Richard Gregg’s Shoebox Pickup

If I had to pick between the two choices, I’d probably take an F1 shop truck over a ’57 Ranchero or ’59 El Camino. Maybe I just like the ‘Bonneville pusher’ look better than a late 50s stealth parts runner. In 1959, a customizing trend began to surface of converting cars to pickup trucks, and Richard Gregg’s 1950 Ford was one of the cleanest and most successful executions. Gregg built this conversion in his Sacramento garage starting with a standard 2 door sedan model, chopped 5 inches and sectioned 5 inches as well. These two surgeries really help the proportions of this truck work well overall, making it feel more like a factory- designed model. Additional custom touches of class include the 50 Merc grille shell/surround fitted with tube grille, 1957 Chevy peaked headlamps, a smoothed and pancaked hood, exhaust running up through the truck bed to simulate rails (in addition to side-mounted lake pipes!), and hooded ’54 Pontiac taillights. It’s safe to say I would take this sweet Shoebox over a stock F1 truck all day long.