---
title: 'Fewer Than 10 Ever Built: The $200,000 "Patina" Sleeper Mercury M250 | Jay Leno’s Garage'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=91JQRYwkPlU'
video_id: '91JQRYwkPlU'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 2266
---

# Fewer Than 10 Ever Built: The $200,000 "Patina" Sleeper Mercury M250 | Jay Leno’s Garage

> Source: [Fewer Than 10 Ever Built: The $200,000 "Patina" Sleeper Mercury M250 | Jay Leno’s Garage](https://youtube.com/watch?v=91JQRYwkPlU)

## Summary

In this episode of Jay Leno's Garage, host Jay Leno explores a highly customized 1966 Canadian-market Mercury M250 truck, a rare vehicle with fewer than 10 crew cab units built. The truck, built by Jason Null of FatFender Garage and owned by Roman Taherin, retains its original weathered 'patina' exterior while featuring a completely new, modern chassis, a supercharged 5.8L Ford GT500 engine, and advanced suspension. The video highlights the philosophy behind preserving the truck's history and the collaborative effort between builder and owner.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the Mercury M250** [0:00] — Jay Leno introduces a 1966 Canadian-built Mercury M250 truck, noting that Mercury trucks were not made in the US and this is a rare Canadian-market vehicle.
- **Preserving History** [0:15] — The owner, Roman Taherin, explains he wanted the truck's exterior to tell its story, with dents and damage (e.g., a fork lift hole in the quarter panel) preserved as part of the vehicle's history.
- **Engine Specifications** [1:41] — The truck is powered by a 5.8L supercharged Ford engine (from a GT500), producing 650 horsepower. The builder notes the motor was ceramic coated to match the truck's color theme.
- **Real Patina vs. Fake** [2:36] — Discussion about the truck's genuine patina versus modern artificial patina. Jason Null confirms the truck will continue to age naturally.
- **Custom Build Process** [3:02] — FatFender Garage collaborated with the owner, Roman, to modify the truck. The build started with a custom chassis, designed for a crew cab 250, including eight-lug Currie axles for an authentic look.
- **Chassis and Suspension** [5:56] — The chassis is brand-new, designed for this era of truck. It features 4-wheel disc brakes, a Currie 9-inch differential front and rear, and Icon active suspension, adjustable via phone.
- **Shop Size and Build Time** [8:06] — FatFender Garage is a 45,000 sq ft shop with 75 employees. Build time for a project like this is generally about a year, including ordering the chassis and scheduling.
- **Historical Context: Luxury Trucks** [10:00] — Jay Leno explains that luxury trucks originated in the US due to a 5% luxury tax on vehicles over $30,000, leading manufacturers to improve trucks instead of paying the tax.
- **Mechanical Upgrades** [11:22] — The truck has four-wheel disc brakes from an F250, a six-speed sequential manual transmission, and a custom air intake box to manage heat, improving performance.
- **Authentic Raw Chassis** [16:26] — The owner insisted on leaving the chassis bare metal (cleared only) to show off the welding and fabrication, despite the builder's concerns about rust.
- **Rarity of Crew Cabs** [20:56] — The owner explains that Ford crew cabs were special orders before 1965, often built by third-party companies. This particular truck was one of fewer than 200 made for the 12-month calendar year.
- **Original History** [23:12] — The truck was originally special-ordered by Manitoba Hydro Engineering for the Kettle Rapids project in 1966. It had a 240 inline-6 engine and 3-speed manual, with two-wheel drive.
- **Family-Centric Design** [29:08] — Roman explains he kept the patina so his kids could scratch the truck without worry, making it a family heirloom rather than a pristine showpiece.
- **Off-Road Experience** [37:23] — Jay and Roman take the truck off-road, demonstrating its modern capability despite the classic look. The truck handles well with adjustable suspension and a good turning radius.

### Conclusion

The 1966 Mercury M250 is a rare, meticulously built truck that combines authentic patina with modern performance, reflecting a trend toward preserving history while maximizing capability and safety.

## Transcript

Here
we go. Water up ahead.
>> You really can go anywhere with this
thing.
>> Oh man,
this is awesome. I wanted it to
mechanically be sound, mechanically be
safe but
>> I wanted the outside to tell the story
of everything. Like even in the back
passenger side quarter panel, you can
tell where they stuck a skid steer fork
through it just to lift it out of the
mud to get it out. People are like, "Why
would you hammer and dolly in and weld
it?" I'm like, "Cuz that's part of the
story."
>> We probably should have had the windows
up.
>> Welcome to the episode of Jay Lo's
Garage. As you may have figured out, we
have eclectic tastes here at the show.
