Chuck Most

Ron Altenberg earns his living farming, and enjoys himself with car projects and drag racing. His 1960 Ford F100 borrows from these three aspects of his life. The first new truck his grandfather ever bought was a 1960 Ford F100 Custom Cab. By the time Ron was born in 1990, the '60 was mostly relegated to off-road duties around the farm, before his grandfather finally got rid of it in 1997. This is not the same '60 F100, but rather one that Ron bought in 2023. It was a stalled restoration project and Ron got it for a little bit of nothing, a little incomplete but just perfect for what Ron had in mind. Combining an old farm truck with his interest in drag racing, Ron built the truck in a "gasser" style. The factory leaf spring suspension was retained at both ends, with lift blocks to achieve the desired stance. The truck came with a fitted Dana 44 and a T-5 transmission, and these "freebies" were retained, and Ron welded up his own set of ladder bars. Weld S80 wheels and Mickey Thompson tires support the chassis. He bought the Lincoln 430 from his buddy Jerry, who'd used it to power his old pig roaster truck. The engine was fully rebuilt and fitted with a supercharger. As with the ladder bars, Ron made his own headers. Ron also built his own four point roll cage, and aside from that, new gauges, and a set of bucket seats that had previously lived in his dad's friend's Willys, it's largely stock. Speaking of largely stock, Ron did absolutely nothing to the body, other than open up the hood to clear the big catcher. The truck was a hodgepodge of original, salvage, and reproduction parts when he got it, but he made it all work. The majority of the body modifications actually took place in the engine bay, with the inner fenders opened up and the firewall recessed slightly. The entire body was done in a bright metallic red, with a darker shade used for the interior and engine. Ron got the project wrapped up in January of 2025. Despite the Michigan car show season still being several months away, he managed a couple shakedown runs and is looking forward to what it's capable of on the strip. The AMT '60 F100 was treated to wheels and tires from the Jay's Resin Wheels 2024 Advent Calendar, a modified 430 MEL from an AMT 1925 Model T, and a bunch of cutting of the chassis. The main body is Tamiya Mica Red with the engine and interior done in Testors Mythical Maroon.

Since 2009, Bubba's BBQ has been serving customers in central Michigan at the restaurant, and around the Great Lakes region with their mobile catering services. David Michaels started the business after being encouraged by several people who'd tried, in particular, his grilled chicken, and told him he was wasting his talent managing an injection molding plant and not letting the world find out about his skill at the grill. After being let go from said plant, he gave his professional BBQ career a go, first as a mobile caterer, and then with the fixed location restaurant in 2015. Despite being the founder, owner, and face of the company, Dave himself is not Bubba... that was the nickname of his Uncle Frank, the guy who got Dave interested in BBQ in the first place. This is the "company truck", a 1963 Ford F100 found on central Michigan craigslist. Dave's mission was simple... He was going to buy the first truck he saw from his birth year, 1963, for under $5000. It could have been a Ford, a GM, or a Dodge. Could have been a Studebaker or (like he had hoped) an Intentional. As it turned out, he found this clean but non-running 1963 F100. It had been treated to a small block Chevrolet swap at some point in the past. It even had a weird period camper top. Upon getting it home, it seemed that the "major engine issue" the seller described was more like "there's some scrap cast iron where the engine should be". One of his cooks suggested a diesel swap, and mentioned the ability to run on biodiesel. Dave was intrigued enough to call a couple guys he heard were experts. Enter Dan and Jason Pierce of Pierce Brothers Fabrication. Known around the world for their Cummins 6BT swaps, a little synchronicity happened when it occurred to them they'd never done a 4BT swap. "Jason and I were talking about how we really ought to try a 4BT one of these days. That was on a Wednesday. Early Friday morning we got the call from Dave with a project he had in mind." Says Dan. The truck was treated to a Cummins 4BT, mated to the truck's existing four speed manual transmission. Dan says the 4BT is a much easier swap, seeing as how the 4BT is a third shorter than the 6BT with which they're so familiar. The fuel tank was also moved to the rear of the truck, along with the set of dual batteries. The brothers say, relatively speaking, it was probably the most straightforward Cummins swap they've done to date. After a brief shakedown, the truck got a new set of shocks, and was fitted with four wheel discs. The steelies with wide whites gave way to Ridler 610 wheels and BF Goodrich radials, 20" in front and 21" in back. The Pierce Brothers and Dave were both impressed by how little the truck needed to be a dependable driver, aside from the obvious engine swap. Dave himself did the door graphics, over the existing matte green paint job. "It's an odd shade, but I like it." Dave says. Since Bubba's frequently helps injured veterans, he also added the flags to the "loft" above the cab. In addition to his talent with BBQ, Dave isn't a bad graphic artist either. Though in the interest of full disclosure, it was his granddaughter Amanda who drew the pig mascot. Other than filling out the camper with all the utensils and supplies a traveling BBQ truck might need, Dave spends a lot of time driving the F100 in his off time, too. Eventually it will be fitted with a hitch for towing around a BBQ trailer. But, that's a project for late spring/early summer. The AMT 1963 F100 was built mostly out of the box, with the obvious exceptions of the Ridler 610 wheels and tires from Jay's Resin Wheels, the 4BT from Lazy Custom Models, and some Moebius West Coast mirrors. The graphics are from Gofer Racing (at this point I feel like I should be the Great Lakes Region Sales Agent for Gofer Racing 🤣). The odd but pleasant shade of green is Rust-Oleum Satin Leafy Green.

