Chuck Most Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Lyle Simpson is a car salesman's worst nightmare, because if he likes a vehicle, he keeps it forever. And his 25th birthday present to himself has been a gift that keeps on giving. On a sunny but brisk spring Monday, Lyle strolled into Jones & Sons Motors in Rockwood, Ontario, and placed an order for a new truck. By the time summer was getting started, Lyle was the proud new owner of a 1967 Mercury M100 Custom Cab 4x4, with an 8' bed, a 390 fed by a four barrel, and a C6 transmission, and finished in Pure White and Rangoon Red The truck served many uses over the years, from the expected farm duties, to things like pulling a parade float in 1971 (back when it still has the "big ugly hitch" on it), and rushing his wife Mary to hospital during a 1974 blizzard, after she'd unexpectedly gone into labor with their first daughter. Mom, Dad, little Denise and the truck all made it through just fine. By that time, Lyle had "updated" the truck with a 1972 Ford grille, Ranger XLT tailgate trim with a hand painted Mercury script, and during the summer months it wore white Jackman wheels, reverting to the factory white steelies during the winter. Lyle says the 1972 grille and Ranger XLT tailgate trim combined with the Mercury markings get some strange looks from people familiar with classic FoMoCo trucks, and he likes it that way. It's been entirely repainted at least twice, with what Lyle claims are enough touchups over the years to count as about five or six complete repaints. It still wears the Jackman wheels in summer, but as you can see, the original wheels haven't gotten a new coat of paint. Yet. And Lyle says he's had the seat recovered a couple of times. But other than regular maintenance and repair work, not to mention accounting for decades of wear and tear, the truck has been so reliable Lyle has never seen a need to trade up for something newer. Though he was tempted in 1980, just because he liked the look of the new "bullnose" F-Series. But that itch was scratched when Mary traded in her 1976 Granada for a 1982 Bronco... a vehicle she owned all the way to 2000, when she traded up to a Lincoln Navigator. Currently, the family car is a 2020 Lincoln Nautilus. Neighbors think the swanky crossover and boxy old truck are quite the odd couple in the Simpson driveway. While numerous cars have come and gone in the Simpson family since Lyle and Mary got hitched in 1972, the M100 has been a mainstay, always at the ready when some good old fashioned truck duties need to happen. Even if it's just being used a prop for a granddaughter's senior pictures, as it was recently. Granddaughter Cassidy Mallory is depicted in her senior yearbook photo smiling behind the wheel of the old Mercury. Even though he doesn't drive much these days, Lyle says that today, at age 83, he's glad he opted for an automatic transmission way back when. "My left knee and hip would have killed me by now.", he says. After 58 years and 200-odd thousand miles, Lyle never imagined he or the truck would still be around this long. The kit started as the Moebius 1970 Ford F100 4x4, treated to the hood and side emblems from the '68 Mercury M100, and a tailgate from the '72 F250 4x4. The tires came from a Revell first generation Bronco. I lifted the rear suspension a little (about two scale inches) and gave it a little grunge and a few blemishes. I was going for a "used but definitely cared for" look. 12
Redisetta Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Chuck, your back stories are just as good as your builds, if you ever give up modeling you can always become a writer. lol
happy grumpy Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Nice looking pick up. Looks exactly like what you were aiming for, Used but very well cared for.
espo Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Like the real world, well used look. Realistic looking patina on the paint finishes and trim.
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