You never know what it's going to be.
this particular vehicle, 1966
Canadianbuilt Mercury M250 truck. Now,
if you're surprised that Mercury made a
truck, well, they didn't make one in the
United States. This is Canadian market
only, apparently. The Mercury name
plate. Why it was put on trucks up
there, I don't know. Maybe we'll find
out. You know, this is what I like. I
like something that looks like a truck,
does the work of a truck. It's not
babyed. It doesn't look like something
you're just going to park somewhere and
and drive on dry days and never go on
the stuff. This still looks like an
extremely capable vehicle, but heavily
modified cuz I look at this go Mercury 2
supercharged. What? 196. Well, no, he
made that badge, but it but it looks it
looks correct. It looks period. The
chassis we will discuss and you will see
in a minute. Totally custom. The engine
5.8 L Ford. I guess it's out of the Ford
GT500, I think, if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah. Uh, so you've got plenty of
horsepower. Let Let's meet the man who
built this car, Jason Null. Jason, come
on in here, my friend. Good. Beautiful
job.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Yeah, I I like the fact that it it's
it's true to what its purpose is. It's
meant to be something you can go
off-road and and just beat the hell out
of and it's going to take it without and
you can't scratch it. And if somebody
keys your car, you just go, "Thanks."
You know? Yeah. I mean, yeah. It's it's
it's really pretty pretty cool. Uh did
did you sort of put the shellac or
something over here to keep this rust
sort of frozen in time?
>> No, I mean it might have, you know, some
wax on it, but really it really is going
to continue to age, you know, left alone
and it'll continue to, you know, they
call it patina nowadays, right?
Everybody patina. Yeah.
>> Everybody likes to use the word patina,
throw that around. But um but this is
this is the real deal.
>> Now, you have a shop. Is it Fat Friended
Garage? Is that the name of the shop?
>> It's FatFender Garage. Yes. in Gilbert,
Arizona.
>> Okay. And you do a lot of custom work,
restoration, modify, whatever you need,
I guess.
>> Yeah, I you know, we just started buying
some old trucks and fixing them and sold
them and then that just kind of turned
into
>> Oh, okay.
>> much larger.
>> So, this was not a customer coming to
you with his truck telling you what he
wants. You find this, you do the
modifications you want, and then you
sell it to someone who's looking for
that. We we used to that's how we began
our business. But now everything's done,
you know, with the customer in mind.
They they bring their truck to us. And
so the owner of this truck uh you know,
had some ideas and thoughts and so we
collaborated together because he wanted
to like uh you know take something that
was something he loved so much but make
it better and that's what we did for
him.
>> Now would you prefer to do a restoration
or have this sort of patina look as you
say? So patina is not for everyone as
you know. I guess for me it depends on
the customer and what they want in the
truck. I love painting and it and they
look beautiful when they're done. But
like you said in the very beginning they
become like questionable whether they're
going to drive it or not later because
they're like like I don't know. It's so
nice. I don't know if I can drive it
now. That's what they'll say. And then
then then you kind of feel like
>> darn it, you know, I want them to drive
it. And so, uh, but this was left, you
know, um, to where it doesn't matter.
>> I think we probably scratched it in our
shop, but nobody knows.
>> Now, how often do you have the case
where an owner I always call it more
money than brains club, they don't
really know what they want. They have
this vision and you go, I said, "No,
it's not going to work. That's crazy.
That's got to be a tricky situation
explaining people. No, you got to be
realistic in what you want here. that
won't work. You can't turn it into a
boat and a car, whatever. I mean, it
must just just get crazy because, you
know, people watch a lot of these stupid
shows on YouTube where in a weekend you
bring it on Friday, Monday, it's a full
custom, you know, and they're Yeah.
Yeah. So, that's got to be frustrating
for you as an owner.
>> It is hard is because we get a lot of
input from owners and and some owners
are are easy to work with,
>> right?
>> And uh it's like show business.
>> Yeah, they're easy. And then others are
like, like you said, like how am I going
how am I going to break this to them?
They can't do that.
>> And uh and you learn to say no. The more
I learn to say no, the better it is for
me right?
>> And it's not always easy to do that
because you want people to have what
they want. But we've had plenty of
projects come through the shop and we're
redoing an interior right now as we
speak because he picked the colors out
and I was like, "All right, well, we'll
just let him pick it, right?"
>> And then after he saw it, he's like, "I
don't think that looks good." And so I
said, "Were you going to let me pick
it?" And he goes, "Yeah." So you did.
>> Well, I think because just looking at
this, I can see you did it right. I
mean, number of people I know, for
example, get like a mid60s Barracuda. It
had a six-cylinder.
>> They put a big 440 Chrysler in it. And I
look and it still got the the four lug
nut wheels with drum brakes as opposed
to, oh, I I don't want to upgrade. I
couldn't afford the Oh, no. That's now
you got a dangerous
>> just terrible thing. I mean, this you
you built it to do what's intended to
do. I mean that looking at this chassis,
it's just massively strong, isn't it?
