Fat Fender Fantasy

Sometimes things just happen for a reason. A few years ago, I had my Jailbar pickup parked outside my workshop when a chap who was passing spotted it and decided to call in and introduce himself. His name was Graeme Stratford, and he said he was from Raurimu. I had to think for a while where Raurimu was, but he reminded me of the train spiral at National Park. Right. Now it made sense.

Anyway, he proceeded to tell me he had purchased a project Jailbar pickup and could do with a hand to get it on the road. I decided to help him out and after a year or so got it on the road, and with its 327/350 10-bolt combo, it has been a great “work truck” for him over the years.

Fast forward a couple more years and Graeme, who has always had a keen interest in hot rods and loves cars and trucks from the ‘30s and ‘40s, said to me he had a ‘48 Ford coupe body and chassis that maybe I could do some work on that as well. I agreed, and he duly delivered the body and frame to me, but after it came back from Cambridge Colour Strip, it was deemed to be too much of a project for me to build anything decent