History Street Rodder magazine Econoline P/U project

Does anyone have pics or memories of an Econoline P/U project that Street Rodder did back in the mid 70's? It was black with a flame job. They put the engine in the rear. I think it may have been a BB Chevy.

 

It was a Dodge A-100 with a choped top and it was tubbed,Black with flames?? I was wonderin also,seems I remember that it never ran very well........

 

Thanks for the correction. My memory is bad sometimes. I remember following the build. I was in the early stages of reading about hot rods and it really got my mind going back then.

 

I have to say that is one of the coolest A100. Chopped top and hemi. Geezzzz...

 

Yep,
It had a blown hemi in it. Popular Hot Rodding was building a sorta low buck blown 34 Ford pickup at the same time and the 2 magazines decided to grudge race the finished trucks. McMullens Dodge should have run off and hid from the 350 powered 34, but the 34 was tuned in and running right and, I believe it was the Dodges first time at the strip. The Dodge never ran right and the 34 was easily the winner. I think I read they got the Dodge running right later on and they "claimed" 9 or 10 second et's.
If no one posts a picture, I'll try to dig out some of the old magazines and scan a picture.
There might have been articles about it in Truckin too, maybe?? Both magazines were owned by TRM Publishing (Tom & Rose McMullen)
Larry T

 

Yep, Tom McMullen built up an A-100 pickup in Street Rodder. Did a couple searches and can't find anything. It ended up with a funky interior, but the mechanics and paint were very nice. Late 70s, early 80s build.

 

For some reason, it seems like it was in the summer of '74?

 

Buildup started Aug 1974 SRM ... Matchrace was covered in PHR March 1975

470 cu.in BBC with a 6:71 / dual 600 Holley / Art Carr turbo / 58 Olds rear

 

Cool! Brings back the memories of how crappy that flame job was! That build had my imagination for a long time. Wonder what happen to it?

 

Chuck,
There ya go making a liar out of me again. (G) OK, it shoulda had a hemi!
Larry T

 

Yeah, I remember that! I was in the PHR camp, they ran fine with old, hard, narrow slicks. PHR presented it as the low buck home built vs the high $ fancy pants.

BTW Kirby at Challenger did quite a bit of project work for PHR back then. Whatever happened to him?

 

The '33 ran a 11.45 @ 116.88 with a 350sbc / 4.71 boosted... the Mopar broke the blower drive and had a flat rear tire in the lights on it's only run... the re-match two weeks later provided basically the same results

 

There is a really nice Econoline P/U in Regina, Saskatchewan. It is not painted and in bare metal. It has a 428? or 429? Ford. It also has a nitrouse set up it ain't traditional but it is cool as hell.

 

I've got these issues in my stash! I'm more impressed with the meeting of so many great minds, McMullen and Pat Ganahl for Street Rodder and Lenny Emanuelson and Lee Kelley for PHR!! All great writers and rodders!!! I think the flames were a throwback to Tom's original roadster, and I kinda like 'em myself!

 

I kinda like it too!

 

"Brings back the memories of how crappy that flame job was!"

Hahahaha. I don't mind the flames, but the fade is atrocious.

 

Who did the flames on it, kinda looks like a Watson "seaweed" style flames

 

Tom shot the paint in his garage and the flames in his yard with Kenny Easton helping with the prep/color sanding according to SRM..

 

I remember that build too,cool A100 PU,
I wished they used a mopar in it too. Ron...

 

I know where it is...I found it several years ago...it's in an old block building in the ghetto in Detroit...

 

I worked in Detroit in a neighborhood behind City Airport, for 14 years, one day during lunch, at a gas station on Van Dyke, south of Fenkel, guy pulls in, in an old crew cab dually, I ask if it's for sale, he say's "maybe, I just bought it at an auction"...

...he works mornings at GM, and evenings at his buddy's shop on Mt. Elliot, say's to come by the shop the next day and talk to him about it...gives me the address...

...next day, I leave early, drive over to Mt. Elliot looking for the shop, find it, the dually is sitting in the fenced lot...overhead door to the building is open and some brother is standing out front...ask him for "so-n-so", say's he's not there yet, I can wait if I want...place belongs to the guy standing there...