>> It is. And this was the first chassis we
designed for this era of truck, uh, a
crew cab. And of course, we we have
options for people, you know, but
anytime we get into like a 250, I I say
it should be eight lug, you know,
because that's what you're used to
seeing today. And so we did eight lug
Curry axles. And so it really provides
that look that to be expected. Have you
modified the original chassis a ars and
all or or is it a brand new chassis?
>> So this is all brand new.
>> Okay. So and then you lay this sort of
>> patina or ratty ass as you call it body
on it.
>> Yes. Yes. We
>> I love it. I think it's fantastic.
>> Well, it has its story, right? That's
what's cool about it is it there's a
story. If it was all painted, it'd be a
different story. And now we get a lot of
um uh we call it hate mail online where
these guys want to go on I can't believe
you didn't fill in the blank left rust
didn't paint it you know we and I'm just
like this is not our vehicle this is a
customer's vehicle we're doing what he
asked us to do and so a lot of people
forget that but the only thing that is
not new is the sheet metal
>> right and I guess you save a fortune
actually not doing paint and body work
don't you I mean the customer does
>> fair fair enough
>> I mean to me I like the fact that any
money that's gone into it has gone into
it to make it more durable, stronger,
reliable, faster, break better, handle,
but whatever, you know. Although, I do
like this. The fact I was so perplexed
by the super ch I think it's 66. I can't
think of maybe in Canada they but it
looks like it was built for the car, but
this was put on afterwards, right?
>> Yeah, it was. Yeah, he the owner made
it. It is a supercharged and but he
wanted it to look original,
>> which fooled both of us.
>> Yeah. So, now let's see. I'm watching
your face and I'm thinking you didn't
like it cuz you
>> Well, the owner wanted it so he put it
on there that way. It seems like So
that's a constant struggle, isn't it?
Trying to get
>> owner and builder together and something
that's going to please everybody.
>> Well, and I I worry about our brand.
Yeah.
>> And if we put something out there, it
could is it good for us or, you know, so
we have to be really careful. But but
this this was a fun project for us.
>> Yeah. And you have quite a big shop,
right? I mean, it's a
>> We do. We have a shop in Arizona. It's
about 45,000 square ft, 75 employees.
So it's
>> okay.
>> A lot of babysitting.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> And how long does a project like this
take? Because most times when we talk to
folks like yourself,
>> it's a two or three man shop and it's 18
months. I mean, what what does something
like this? If I came in with one of
these and I wanted it modified
similarly, a year, six months. So
generally about a year because
oftentimes we'll have to order up a
chassis,
>> right?
>> So that's got to get put in production,
that's got to get made and and then that
once that chassis is done, then we can
kind of coordinate a schedule to get
that in. But but generally uh you know,
we'll try to do some of the waiting like
you keep your vehicle, drive it, we'll
let's get the chassis ordered and then
when the chassis is ready, bring it in.
So it can be anywhere from 6 months to
two years depending upon what the build
is.
>> Right. Well, very nice. So now these
were here. You didn't put these patina.
>> No. Well, and it was originally a blue
truck.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And so it was originally blue. If you
look underneath, you can see the blue
and then it was painted orange.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. Yeah. You can see.
>> Okay. So, but you didn't paint it
orange.
>> No. No. We didn't do any of that.
>> So, you haven't really touched the body
other than
>> this came out of Canada just like you
see it.
>> Okay.
>> And as you walk around it, it gets, you
know, as a bed would be expected to be
in, you know, Canada, beat up and used.
But yeah,
>> because Mercury as a name plate, at
least in America,
>> it was a higherend Ford. It was sort of
like uh old and Buick to Chevrolet,
right? Ford using that GM model. Like
the Cougar was a Mustang. So people had
a few more bucks that had electric
windows and and more
sound deadening and you know, all that
kind of stuff. And maybe the Canadians
didn't want anything to do with Ford and
so this was their way of getting
something that was a little special for
them, but uh only sold in Canada.
>> Yeah. Well, it was probably built by
Ford but in Canada.
>> Yes. Yeah. They just put a different uh
grill on it. Yeah, they did.
>> And a different hood and then put some
badges.
>> Well, they had the Bowmont and they had
all these other cars with Canadian names
on it. Really cool. And of course the
aftermarket mirrors. How How about the
interior? Is the interior pretty? Oh,
no. Look at that. Okay.
>> Yeah. So, we didn't go with the original
interior.
>> No, we didn't. It would have been a
bench seat and it was pretty tired. So,
owner wanted to maintain that. You see
how nice that shut?
>> Very, of course, you have the uh the
running board that comes out. And of
course, when this was built, the idea of
a luxury truck was ridiculous. I mean,
there's no such thing.
