We admit there is one thing on this pickup that blows any talk of low budget right out the window. Actually, it's four things: the wheels. They're Kelsey Hayes accessories, commonly but incorrectly called DIVCO or milk truck wheels. Their original application is highly debated, but they were made famous years later by land-speed racers who used their large diameter as a means to effectively increase their race cars' gear ratios. Before greedy lenders and idiot borrowers killed the goose that laid the golden egg, they commanded as much as five figures for a set of four, but Josh stumbled into his at an estate sale for less than $200. And when we say stumbled, we mean it; he didn't even know what they were. "I just thought they were cool," he admitted.
While Josh's pickup uses early parts, that's not necessarily what makes us think it's so true to the early hot rod. After all, he built it with many parts that didn't even exist during that period. In fact, to adhere strictly to some era would've blown his budget.
What makes it true to that form is the philosophy behind it: By working within his means, he stripped an ordinary car to its bare essentials and gave it lots of horsepower. Whether a Model A, a Mustang, or a Mitsubishi, that's a hot rod.
But it goes deeper than that. Hot rods of yore were often fleeting things. They either evolved with their builders' budget, skills, and standards or came apart altogether to become entirely different cars. Since building this pickup, Josh has blown it apart with the intent of reassembling it as a roadster.
But for that time it was together, it was a well-built, go-fast machine whose purpose was nothing other than going fast and having fun. And if you don't think kids half a century ago built hot rods to do just that, you've got some history to learn.
Josh's seats are just takeout...
Josh's seats are just takeout military truck seats with their original canvas. The swap-meet steering wheel sits atop a universal Speedway Motors column. The swap-meet B&M shifter has a cable, which let Josh relocate it between the seats.
Racers in the day used the...
Racers in the day used the 18-inch Kelsey accessory disc wheels on the rear, but why not run 'em on all corners if you've got 'em? The headlights are old Grotes, the grille a '30 Ford, and the insert uses expanded metal.
Egomaniacs scoff and purists...
Egomaniacs scoff and purists cringe at it, but in the presence of his pickup Josh Martinson looks like this. And smoking the tires only makes that grin bigger.
By way of a well stocked surplus...
By way of a well stocked surplus market, the military theme was not just easy, but cheap. Whether he stumbled upon them or they were given to him as gifts, things like the taillights and the ammo cans helped Josh maintain about an $8,000 budget.
Through the '50s the standard...
Through the '50s the standard low-cost fuel tank was a bomber oxygen tank, but from the '60s onward nothing beat an old beer keg. Can you think of a simpler, cheaper, and more reliable battery box or gear holder than an old ammo box?
Gauges seldom matched in old...
Gauges seldom matched in old hot rods. The end ones are old military US gauge units. The middle is a military Stewart Warner, but for a diesel hence the low speed. Not that it matters; the seat of your pants is a far more reliable shift indicator.