I hang out a little, then he invites me in to have a seat, that's when I noticed, in the back, thru the dark, un-lit building, is the A-100!

...couldn't believe what I was seeing! Asked if I could take a better look and he say's, "Sure! Do you know what that is?"...Duh!...of course I did!...I asked him if HE knew what it was..."not exactly, I know it came from California"...

His story is, a friend of his bought it from a guy who purchased it in California from some "hot rod magazine guy", and brought it back to Michigan in the late '70's, early '80's, (he couldn't remember), but never drove it...
...the shop owner had a brand new Jeep at the time, the guy who owned the A-100 wanted to borrow the Jeep to take out some new girlfriend, and, here's where it get's fishy, the new Jeep somehow got totaled and burned!!

..since there was no insurance, (?!), he tells the guy he will take the A-100 in trade for his new Jeep!

When I saw it, (several years ago), he had pulled the big block, stuck a carb on in place of the blower, and put it into his '67 Camaro bracket car...he put a stock, single-carbed 402 back into the A-100, and still had the blower set-up setting on his bench...

The truck looks the same, and was still in pretty good shape except for the interior getting a little nasty...I asked if it was for sale, and he said yes, he would need 30K for it with the original big block and blower & carbs!

I was stunned!... I had loved that thing when I was younger and my brother & I had built models of it from the Little Red Wagon kits!...NEVER, EVER dreamed I would stumble on it in some old dark, damp building in a Detroit ghetto!

I just left, never waited for the guy with the dually, and never went back to check on the Dodge...I figured if he wanted 30,000 for it, you weren't gonna talk him down much!
__________________

 

Thanks for the report, Gasser. Every once in a while, that truck would pop up in my head. Maybe due to the childhood memories resurfacing. The summer that the build was in Street Rodder, my family was on a move to Houston, Texas. I had been reading about hot rods since the summer of '72. Blame American Grafitti on that. Well, that build was one of the mags I had to read on the trip to Texas from upstate New York.

I loved that truck, but never did like the flame job. Then it got thrashed at the drags by a "real" hot rod. Thanks again.

 

I kinda always dug the flames...and always thought it ironic that a pre '49 magazine like "Street Rodder", would build a "late model" project car, and a street machine magazine like "Popular Hotrodding", would build a '34 project car!!


I should really go back down there and try to find the place again...pretty sure I remember where it is...it's been about 8-9 years...would be cool to get some pics...

 

The A-100 is really kool, of course i dont remember it from back in days as im 32 now!
But i remember seein it in a old mag, probably street rodder at this point.
The seaweed style flames are kool, i dont like the white/yellow "fading" b4 the flames,
that should go, but the truck is kool!
So, the wereabout of the truck 10 years ago is known.....but where is it now?

 

cool story
I followed that build in the magazine as I was doing my chopped van around that time and mine was mid engine too.
here is another picture I found of it....

 

There was a similar one (lowered, chopped, rear engine) in Yakima WA during the years right after the article. I used to see it sitting around looking dead, but no one ever seemed to want to sell it. Last I saw of it was in a repair yard/used car lot next to the freeway near Toppenish about 6 years ago.

 

I don't remember that build but I think every ex-vanner/trucker thought about trying that. Looking closer it has 4 lug Cragars on the front. Anyone know what front axle they put under it?

 

That -34 pu is here in Sweden now!
I spoke to the owner a few years ago but havent seen the car for long...

 

What a deal I would pay 30K for that if I had that kind of money.

 

I just happened to be looking through that part of my magazine collection the other day and stopped on that truck. Man, as a kid reading that back then I thought that was a cool truck! Part of the reason Tom built a late model was simply that he had it. It had been a shop truck for his chopper company, and when he went to trade it in they basically offered him nothing for it. So enter doing something silly, right? Sounds logical to me! If I remember correctly, the four lug front wheels came about because of adapting Pinto front brakes to the original spindles. Several mags did an article on cutting the snouts off of spindles from one car and welding the snouts and brake mounting parts from the Pinto to them, instant, way ugly, disc brakes. The seventies were a weird place! For the record I built models of this one too. ( that's how I found out not to use laquer glazing putty to fill stuff on styrene!!)