BEST FORD IN A FORD

TAKING THE OUTDOOR AWARD, CAN 600 HP IN A ’57 FORD BE SUBTLE … YES

- Gerry Burger

Don’t let the Florida license plate fool you. Jay Gribble may live in Florida but he is a Texan first and a car guy being a close second. Even back in his high school days he managed to build a competitive D/G car out of a ’33 Chevy coupe. Typical early ’60s gasser, pie crust slicks sticking out past the fenders a bit, jacked up straight axle front end. He put his share of guys on the trailer with the old coupe but one weekend he pulled to the line next to a white ’57 Ford. Without going into too much detail let’s just say that ’57 Ford put his Chevy on the trailer.

Of course, the fact that a fellow Texan named Eddie Hill (yes, THAT Eddie Hill) was the owner/driver of that Ford probably had a lot to do with losing that round. Now, we’re not sure if it was the clear view of those Ford taillights but for some reason from that day forward Jay liked the looks of a ’57 Ford Custom and knew one day he would own one.

Over the next 60 years and after a string of really nice cars (mostly Chevrolets) he still hadn’t scratched that ’57 Ford itch. Finally, the time had come, so Jay went in search of a good candidate and finally located a solid ’57 Ford Custom. The basic sedan is a “post car,” which computes to light and rigid.