1937 Ford Pickup - High Plains Drifter

[Lobo2me]

A few months ago, I took a deep dive into the parts bin and came up with a 1937 Ford Pickup cab, bed, radiator grill, and headlights. That would be a great place to start my next model project, but what kind of vehicle would it be? 

Looking for inspiration, I hopped online and stumbled upon several outrageous videos of Joey Logano doing smokey high-speed drifts in his fantastic new Drift Truck. And I was blown away by many other extraordinary renditions of Factory Five Racing’s ‘35 Hot Rod Pickup Truck. That’s it! I’ll build my version of a wild and crazy Drifter. 

With a few significant alterations, my salvaged ’37 would be perfect. First, I got to work on chopping the roof four scale inches, then shortened the bed by about ten and gave it suicide doors. 

I constructed the tube chassis with a full roll cage from different diameters and thicknesses of styrene rod, sheet, and diamond plate. Up front, the Indy-style suspension has in-board coil-overs and is posable, and in the rear is a custom four-link suspension. And, of course, this beast has to roll on low-profile, high-performance wheels and tires (from Lindberg’s ’38 Custom Ford Van kit).

I returned to the parts bin for an appropriate motor and found a Chevy V8 block. Plug wires leading to Gen V LS ignition coils under vintage valve covers were added, and I put Hilborn velocity stacks on top. Tube headers send the noise rearward, and coolant lines and additional accessories make it look like a vintage drag motor.

Interior features include EVO Racing seats with 5-point racing harnesses, a scratch-built shifter and drift brake, and a fire extinguisher bottle nestled between the seats. I modified the kit dash by adding toggle switches and a PE instrument bezel and mounted custom loud, whoa, and snatch (clutch) pedals to the driver’s side diamond plate firewall. Flat sheet stock with simulated tuck & roll upholstery finish off the inside door panels. Lessons learned: I should have taken better photos during the construction phase to capture the high points of the cramped interior.

Dual racing radiators (like Logano’s truck) keep things cool even at negative MPH and are flanked by Semi-truck-style exhaust stacks. An Optima battery and a Le Mans-style gas cap are also in the bed. Rear shock towers protrude through the diamond plate bed to provide adequate travel.

Various Tamiya and Testor’s paints and other materials and finishes are used throughout. The body is finished in Tamiya TS19 Metallic Blue over TS76 Metallic Silver, topped off with TS13 Clear. Molotow chrome pen and Bare Metal foil appear in a few small places. Custom “High Plains Drifter” Inkjet decals are applied to both doors and the tailgate, complete with Clint’s silhouette holding his trusty Colt revolver. 

All comments are welcome.

Thanks for looking!

Edited April 14, 2024 by Lobo2me
Typo fix

[ea0863]

Super rad build. I think I love the mash-up of different design elements best. Well done and thank you for posting!

[karbuildr]

Awesome. Excellent concept, nothing like a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. Beautiful color, great imagination and then carrying out what you envisioned in the form of your model.

[Zippi]

Great looking 37 pickup.  Nicely done man.

[ybsluos]

Steve this is an amazing piece!  Great vision and execution.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Cool and awesome!!

[Yeah Nah]

Now that's one cool build! Excellent job all round Steve.

[XYHARRY]

I'm not a big drift fan but I do appreciate the amount of skill and engineering you have put into this excellent project. Well done Steve. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

[ncbuckeye67]

That is not only an awesome feat of engineering, but a lesson in scratch-building as well. All wrapped up in a beautiful blue paint job!

[KWT]

Very nicely done

[Lobo2me]

6 hours ago, XYHARRY said:

I'm not a big drift fan but I do appreciate the amount of skill and engineering you have put into this excellent project. Well done Steve. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

Hi David, I feel the same way about "drifting" and am not a big follower. However, I appreciate all forms of racing. You should hear the discussions I have defending the NHRA with my F1 buddies. They don't have a chance! Thanks for the kind words.

[stavanzer]

Wow!

[espo]

Wild looking little truck. Like the scratch-built chassis and interior roll bars. 

[SpikeSchumacher]

Excellent combination of using "spare parts", and scratch building!

[Steve Geer]

You nailed it all: Imagination, ingenuity, aesthetics and class-A construction – what a build!  Who would ask for more?  Tremendous job there Steve. 

[Lobo2me]

8 hours ago, Steve Geer said:

You nailed it all: Imagination, ingenuity, aesthetics and class-A construction – what a build!  Who would ask for more?  Tremendous job there Steve. 

Really appreciate the kind comments!

Thank you

[Rattlecan Dan]

Wild Ride man! Nice job.

[Sledsel]

Great use of different parts and use of imagination!!!

[ChrisR]

Very nice!!

[thatz4u]

left me speechless, so I wrote this instead, well done

[Speedpro]

Great looking truck! I'd like to see how that would do on the drift track.

[Lobo2me]

8 hours ago, Speedpro said:

Great looking truck! I'd like to see how that would do on the drift track.

I think it would be a lot of fun. Joey Lagono seems to have enjoyed his time behind the wheel. 

 

[ReduitRetro]

Thats a wild ride!...great job!

[NOBLNG]

Awesome work Steve!?

[slusher]

Outstanding!