At the request of Steve.... https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/196956-two-in-honor-of-roger-plowboy-hayes/

I was excited and a little sad when the '60 and '63 kits dropped. Excited that they existed, sad that Roger wasn't around to partake in the fun. Both subjects seemed right up his alley.

King Equipment Sales is a farm equipment dealer on the outskirts of Sickles, Michigan. Today they're known for their inventory of well-used equipment and fire sale prices. In the past they've sold new equipment with little luck. Current owner Alex Anderson has joked "Since 1952, King Equipment has sold every brand of farm equipment to go out of business, usually a few months after we started selling them." David Bradley, Gibson, Leyland, David Brown, Roths Industries, Long Agribusiness, Gold Star, and numerous others have been sold new by King Equipment over the years. But for a few glorious months in 1955, King tried to get into manufacturing their own equipment. Sort of. Due to some convoluted horse trading, Alfred King was able to procure components to build the Fendt F20 Dieselross. Communication with Fendt to import their tractors outright fell through, but Alfred was able to rent a decommissioned aircraft hangar and build these "knock down kits" under his own name. Wearing a combination of pale blue and bright red, the King E20 Baby Diesel was announced, built, and discontinued within a 90 day period. Al had hoped to sell at least 150 a year. In the end, he built five and sold three. There were numerous reasons why Al's venture flopped, perhaps mostly his own slightly sketchy reputation and his penchant for exaggerated claims. This is the only known remaining example of the E20 Baby Diesel. It was the fourth unit built and the only one with the optional sickle bar mower. It was one of the two not sold ... It was gifted to the Sickles Village DPW as a promotion, and was used by the village until 1988, by which time Sickles had grown into a city and the King was getting worn out. Not feeling like ordering obsolete Fendt parts from Germany in a pre-eBay world, it was sold at auction to it's current owner, Steve Barnes. Steve used a friend he made while he was stationed in Germany as a connection to obtain parts and has used the King on his farm ever since. Eventually he plans to do a full restoration. And he occasionally shows it, even though it's not looking it's greatest these days. King Equipment has tried to buy it back quite a few times, but so far Steve won't budge. The model is the Revell Fendt F20 Dieselross painted in non-Fendt colors. I deleted the passenger seat and ROPS bar, and all lamps except the headlights. The hood is hand lettered and I made a little crown emblem for the nose. The whole reason for the color scheme and backstory? I wasn't a fan of the Fendt color and I wanted to put an American spin on this German tractor.

