The styles and trends within the custom truck community have changed so much due to technological advances. There are two trends that have invaded the truck show scene in the last few years: They are wild paint schemes and extremely large-diameter wheels. No matter what direction the hobby of building trucks goes, these modifying trends will be around forever, but there is a new trend that is gaining popularity. The look of days past, or retro, with the addition of today's technologies, called newstalgia, has become more and more prominent at shows across the nation. A good example of this trend is this Ford F-100 Ranger.
David "LA Dave" Jones of Walker, Louisiana, acquired this truck when his friend's landlord said, "Either the truck goes or both of you go." So after trying to sell the truck to no avail, he called up LA Dave and asked if he wanted the truck-and for the price tag of free, how could he refuse. Once he hauled this pile of a truck over to his shop, LA Dave was able to figure out why it wasn't running. After a couple of hours of work, the motor came back to life and he was driving like a champ.
Ever heard of Murphy's Law? If something can go wrong, it will. One day the truck just wouldn't start. He was so mad that the truck was causing more problems than a delinquent teenager he put it on time out. But, that wasn't enough. Being a mechanic and doing some investigating (and a little hair-pulling), he found nothing, which totally baffled him; the motor had just passed on to greener pastures. To get this stepchild of a truck to behave, he had to rebuild the engine and transmission. Now that the truck had learned its lesson, LA Dave 'bagged the truck and sectioned the frame under the cab, which put the rockers solidly on the ground. Fifteen-inch chrome smoothies, along with a couple different shades of red oxide primer and an iron cross on the doors, round out the look of this weathered beauty. The look of the '50s on every surface of this pickup make it a stand-alone custom. We can't wait to see what emerges next from LA Dave's garage.