>> There's no such thing. Uh that came
about because in America, there was a 5%
tax on any vehicle more than $30,000. It
was a luxury tax. But if it was a truck,
well then they take that 5% and they
just make a luxury truck and you So the
money normally go to tax just goes to
giving you a better vehicle. That's
that's how it started. You had the
Lincoln Blackwood and then the idea of
having trucks with air conditioning and
fancy stereo cuz when this came out it's
a bench seat with a big stick here and
it's a manly vehicle, you know,
>> right? And and fit and finish was
something that was Yeah. only save for
the cars,
>> right? Yeah. Because as soon as you got
it, you loading cement in it and it was
going to work.
>> Going to work on the farm, whatever.
>> But very nice. Four-wheel discs all the
way around. I
>> four-wheel disc all the way around. Yep.
>> And what do you use for disc? What
aftermarket do you use?
>> These are actually uh F250 disc brakes
on here. Out of a newer truck.
>> What is a differential since you brought
it up?
>> Curry 9 in.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Front and rear.
>> Okay. So, that's an aftermarket
>> Well, the Ford 9 in. You know, the Ford
9 in that they used. And so, we just use
that front and rear. Keep it simple.
Well, I mean, honestly, he's probably
never taking this off-road if we, you
know.
>> Let's open the hood and see.
>> Let's do it.
>> Do I have to open it from inside or
>> No, but we got a we got a trick here.
>> Oh,
>> right here. We hit a little latch,
>> right?
So that people wouldn't
>> Yeah. So now only 4 million people will
know that that is there.
That's our number of subscribers.
>> Yes. Number of subscribers. So
>> Well, look at this. Wow. This is Yeah,
this is We need a step ladder to see
everything in here. Okay, that's a 5.8
L correct?
>> 5.8 supercharged.
>> Yeah. What What are you looking at? 650
700 horse
>> about 650.
>> Oh, it's 650. Yeah. Okay.
>> We actually painted the motor. We cerak
coated it
>> so it would kind of tie in with the rest
of the color theme of the truck.
>> Right.
>> Because it was a motor he had and it was
a little bit greasy.
>> Yeah.
>> You know, we wanted to clean it up so it
looked a little nicer when we gave it
back to him. Oh, so this is a motor he
had sitting around somewhere. Okay.
>> And I like this airbox with the plastic
in it. Look at that. That's something
>> 3D printed.
>> Yeah. You know, it's amazing how
effective the airboxes are cuz I was
always like, you really need it. I've
got a 66 47 L. We put a 427 in it.
>> Okay.
>> And it's LA and it's 95° 100 degree. I'm
on the freeway and I just stop. I go,
what? What is this? So, I opened the
hood and the wave of heat, it didn't
knock me over. I was like, "Oh my Oh my
god." I mean, I could just feel it, you
know? I was like, "What am I on fire?
What's happen?" No, the engine just
generates so much heat.
>> It It's boiling the gasoline and the air
it was just it couldn't take it anymore.
It's like it was choking on the hot air.
We put the airbox in. It's like a brand
new car. It It all we did was move it up
here and you're pulling it here instead
of pulling it from right near the
exhaust, you know? So, same thing. dual
masters and that's all modern stuff.
>> Yep.
>> So, this I guess this was sort of the
original blue of the car.
>> This that would have been the original
blue color, but we repainted it to
match. That was a question that he's
like, "What do we do? What color should
we do?" And I said, "Well, let's paint
this." Because when you pop the hood,
you know, you expect to
>> We thought it would be a little bit of a
conflict if we didn't, you know, if this
looked really bad under here. So, we
painted the bottom of the hood. We
painted the firewall and then these
inner fenders. and the core support and
then everything else was left.
>> Now, was this a driving truck when it
did it drive into your shop? What motor
was in it?
>> This motor.
>> Oh, this motor was already in it.
>> This was in it. Yes.
>> Oh, that's Oh. Oh, that's interesting.
>> So, this motor was in it and a running
driving, but you could imagine it was
just, you know, it's 1966 technology
under there. And it's old, it's tire,
there's leaf springs, there's, you know,
all that.
>> So, you had the drum brakes on it. You
had exactly what I was talking about
being a dangerous
>> supercharged on top. That's the greatest
thing about modern supercars because in
the 60s they were dangerous. I've got a
66 Hemi coronet drum brakes. It's just a
whole I mean you're on you're on the
brakes with both feet trying to stop
this thing. It just won't do it. No
power steering. Nothing is up. The only
thing huge is is the motor, you know. So
you finally have muscle cars now that
handle and stop and go around corners.
It it's really because the trick is
really not to get cars to go fast.
