Funky COE Medina

A Way Custom COE Hauler

- MIKE SELF

EVERYONE HAS THAT ONE TRUCK—THE ONE THEY WANT TO BUILD “SOMEDAY.” Often, it’s either a better version of something they once had or something seemingly unobtainable they hope to own before their time on this planet has run out. For Chris Ortego, that ride was a COE (cab-overengine) truck.

“Building a COE was on my bucket list of builds,” Chris says. “I wanted something cool to haul my ’60 Buick LaSabre or anything else I might need [to haul]. COEs are pretty rare in our area, and I like stuff that’s different.”

He wasn’t dead-set on any one particular make, but it just so happened that his buddy Cody Stoute from Popeye’s Rod Shop had a ’41 Ford COE collecting dust in his shop, just waiting for someone to give the go-ahead to start building. With the stars aligned and an open slot in Cody’s schedule, plenty of raw steel was ordered up and put on the rack. The work on Chris’ dream truck had begun.