If there’s one lesson to be gleaned from the story of South Dakota resident Al Schoffulman, it’s to be unafraid to follow your dreams – even if those dreams are a bit, erm, odd.
Mr. Schoffulman has created a bizarre and quirky masterpiece in the form of a custom oak pickup truck built upon the frame and drivetrain of a 1979 Ford Econoline. He acquired the van when a family member passed away, and got the idea when he saw an old Diamond T with a flatbed box that had lumber on the sides, reports Truck Trend.
“I thought to myself: ‘I would have done it a little different.’ That was 10 years ago, and it more or less snowballed into what this goofball can do,” he says.
Schoffulman started by taking the rusted body off of the ’79 Ford Econoline, and cleaning up the engine, installing new cylinder heads and making the whole thing sparkle. He shortened the frame, shifting the rear axle and engine forward, and started to work producing a body out of solid oak from his own imagination. “I had a rough idea what I wanted to do,” he says. “I would stand back in the shop or sit on the bench and see if it looked right. If it didn’t, I would take that off and start with something different.”
That’s where years of experience as a cabinetmaker really paid off.
The subfloor of both the box and cabin, as well as the firewall, are all made of plywood. Otherwise, everything from the dash to the seats, to the steering column is beautifully-finished red oak. The Ford Econoline-based truck even has a wood ball hitch and detailed wood Ford badges.
Mission accomplished? Not quite. “I have a couple of things I want to do to this truck yet,” Mr. Schoffulman says. “It is like any project: you are never done with it.”
For more info, plus a gallery of images of the custom Ford Econoline-based oak truck, check out the original article on Truck Trend.
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