They've always gone fast. It's making
them stop and go around corners and be
reliable and get some semblance of
mileage, you know. Very cool. Very
nicely done. Okay. So, so this motor is
already in it. How about the
transmission?
>> So, same transmission, same motor. We we
did swap out the transfer case and uh
and then one of the big things that we
were really concerned about was, you
know, when you're when you're pitching a
a new chassis to someone and they want
to go that route, is it really going to
be better? you know, there's always that
question, you know, and so we spent a
lot of time dialing in suspension,
tuning suspension, so before we hand it
over to them, like we we know it's good.
So, we must have changed the springs out
three times. And then right at the last,
we um uh put on Icon active suspension.
So, he's got full, you know, dynamic
active suspension on his phone that he
can change the suspension on it. So, and
in a 1966, that's not something
>> no that you expect. What transmission is
it? Is it manual or I didn't look?
>> Yeah, it's a it's a TMIC and it's a
manual transmission. Sequential.
>> Okay. Oh, it's a sequential. Manual.
Okay. Five-speed.
>> Six.
>> Oh, six-speed. Okay. Yeah. I mean, this
really looks like the Brooklyn Bridge
under here. These massive suspension
pieces. It's
>> Well, it's all bare metal, too.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> There's no paint. It hasn't been powder
coated or anything.
>> Is that deliberate wise?
>> I was deliberate. But if you if you
think about the whole truck as a whole,
>> yeah,
>> that the idea for the owner was to say,
"Hey, I want it to be like more
authentic and raw and show off the the
welding and everything on the
>> I would think just for the sake of
preventing rust."
>> That's what I said. Yeah,
>> I actually didn't want to do it.
>> Oh, it's funny. All right.
>> But he convinced me and we did it. And
we did put a clear coat on it. Like we
cleared it just to help. But I said,
"You're going to have to wipe this down
every time you drive it." Well, we're
going to talk to the owner, Roman, in
just a little bit. In fact, he's going
to ride with us. So, we'll find out
which one of you won out here. Okay. I
love this grill in the front. This looks
like a Canadian piece. This looks like
something that didn't come from Ford.
>> No, but it but it was very common for
the era in time for for these uh trucks
to purchase those.
>> Just shutting this hood is a massive
thing.
>> You got to be
There you go. All right.
Well, let's meet the owner, Roman
Taherin. Come on in, Roman. How you
doing?
>> Doing well.
>> Oh, this is a guy I'm fighting later
after the show. Yeah. Yeah, that's
right. That's right. Good to see you.
>> Well, I'm going to go for a So, you
pleased with what you got here? Looks
pretty good.
>> It's always looked the same, actually,
in all honesty. But the functionality of
it,
>> that's a compliment, huh?
>> It is. It's a total compliment to Fin.
But um
>> it actually functions completely
different now.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> But it feels more complete, doesn't it?
>> 100% complete. Yeah.
>> Like now I feel safe. It's not like a
still death trap so much.
>> Could you stop it before with these
stock brakes that were
>> I could, but I I was very mindful of
>> downshifting and you you
progress.
>> Exactly.
>> This you actually
stop. Well, let's go for Ryan Roman.
We'll get his side of the story inside
the truck. Jason, thank you my friend.
>> You bet.
>> Hop in. Can I drive? Let's do it. Okay.
Oh, steering is nice.
>> I'm telling you, this thing drives great
compared to what it was like. Oh,
>> I could imagine.
>> I was pretty nervous driving through
your shop here.
Oh yeah.
>> I didn't want to hit anything.
>> Come on. Everything.
>> Yeah. I'm spectating too as I'm driving
in. I'm like, h
>> good.
>> It's totally classic, right?
>> Yeah. Totally classic.
I like how you roasted me. My son would
have liked that.
>> That's it.
>> There's nothing classic about this
truck.
>> Yeah, that's it.
>> Yeah. So, just punch it off. So, that's
like a partial neutral between second
and first. So, if you go further more,
you're going to be in first.
>> So, push it forward.
>> Yeah. If you go, you'll be in first if
you go forward.
>> All right.
>> Is that easier than a regular
>> H pattern? Cuz you always got to go. say
for racing like it it's you're not going
to miss shift, right?
>> You know, that's the big thing is you're
not going to miss shift.
>> I think where I dislike it very much cuz
this is like a daily driver for me.
>> Yeah, it's a lot of work.
>> It's a lot of work.
>> Yeah.
>> And especially being in LA, you know, or
or county, Southern California, you're
>> truck it here or drive it here?
>> I drove it.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. This thing's built to
>> I built this thing to drive. I only did
I did the leather for the wife because
she likes the smell of the interior.
>> So there you go first.
So you go there. Uh go forward just a
tad.
>> There you go. First and then when you go
through clutch and and commit to second.
>> Come back or back.
