1978 Ford F150 – Ethan S.

A young boys dream come true. As a young boy in Southern Kentucky, I always loved the old Ford trucks, my great grandpa retired from Ford motor company so he was a big fan of my obsession. When I was 12 my parents and I were talking about when I turned 16 and started driving and everything else most pre teen kids think about, I told them I didn’t want a new truck that I would rather have an old truck. My dad started the search and we finally found “The one” a 2 owner truck that had a motor put in it that only had around 60,000 miles on it. We made the deal and brought her home, I was the happiest 12 year old around. We knew when we bought the truck that it needed work, it had some rust but with my dad being a mechanic he would rather buy something with a good strong motor and transmission than a pretty body, I wanted it to be as much OEM as possible so the body parts we needed we would shop around junk yards and search the internet for, and we found all the parts I needed. All summer long I worked on that truck with mom and dad right there beside me. We replaced body panels and even the bed and the windshield since it was cracked. We visited a pick n’ pull and save junk yard where you take the parts off yourself and scored a nice windshield that was luck, at the end of the summer she looked like a different truck we primed it and I was already so proud of it. On to the summer of 2023, it was time to gut the interior of the truck and paint it, I couldn’t wait for school to end so we could get started. We tore everything out and dad started painting, I had been helping a local farmer last summer and this summer too so I could save up some money for truck stuff, mom and dad spent plenty on it, but I wanted to do my part too. It sure hurt my savings when I asked mom to order my new rubber floor mat off LMC, but it was so worth it. That 200 and something dollars was well spent, we got everything painted and put back together and boy did she look good. It was kinda funny because people would walk up and see a red primer truck but when they opened the door BOOM it looked like a shiny new penny. Summer of 2024 came around and it was time for the engine bay. When I wasn’t working on the farm I was working on my truck, we pulled the motor because I wanted to paint it and dress it up, while the motor was out we redone the engine bay and painted it to match the interior got the motor all painted and added some chrome and even painted the transmission while everything was out I undercoated everything to make it look even better. We got everything back together and was another step closer to my dream truck being done. The summer of 2025, that was the summer I had waited for, it was the summer we were going to do the exterior and since my birthday is in September and I was going to turn 16 it was time to finish her up. I was so excited. I was very picky with this old truck and I wanted it to be everything I dreamed of, so I was saving money and buying parts I still worked on the farm and I also worked at another local business the days I wasn’t at the farm, but the weekends was for my truck. My parents made me a deal, I could work on the truck side by side with them, I was there to help take the bed off, we took the hood off, I was there with them while we all sanded it, we taped it up together and then I was made to walk away. I had to walk away from a truck that I had worked on for years, It bothered me that day leaving that garage seeing her just sitting there in pieces with all the chrome took off and all the glass taped up, but I knew it would be worth it in the end. I wasn’t allowed to see my truck until the day of my 16th birthday party. My family and friends were all there and mom even did a slide show with hundreds of pictures showing everybody how far the truck had come and the step-by-step process that had been done over the years, but my mom and her sense of humor stopped the slide show pictures when it was taped up and sitting in pieces. The last picture on the slide show was a black screen that read “Now we wait.” That felt like the longest birthday party I had ever had, finally it was time. My mom said she had a blindfold for me and dad went to the garage he had been guarding all day, I heard my truck start, boy I had missed that, it was time to see my baby again. We went outside and dad drove it out in the parking lot, I’m still blindfolded and all my friends and family are over to the side saying “Wow” and “Oh my gosh” it was torture, finally they told me to take my blindfold off and there she was better than I imagined. The perfect blue color, the chrome, she was shining like new money, a boys dream truck, and dreams really do come true. I would love to know the hours mom, dad, and myself have in the truck, but we will never know. My family isn’t rich by any means, but they taught us at a young age that if you wanted something to work for it and I did and with their help I have the truck I have always dreamed of and I’m so proud of it. Growing up we would go to car shows and see trucks and cars that people had bought already restored, but there is just something different about having one you built with your parents and worked to put your own money in. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “Built, not bought”. You can’t buy the memories that was made with this old truck.