4 Generations- The Tribute Truck

I always get a kick out of the next build. My wife thinks I like that more than the finished product.  She may be right.  I get bored when they are finished and usually sell them off and start over.
35's and 36's hold a special place with me.  They are engrained in my history.  They span 3 generations so far.  Eventually, my son will end up with one to pass on the legacy.

A picture of me on my second birthday, 1970, my pickup is in the background.  That was my present.  Mom thought Dad was crazy.

This build kinda holds a special place for me.  The frame is from my Grandpa's farm.  He had it laying up against the back of the garage for years and years.  My Grandpa grew up in an era long before political correctness ever reared it's ugly head.  A man's word was as good as it got and a handshake would finish the deal. 

 He passed away last year at the ripe old age of 99. 

4 Generations of LeGrange men.

 He ran a produce company during the years of the great depression.  He bought a 1936 Ford pickup for his delivery truck.  He drove from the far corners of the state delivering produce, poultry and eggs to grocers everywhere.  It was a novel concept started by his dad.  He told me you would buy the produce and just double the price.  What you didn't sell, you would eat.  Simple.

  This was way before big chain grocery stores came about.  
The old produce truck belongs to my dad now.  He logged over a million miles on the truck, before bestowing it to my dad. 

My dad started driving it on the street in 1956.  Around 1961, he quit driving it on the street and turned it into a C/Gas drag car with a Hilborn Injected 265 Chevrolet.  

Dad raced the truck up until 1976 at which time, it was retired.  I watched it lay in the back yard and deteriorate in the weather, as Mom and Dad paid for college etc.  I hated to watch it, but life gets in the way.  Fast forward to 2000, Dad decided to put the old truck back on the street.

So, what does this all have to do with the shop truck?

  Well, recently my dad was cleaning out my grandpa's house and found an old calendar.  It was a LeGrange Produce calendar from 1932.  It has the phone number, address, etc.  I thought it would only be fitting to build a "Tribute Truck" and include all of this information on some door art.  You see, the lettering will also include the proprietor "C.E. LeGrange", which just happens to be my initials as well.  Cool, huh?