>> Commit to second. There you go. And then
every gears like that, slamming through.
>> There you go.
>> It's kind of more aggressive.
>> Seems a lot more work than an H pattern.
>> Yeah.
>> I mean, it does seem It doesn't seem any
quicker. I mean, it seems
>> once you get used to it, I think you get
another
>> 15 minutes into this thing, you're going
to you'll get the hang of it. You
already got the hang of the clutch. The
clutch is the trickiest part on this
truck.
>> Clutch is easy on this thing. I know you
asked a lot about some of that history.
The M series market was from 1947 to
1968.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> The Ford Motor Company was Ford Lincoln
Mercury.
>> Beautiful truck.
>> Thank you, my friend. Have a good day.
>> So, it was a Ford Lincoln Mercury
obviously. And then they had district
sales offices. DSOs is what the Ford
gurus tend to call them. But out of
those district sales offices in Canada,
they had around six of them. And these
crew cabs at the time were special
orders, every single one of them.
So the indicative thing, there's a lot
of these people trying to make these
trucks and clone them as Mercuries.
Basically, your DSO number needs to line
up with one of those special numbers,
special codes from one of those district
sales offices. And then all of them are
basically special ordered. So all these
crew cabs, like nobody really needed
crew cabs. Like you look nowadays,
>> everybody has a four-door truck in their
family. It seems like in 1965,
that's when Ford started making their
crew cabs in house.
>> Yeah.
>> Prior to 1965, October of ' 65, what
they were doing was sending their cabs,
like a regular cab with a long bed or a
short bed, and they throw an extra cab
in the back, and then they send it to a
third party company. Yeah. telling them,
"Hey, just go ahead and make us what
they call a coachu built truck." So,
every crew cab was basically special
ordered. But Ford didn't start making
them until 1965. And then that's when
everything kind of like the design
started becoming more streamlined.
Otherwise, like prior to 1965, you could
get two different crew cabs from the
same exact company, like let's just say
Orville. Yeah.
>> And depending on who was working that
day, how they decided they wanted to
weld the cab together,
>> they're so different and so intricate.
So, but this body style for the F series
or M series,
>> they say they had less than about 200 of
them were special ordered for that
12-month calendar year.
Now, this truck was originally like it
was for it was special ordered by a
company called Manitoba Hydro
Engineering.
>> Yeah.
>> And that's out of Manitoba, Canada.
>> They're like the Southern California
Edison, if you will, like the power
company.
>> Right. Right.
>> They started electricity in Canada. They
went to Ford. They went to a Mercury DSO
and ordered two crew cabs for a project
called the Kettle Rapids project in
1966.
And so when they ordered these trucks,
they came back, their fleet color was
light blue and dark blue, kind of like a
police car. So when you look at the
front quarter and the rear bedside
panels, they're light blue and then the
doors are dark blue. Well, the whole cap
was light blue, just like the inside of
the interior. And then after 10 years
when that project was done, the truck
was decommissioned and then auctioned
off and it went to like a race car
company or a race car team is what we're
alluding to just because of all the
decals and stuff that were on the truck.
They were all kind of like race car
stickers and
>> but this thing originally came with a
240 inline 6 and a 3-speed T89.
>> That's funny.
>> Two wheel drive.
So it's come a long way now.
I love this motor.
>> Yeah. This uh Yeah.
>> So, it's that 2013 2014. I don't know
why they stopped making this motor
though. From 2013 to 14, they made the
Trinity. That's a nickname. Trinity.
It's SVT motor. 5.8 L 32 valve double
overhead cam.
>> Yeah.
>> Stock came 661 horse with like 630
foot-lb torque.
So, this thing,
>> it scoots.
>> Oh, yeah. Yeah, it does.
>> You know, but
>> it just needed to be geared, right?
>> Yeah.
>> When I first got this truck, I mean, I
think that the gearing was completely
off, so I would never get into sixth
gear
>> in this truck. Jason and I always been
friends. I've always actually been a
very big fan of his whole production.
>> Oh, I see. So, you knew him before?
>> Yeah, I knew him before. And then Jason
was I want to say they were always more
keen to the lowered market, you know,
like slammed F100s on full custom
chassis or Chevy C10s. And
>> um I was always a vintage 4x4 guy. I
always have been. In 24, we were at the
F100 Western Nationals
and he uh
he came up to me and I remember we were
on the tailgate of the truck. He goes,
"Hey." So he slaps on it and he goes,
"So Hercules, huh?" He goes, "What's
your thoughts on I go, don't even tell
me." I go, "You guys are going to build
custom 4x4 chassis now." Goes, "That's
right." And he goes, "Would you be in?"
I go, "Put me in." I go, "I'm I'm game,
man." I go, "This truck," I go, "It's
never going anywhere. It's like a family
heirloom to me. This will go on to my
son, so he already knows it's his
truck." I said, I'd like to make it
safer.
