1956 Ford F-100 Pickup – Gary Roberts

My name is Gary Roberts from Clovis, CA and this is my story of how I received and resurrected my Great-Uncle Mike Langiano’s 1956 Ford F-100 pickup. My Great-Uncle Mike, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 91, had originally purchased the truck new off of the showroom floor at Valley Ford in Fresno, CA in May of 1956. He used the F-100 primarily as his work truck and it has remained here in the Central Valley all of its life. My journey in becoming the next caretaker of the beloved Ford began when I received a phone call in early 2013 from my second-cousin Shelly Coleman (Uncle Mike’s grand-daughter), who informed me that she didn’t know what to do with the truck she had inherited from her late grandfather and wanted it to find a new home.
As I surveyed the truck, it was completely original like it’s been preserved in a time capsule. I was pleasantly surprised that the truck was still in the family and had survived all of those years. I had assumed that it had been sold years ago after Uncle Mike had passed away. He had given the truck to Shelly before he passed away and it had been parked and remained in her mother’s garage since then. Uncle Mike, who was a journeyman welder and pipe-fitter by trade, took impeccable care of his prized work truck since he bought it new. His diligent care and meticulous maintenance of the 56 helped keep the truck preserved all of these years, but it needed to be rescued before it fell into disrepair. I knew right then and there that I had to own this family heirloom. His grand-daughter asked me if I was interested in acquiring the truck and I quickly said yes. We worked out a “family” handshake deal, agreed to financial terms and the truck was actually mine! I had the truck brought home on a flatbed, washed off the 12 years of garage dust and began work on repairing and resuscitating the Effie back to life.
I have owned the 56 for over 3 years now and I have made minimal modifications to make it roadworthy and safe to drive, since the truck sat for so many years. It still has the original numbers matching 223 6-cylinder, 3-on-the-tree transmission, drivetrain, California black license plates, “Unity” drivers spotlight, FoMoCo laminated windows, rubber moldings and a straight rust free body with only one repaint years ago. The interior is stock and is still in great shape. The stock bench seat was reupholstered for Uncle Mike’s truck by my dad over 30 years ago before my father passed away, so the seat will remain as is in remembrance of my dad.
I wanted to keep the 56 Ford true to the past with its original paint patina and Old School flavor. The only major modifications I did to the truck was to install a 3” CPP dropped axle with ‘down & forward’ reverse-eye mono-leaf springs for a 6 ½” drop up front and I added a flip-kit for the rear end with the rear axle mounted on top of the stock leaf springs with a slight frame notch for a 6” drop out back. I replaced the heavy-duty rear bumper with a new stock-style one, added new rear stock taillights, replaced the big side mirrors with new smaller chrome units, replaced the hood emblem and hood side badges, repainted the bumpers and stock steel rims and added spider caps and trim rings to the wheels. I also recently replaced the bed wood with new oak boards that I cut down from old solid oak planks my Grandfather gave me 35 years ago and added stainless steel bed strips.
That’s about all I plan on doing to fix up on the truck – I want to keep it true to the original with a few updates. I have truly been blessed to be the next caretaker of this awesome truck. I plan on keeping the truck in my family and eventually passing it down to my sons. My Uncle Mike would be very happy that his beloved work truck has been resurrected and has found a new home where it is driven, enjoyed and taken care of once more.