Second Chance

Rick Start’s ’41 Ford Personifies Tradition with a Twist

- Chuck Vranas

When taking on the quest of getting involved in the classic truck hobby there are many roads you can travel in search of your ultimate ride. For many, the pursuit involves canvassing an endless amount of leads, including swap meets and For Sale ads both in the newspaper and on the web. Many times there’s a chance your dream truck will find you when you least expect it when you’re driving down a back road where it’s peeking out from an overgrown lot or a dilapidated garage. In any case, the chase is always what makes locating it especially fun.

Once you find it there are plenty of options to be had, depending on if you choose to retain its natural patina by only restoring the mechanicals or decide on a full teardown to commence a fresh build. There are also countless classic trucks that simply change hands with their new owners driving and enjoying them, which is awesome in its own right. Depending on what decade a truck was built there’s a chance that its initial styling might not have withstood the test of time. It’s a perfect opportunity to start with a great base and inject a new personality to give it a traditional feel or simply make it more current.

For Rick Start of Grand Rapids, Michigan, locating his hauler led him down a path taking a number of years until one night a click of his keyboard brought him to a very clean-looking ’41 Ford. Obviously built in the ’80s, it was spot-on for the era, however, its wheel and tire combination, overuse of billet aluminum, and vinyl interior hadn’t aged well. What captured his attention, however, was its flawless body and paint, well-designed suspension, and chassis details. Looking beyond the shortcomings he saw his dream truck ready for a makeover to add the right amount of refinement and a new timeless feel. A deal was made and the title changed hands, with the truck being shipped to his home shop.