You know, I go, it needs better braking
power. I want it to be more comfortable
for the kids, the family. I want air
condition. I want better interior. I
want the whole I want the whole gamut.
>> Yeah.
>> And so, we partnered up and and did
that. And I tell you what, it was a
pretty penny.
>> Yeah, it is.
>> To get it done, but
>> it's not cheap.
>> No,
but you ask me now. Well, now that we're
putting smile miles in, I tell you what,
I don't even think about it. That's
right.
>> You know,
>> well, it drives like a much smaller
vehicle. You certainly get a commanding
view of the road up here in the up in
the second story.
>> I know. And then this big windshield,
too.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> It's nice.
>> I imagine when you drop it in six, you
get pretty good mileage.
>> You know, I kind of got a heavy foot.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm a I'm a very big proponent of I
think smiles per gallon. And what are
you what are you average about 13 with
this?
>> I think the best I've ever done was like
14 miles per hour,
>> but I'm usually doing street driving, so
it's probably more like in that 11
range.
You got the hang of it now.
>> Yeah, you're clutching through gears
now.
Oh yeah.
This is where we Now you can open this
up. You know, it's a lot smoother too
now.
>> Yeah.
>> Before when it was all leaf sprout. I
mean, I had a Dana 44 open knuckle disc
brake front end, but it was still just a
rear spring leaf old school Ford truck
rear end from literally like 1979.
>> Yeah.
And this thing rode like
>> Yeah.
>> But it was fun. You know what? I think
more of the fun and the excitement came
from the fact that we were like dancing
with death. You know,
>> dancing with death.
>> I'm telling you, man. Like every time I
got in it and we were whipping this
thing, I was like, "Hell, we could wrap
this thing around a pole. We're going to
go rolling. I mean, we're going to go
flipping down the road."
>> I think you wrapped the pole around this
thing. So now I now that the
suspension's so plush, I'm still just
trying to figure out all that suspension
management stuff.
>> Man, you got us down.
>> That was nice.
>> I I tried to get my wife to drive this
thing. She's She gave up after probably
5 minutes. She like the hell with this
truck.
>> Put an automatic in it.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Had to put the air condition in
for us. We put resto mod air in this
thing cuz my wife's the one. She always
wants windows up.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. She's always cold. I'm always hot.
She's always cold. I like windows.
>> Well, you want a hot wife. That's what I
say.
>> I definitely got a hot wife.
>> Yeah. There you go.
I'm telling you, I don't feel like I'm
in LA anymore.
>> No, you're not. That's what's great
about it.
>> Might find some more old trucks to save.
>> Yeah.
>> I really wish you would have drove it
the other way.
>> What you mean when it was terrible? Why
would I want it? Terrible.
>> I thought the ride when it's good.
>> So that way you could appreciate. But I
tell
>> you how many terrible
>> If we made it to the end of the road,
you would have seen that you you cheated
death.
>> So many people just do a half job. Just
>> put the motor in. forget about
everything.
>> No, you got to have brakes. You got to
have all that. I have when I ventured
out to do this build, it was more
keeping my family in mind. You know why
I don't want pretty paint? Like cuz I'm
in that season of life where my kids are
going to f everything up. You know, the
Hot Wheels you gave me, my son and
daughter will be scratching down the
side of the surface of the truck. Like,
what's the point of painting it pretty?
It's not going to last. And I didn't
want to be that dad where my kids 30
years from now say, "Screw that truck.
Sell it. Dad's dead, but sell it." That
I have nothing but bad memories in that
thing,
>> you know? So, I don't I didn't want to
have that.
>> So, it's a project somebody else started
but didn't finish.
>> So, it was a project that was already I
want to say it was mechanically all put
together. As far as the uh 2014 the
GT500 motor, the funny thing is I at the
time and his name's Kyle. Um Kyle
originally he's the one who originally
got the truck in 2018 and I kept barking
up his tree and he finally he
relinquished the title over to me. I at
first was going to throw a Cumins in
this thing.
>> Oh yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> You know they're reliable, they're
mechanical but
>> I think he did the right thing
>> once you get a taste of this
>> Yeah. this raw modular power.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> And how it's just so snappy. You're
like, "This is definitely something I
could get used to." And I have four of
those Cumins trucks and they're loud
diesel smacking tractors, you know? But
I have a lot of these old trucks. So,
whenever I'm going through one, I always
want to do them different. One's got
this motor. I don't want that motor in
my next truck. I want them all kind of
different. If one's got a big single
turbo, I want to compound my next one,
you know? Like,
>> yeah,
>> I like them all different,
>> but I gotta say Hercules is probably
like out of all of them, my wife. This
is the one that's not I could never part
with this one. It's it's funny when we
ventured down this project with Fat
Bender Garage and then we started doing
a lot of collaborations on Instagram and
social media.
