1970 Ford F350 Holmes 440 Wrecker

Chuck Most · June 8

So last year I built this...

Now, here comes part 2...

After being let go from his previous employer in 1995, Michael "Fat Mike" Agosti struck out on his own. Purchasing a crusty but reliable '70 Ford F350 with a Holmes 440 wrecker unit, it was treated to a light refurbish and a cosmetic makeover, and his daughter Sherilyn picked the color. Mike, who was color blind, often joked that blues and aquas were his favorite colors.

When Mike passed away in 2009, Fat Mike's Towing went to his wife, Connie, and Sherilyn was put in charge of running the day to day operation. And that's just about how it went right up until 2024. At that point, Connie was wanting to retire, and Sherilyn was... Well... Having some personal problems that became legal problems. Which all led to Fat Mike's grandson Mike Slaughter taking over, having spent the last several years driving a wrecker.

To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Fat Mike's Towing, Mike pulled the trigger on his long standing idea of treating the very first Fat Mike's wrecker to a restoration.

Not a full restoration, as Mike wanted to preserve as much of the 2009 repaint as he could. It was the wrecker's third paint job since Fat Mike bought it, and he performed the paint job the week before he died, so Mike wants to keep it around for a while longer. So the existing paint was buffed and touched up, and the firewall and interior were finally matched from the factory white to the aqua hue.

The interior was upgraded to Ranger trim and reupholstered, it was probably the second most changed area of the truck. The most changed part of the truck is the engine. It's the same 390 the wrecker was born with, but it's been rebuilt and fitted with a few Roush parts, and painted in a custom mixed metallic version of Ford Engine Blue.

The truck was fitted with new wheels and tires, the old push bumper was replaced by a factory bumper, and bright trim was added to the windshield.

The model is the '72 Moebius kit, with a '70 grille. I added antennae, spot lights, steps, a smoke stack, and air horns from the parts pile. The door decals came from Gopher Racing, and the whole thing wears a coat of lightly distressed Rust-Oleum Aqua. The wheels and tires came from the new custom 4x4 kit and were modified into duals in the back. I also used the '71 Ranger interior and upholstery pattern decals.