1963 Ford F100 Flareside

Chuck Most · 2025-07-21T00:59:16Z

Jennifer Pearson blazed her own path.

She grew up in a well-off household, always a Lincoln or Jaguar or occasionally a Benz in the driveway. Her father Michael was a surgeon, and her mother Anna was a chemical engineer. She was the youngest of the five Pearson children and the only daughter.

She was on the pom squad, on the track team, formerly played trombone in the marching band, and was very likely on track to be Sickles High School valedictorian for the class of 1987. But despite her upbringing, Jen marched to her own tune. She wanted to be an automotive mechanic. Far from discouraging her, her parents supported her. After all, her older brothers had gone into their own careers.

She was the only girl in Mr. Leonard's Auto Shop class in the 1985/86 school year. Naturally she got a little ribbing from that boy's club, though once she'd proven herself she more or less became "one of the guys". Once she'd warmed up to her classmates, it was said that some of her jokes and banter even made the guys blush. Sometimes, even the mostly unflappable Mr. Leonard blushed!

Even though she did have a soft spot for her dad's old MG, Jen always felt more at home in a beat up old junker than one of her parent's luxury cars. Particularly old pickup trucks. And so it was that she picked out a rundown but running 1963 Ford F100 Flareside as her first vehicle.

Every Tuesday and Thursday from 5 to 10 PM during the school year (and intermittently during summer vacation), Mr. Leonard would have "open shop", where the students could have (supervised) access to the auto shop to do whatever work on their vehicles. Jen would always try to carve out time for the F100. It was upgraded with a Twin I Beam front suspension from a wrecked 1966 F100 , lowered, and fitted with some old Radir wheels. It was resprayed in school bus yellow, fitted with bucket seats and a cut down center console from a '62 Thunderbird, and it was even featured in the "Reader's Rides" section of the February 1986 issue of Wheels Magazine.

Many times Jen discussed her future plans for the truck. She wanted some kind of crazy engine that could still be theoretically practical. A Boss 351 or 429 frequently came up. One classmate suggested a 392 Hemi, and Jen was not dismissive of that idea. But for the most part she worried about upkeep and driving it any chance she had.

Over the 4th of July break in 1986, the Pearson family headed to Great Smoky Mountains State Park, to celebrate the weekend with nearby relatives and explore the park. On the afternoon of the 5th, Jen went for a hike and never returned. Despite an exhaustive search, nothing would be found until 1990, when a homemade bracelet featuring a Ford emblem was found. A few weeks later, Jen herself was finally found in a crevasse. Years later her disappearance was hyped up and included in a certain well known series of books about mysterious State Park disappearances, and there were some weird Internet theories about extraterrestrials and portals... but let's not go there.

Going back to the days and months following the disappearance, Jen's auto shop classmates took it upon themselves to finish up the '63. Ever hopeful that one day she'd show up, they continued working on the '63, hoping to surprise her in the case she reappeared one day.

At one summer open shop night, a couple weeks after Jen vanished, Tom Andrews was visiting. Owner of Village Ford-Lincoln-Mercury, Tom liked to visit the auto shop to recruit possible new technicians. He noticed a group of boys working on a bright yellow F-100. When he asked what they were up to, they told him that the truck belonged to the missing student. As the conversation continued, Jen's engine ideas came up. When "Boss 429" was uttered, Tom's ears perked up. Tom introspectively scratched his chin, then told the boys he'd be back.

At a quarter to ten, a new F150 with a dealer plate rolled up to the auto shop. Tom Andrews leaned out the window, nodded towards the pickup bed, and asked... "Where you boys want this?"

In the bed of the truck, on a weathered wooden skid, was a dusty Boss 429 engine fitted with a dual quad intake. Tom said it was a "donation" from his father Gary, former owner of the dealership. When the boys asked how much they owed him, Tom just waved his hand and said "Nah... He's got three other ones out in the shed. Let me know if this one's junk, we'll haul out one of the others and give it a try."

Turned out it wasn't junk, the boys had it in and running in pretty short order. The Pearson family and the community as a whole were supportive, and the entire town sort of took the project as their own, although the boys told the local papers to be vague because they didn't want the surprise spoiled. Again, Jen's ultimate fate was still unknown.

Almost everyone in Mr. Leonard's class got some time behind the wheel, testing and tuning. It even towed the senior float for the homecoming parade in 1987 with Mr. Leonard himself at the wheel, and at that time it was discovered that the cooling system needed attention, as the truck had come dangerously close to overheating four times.

When Jen was finally found, the F100 led the subsequent funeral procession in lieu of a hearse, with Mr. Leonard again behind the wheel. Naturally, Dr. And Mrs. Pearson followed in the old MG... After the good doctor and Mr. Leonard had given it a mechanical once-over the night before to ensure against any "old British sports car-related embarrassment".

While the truck has changed owners on paper about 25 times since 1986, it's still referred to locally as Jen's truck. Current name on the title is Dean Whitaker, one of the former auto shop students who stuffed the Boss between the frame rails so many years ago. He has "owned" it since 2019 and other than replacing the tires, installing a new stereo head unit, and a fresh coat of paint in 2020 during lockdown, it's changed little since he and his classmates wrapped it up back in 1987. At some point it lost it's hitch and got a new bed floor. It used to spend it's winters stashed away in the Pearson family garage, but after they relocated to Tennessee, it now winters in an unused bay at Village Ford-Lincoln, and sometimes is in display in the showroom.

As Dean puts it: "I don't own this truck. I'm just the current caretaker."

The model is the Moebius 1966 F100, with the grille and front panel from the AMT '63. Since it's obviously not factory stock, I can refer to the Twin I Beam setup as a retrofit. It has a Boss 429 spliced together from various AMT Mustangs, '62 Thunderbird seats and console, and a scattering of parts box stuff.

I don't know where the wheels came from but the tires are from a Moebius '65 Plymouth Satellite. It's painted with Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Gloss Marigold. It's probably the thickest and most foul smelling paint I've encountered in a while, but surprisingly I got it looking decent. Front and rear plates came from Best Model Car Parts.