We may well be in the grip of another long Michigan winter, but your friends at Green Toes Lawn Care Service still stand ready to help. With our fleet of snow plows, and our legendary low prices, Green Toes is ready to make your winter travels go much more smoothly. We offer a full winter package, where we show up and plow your driveway with every major accumulation, or you can call us when needed. That's Green Toes Lawn Care Service, on Murphy Road in Sickles, proudly serving the area for over two decades! The model is a combination of the MPC '78 D100 and Warlock kits, with a Moebius snowplow. For now it has no engine until I decide on a 360, a diesel swap, or leave it curbside. The light bar came from the AMT '92 Flareside.

I stuck some evergreen strip between the bed and chassis to level things out. I didn't use the lens decals simply because I didn't think they looked great on the backer. Maybe they look okay but the paint over foil trick never fails so I wasn't tempted to try them.

Earl Ives did pretty well for himself, though you'd probably never know by looking at him. From his shabby clothing to his tattered truck, he gave off the appearance of near vagrancy. But as is often the case, things weren't quite as they appeared. Earl wore shabby clothing and drove a beater truck because he spent much of his "work week" doing tasks that few people wanted to do. He was a handyman, a trash collector, a landscaper. Often times, when a resident of Sickles didn't want to perform a dirty job themselves, they'd hire Earl. One day he was tasked with clearing out some dead tree limbs from a path on the forest of the Maynard family. To sweeten the pot, old Steve Maynard said he could keep the trailer on the property, which had begun life as a 1960 Ford F100. Loading his own '57 F100 and the trailer, Earl wrapped up the task in three trips. The fallen limbs were dried and used as firewood in Earl's shop that winter. The old Effie always did seem to sit a little lower in back from that day forward! Earl bought the '57 from the original owner in 1966. A collision in 1972 necessitated some new front sheet metal, and Earl bought some '59 and '60 doodads to repair and visually update the truck. These parts came from the yard of his good friend Rex Bearndt, who would go on to open Rex Scrap & Salvage a few years later. Maybe one of these days he'll finally paint everything all one color. He just retired in December of 2024, four months shy of his 80th birthday, so he has time. Or maybe he'll turn the tables and hire somebody else to do it! This is the AMT '60 kit, built as a curbside with mismatched paint to explain the front end discrepancy. The trailer was built first, and the truck was basically thrown together for a tow vehicle. The hitch is a rare earth magnet.

Those came from the Jay's Resin Wheels 2024 Advent Calendar.

It's just the kit chassis plate and wire axle. So in that respect, it's the factory truck axle. 😁

Back half of an AMT '60 F100 with a scratch built tongue and tailgate, an old Scenes Unlimited hitch, and a Moebius bumper. The toolbox and spare tire came from the '60 kit, and it's loaded down with Woodland Scenics deadfall.

AMT '60 cab on the '72 Moebius wrecker chassis, with a Moebius snowplow, scratch built bed, and bull horns and a 7.3 Powerstroke from Iceman Collections. Paint is Rust-Oleum Hunt Club Green weathered with Vallejo acrylics.

KED 3D kit from Steve Kohler at Star Models, chopped and fitted with a narrowed custom grille from the AMT '63 F100. It sits on Aoshima wheels and tires and the decals came from a Gofer Racing sheet. This is the first time I've chopped the top on a 3D printed body, can't say I'm in a big hurry to do that again anytime soon. 🤣

Should be straightforward. The 2wd and 4x4 frames are different but everything lines up. The kit includes a spare pair of 2wd front wheels so you could swap in the chassis from the '68 F250 and just attach the dually wheels from the wrecker.

So, I love all of them, but I have a question about this one. Is this Gray Baskerville's car?