dunlop tires.
This was fine and dandy for a year or so until Riley threw a rod in the old Ford motor. Well, it was a good thing he was enrolled in auto shop, where he would soon rebuild a 351 Windsor with help from his instructor, Vic Terbush. They also installed a stout C6 behind it for wide-eyed, worry-free burnouts!
Life goes on, and between graduating high school, joining the Marines, and getting engaged, Riley reluctantly sold the truck and was soon deployed overseas to fight the war in Iraq. While in the Middle East, Bill found Riley's truck and, unbeknownst to him, bought it back and continued upgrading it thanks to our CLASSIC TRUCKS tech stories. Bill followed our tech installments on '57-60 F-100s, such as "Don't Pick Your Nose," "Slam It," and "Steer in the Right Direction with Ease" and helped get the '60 to sit closer to the ground, ride better, and upgrade to power steering thanks to Classic Performance Products' hard work to make the parts available. Needless to say, Riley was beside himself to come home from the war and find his old truck new and improved, which he was more pleased about than all the reunions and homecoming celebrations.
Riley and his wife, Ashley, get a kick out of driving the '60 around Oklahoma City and out to Woodward to cruise with Bill and his '65 (also in this issue). Riley's truck even won First place in the '57-60 F-100 class at the recent 2008 F-100 Supernationals in Knoxville, Tennessee. Let's hope the classic truck blood will passed on to the next generation of the Fanning family!