I was starting to get a lot of recourse
from folks asking like why are you not
painting this truck? They're so used to
seeing
>> things come out of Fat Fender Garage
like done to the tea. For me, it was
just more of keeping the history of the
truck alive, like the legacy. I didn't
want to wipe out everything. I wanted it
to mechanically be sound, mechanically
be safe, but I wanted the outside to
tell the story of everything. Like even
in the back passenger side quarter
panel, you can tell where they stuck a
skid steer fork through it just to lift
it out of the mud to get it out. People
are like, "Why wouldn't you hammer and
dolly in and weld it?" I'm like, "Cuz
that's part of the story." You know, the
tailgate, they're like, "Hey, why don't
you just get a new tailgate and put that
mercury panel in there so that way it's
perfectly straight?" I go because this
is like a piece of history. I'm like
every little chipped piece of paint,
every dent tells some sort of story. You
saw the chassis wasn't powder coated
either.
>> Yeah.
>> I got a lot of recourse from that, too.
Jason and I actually got into a I don't
want to say like a Jason likes things
very Swiss. He likes things done very
nicely. You can tell Jason rolls up with
a collared polo shirt. Roman rolls up in
a t-shirt. And I actually put pants on.
I usually have my jeans. They're cut to
shorts. So I look like discombobulated.
Jason's very put together. When
>> I told him I didn't want to powder coat
this thing. He was about to
>> just take your chassis and go go finish
it yourself kind of thing. But I think
he kind of got the sense for what I was
going for, man. I really like the
rawness of the of the chassis. I like
all works for me.
>> It It's very artistic to me and I didn't
want to hide any of that.
>> You really can't go anywhere with this
thing.
>> Oh man,
this is awesome.
We probably should have the windows up.
>> Are we in two wheel drive now or
fourwheel? Oh, you're two wheel. We have
to manually This is still manually
locking hubs.
>> So, if you want, we can throw in.
>> See, if you had nice paint, you'd have
been like, "Oh we just scratched
the truck."
>> Well, nice thing is by the end of the
day, you wouldn't have nice paint
anymore. You'd be all right.
>> I'm telling you, man. Every little mark.
Like, it's funny. I'll I'll squeeze into
parking spots. Like I'll go to a Costco
>> and I will squeeze into a parking spot
between two of the nicest cars. And I'm
not being a jerk or nothing. That's
that's the space I'm giving. I'm parked
within my lot. Exactly.
>> I could give two shits if I came out and
somebody ran a shopping cart into my
truck. I wouldn't care,
>> you know.
We're doing it today.
>> Well, the chassis really works well.
>> Yeah. So, the chassis works good, but
it's also got
>> Icon Vehicle Dynamics
>> active suspension. So, like if you think
it's pretty rough, like right now, I had
it on like road drive settings. I'm
still getting very used to it. We're
probably like in mile 800 800 or so on
this fresh build.
>> So, I'm still myself trying to figure
out the tuning of the suspension
management. But I mean, you can adjust
anything from they call it like your G
boost and your corner boost. So you can
adjust all that stuff on how it corners.
You can adjust
everything on the coilovers, which is
cool on the fly. So if you feel like
it's too stiff, like we can loosen it,
too.
>> No, it's all right. I don't mind at all.
>> I think you're the first one to get this
chassis dirty.
But yeah, on the spectrum, as far as the
suspension goes, it goes from like a
zero to like a 12 and you can adjust all
four corners individually. So, makes it
pretty cool to have that on the fly. I
know you mentioned something about that
grill guard up front,
>> right,
>> where it's very Canadian. I think that's
for
>> they call them grill guards for deer and
>> analopee and all kinds of like
that,
>> right?
There you go. There you go. There you
go.
>> Let's turn it around.
>> There you go.
>> Nice.
>> It's good turning radius, huh? Yeah.
>> Not bad.
>> Like I would See, I'm like you. I'd much
rather just whip it like that.
>> Yeah.
>> Than to throw this freaking thing in a
three-point turn. Because with that
sequential shifter, like to do a like
switch through and do a reverse lock
out, it's a pain in the ass doing a
three-point turn.
>> Here we go. Water up ahead.
>> Well, this is probably the first time in
the show we spent more time in the dirt
than we have on the road. But, uh,
usually when I go off-road, it's
accidental. The car just goes off the
road. But, this is so much fun, Ron.
Thank you, my friend.
>> Thanks. Thanks, Jason. Tell me you did a
terrific job.
>> And uh we hope you like this little
something different. We try to mix it up
here on the show. And uh we'll see you
guys next week with something else.
Thanks for watching.
That was cool.