"Originally, my truck was black and was always dirty, so I decided to paint it a bright orange to turn heads."-Gary Locke
Ever since Gary Locke got his driver's license at the age of 16, he's always had a love for cars and trucks. He grew up in the age of the musclecars and owned a couple of GTOs. Of course, at the time, those vehicles we have grown to love were not as rare as they have become today. They were not appreciated as much as they should have been because no one had any idea they would become the classics people treasure today. Gary was no different in taking the first cars he owned for granted. He did have his fun driving them and always fitted them to his needs. They were used and not cherished the way they should have been.
Once Gary got older and had a few kids, he and his wife, Carol, decided to do more things as a family. Their plan was to go out camping in the many places the State of Utah has to offer. Since Gary grew up in a family of nine, his family always shared good times while camping. Of course, he wanted his sons to have the same good experiences that he had when he was a child.
With their minds set on traveling to rough uninhabited areas, they needed a big vehicle that could transport all of them, able to muscle through any paths on the way to the great outdoors. After a trip to the local Ford dealership, the Lockes had a brand-new F-350 Super Duty. It became their flagship for the local grocery runs and for those trips out of town. It served its purpose in stock form, until Gary started to read Sport Truck magazine and saw what others had done to their trucks. Then, he started to develop various ideas on how to make the family truck cooler to drive.
The F-350 got a few new accessories to make it better than its stock form. Once the ball was rolling, the truck progressed further than just minor touches. For more clearance in rugged terrain, a Pro Comp 8-inch lift kit over big wheels and tires did the trick. After that, Gary decided to go full show with the truck and wanted to paint it orange. He asked his wife, thinking that she would say no, but she told him he could do anything he wanted to it. With his wife's approval, Gary went all out with the paint and then on to customizing the interior.
As the years passed by, it evolved into the truck you see here. This Ford now looks better than it ever has, and it's still used after all of the modifications that were performed to it. For Gary, owning a custom vehicle like this is something he has wanted for some time now. The great thing about it is that it fills Gary's fix for a show vehicle and gets the job done hauling the family around.