I remember this car (truck) sitting in a driveway in Hayward CA. At that time it had run it's course and was in black primer. This was in the 70's, or early 80's. I wish I could have bought it, but wasn't in a position to.
Unquestionably this is a beautiful vehicle, but the concept "He NEEDS a truck that is as easy to drive and park as a car, but that can haul enough flowers to supply a weekend’s worth of weddings." That was invented in Australia when Lew Bandt designed the coupe utility for Ford back in 1934. Decades before the Ranchero, we had the Ute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)
I agree, smooth and rounded. Nothing at all like a flat sided shoebox (for shoes) which has square corners. Calling a 1950 Ford a shoebox is completely wrong
Viewed as a car or as a pickup, that's a really good-looking vehicle. They might have done a more imaginative job on the side trim.
In the mid eighties Bailon was working on my 50 Merc coupe. (1BAD50) . Joe and his nephew were getting my car ready for paint. The shampoo Ford was there in the yard waiting for the restoration and build It was and still a favorite.
I dig the "could have been" nature of this. Yes, it's clearly custom, but to the untrained eye the source material could have been a factory ute. Of course I am highly biased, as I just turned my OT family car into a ute.
Hello, Nice story on the “Shampoo Truck.” When I first looked at the color photo, instantly it reminded me of Groucho Marx, the smooth black top as hair, the windshield as glases reflecting, and the shadow in the grille area as the famous moustache. It may be funny, but growing up watching that TV show and also custom cars as they rolled off of the pages of the multitude of car magazines, was really something. Maybe it is old age and memories get crossed from those shows or perhaps that is how I see things these days… ha! It is a great story and that was a great build from Joe Bailon. Jnaki The tail gate design also looks like a small Ranchero tail gate and light set up. It was/is a nice rear end…
When Gordy Brown or Dan Haggerty had their Custom body shop on San Fernando Rd in Sun Valley Ca this truck or one just like it was parked out front for several years. It's a looker for sure, isn't there a build here on the HAMB of a similar shoebox truck?