1975 Ford F600, Something New Out of Something Old

We wouldn’t blame you if, at first glance, you wondered if this 1975 F-600 was simply a leftover relic of some bygone era—an old, funky truck that lived its prime in the ’70s. Perhaps it sat behind a long-closed machine shop or in an overgrown field, forgotten by its owner decades ago. Or perhaps it’s a survivor, having faithfully served its small handful of owners for the past 48-plus years, making its weekly run to the feed store or the local burger drive-in.

The truth is, we don’t know how this truck spent its life before it got into the hands of Jack Elberson of Jack’d Up Trucks, but what we do know is that the life it has lived since then has been nothing short of transformative.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

REALLY TRANSFORMED

You see, this F-600 looked nothing like it does now when it first rolled into Jack’s shop. Go ahead, Google “1975 Ford F-600” and you’ll see just how different it is. In fact, no dent side F-600 out there has ever looked like this because they were all typically built as stakebeds, dump trucks, and even firetrucks, and they all ran on the large commercial truck tires we’re accustomed to seeing on semitrucks. Add in the fact that Jack’s truck is an even more rare crew cab model, and you can imagine that you’re not likely to encounter one on the streets any time soon.

And of the few that have been custom-built into pickups over the years, none have looked anything like what Jack has put together. From the custom-built bed and rear fenders to the 17-inch US Mags Indy kidney-bean style wheels sitting in raised white-letter 37-inch BFGs, the F-600 looks every bit the part of a custom survivor, even though it’s a fresh build! In fact, it’s so fresh that it’s based on a 2016 E350 bus that drove into the shop with only 3,000 miles on the odometer!

That’s right: This big old Ford is hiding a big new Ford underneath, 6.8L V-10 and all! You’d be right if you assumed that this was no small feat, as a ton of fabrication had to go into making everything fit just right, including shortening the rear of the E350 chassis and building new rear cab mounts. And then there was the customized, shortened bed, which sports custom rear flares that were scavenged from a spare pair of F-600 front fenders. With some careful paint matching and blending, Jack had the bed looking like it’d been on the truck since day one.

BEYOND STOCK THROUGHOUT

But back to that V-10 for a moment. It was definitely potent enough in stock form—after all, it was rated at 305 horsepower, with 420 lb-ft of torque on tap. When you modify trucks for a living, however, stock doesn’t quite cut it. Jack didn’t go too wild, but when he was done the 6.8 was sporting Banks long tube headers, a 3-3.5-inch custom exhaust with cutout setup, a cold air intake, and a tuner. While we don’t have any updated power figures, the upgrades were effective enough for Jack to be able to smoke the tires with ease with a tap of the “go” pedal.

The interior has received its fair share of upgrades as well, with red and white leather upholstery, as well as a Pioneer Super Tuner stereo system. For a modern touch, the gauges, steering column, and steering wheel were swapped into the cab, creating the perfect restomod blend of style and creature comfort.

With a 38-gallon tank and custom hitch mounted, the truck (which Jack has named “Shorty”) is always at the ready to hit the road and has already done its fair share of towing other trucks to and from events, including Holley Ford Fest. Even the cruise control works as it should, and with the recent addition of a Restomod Air climate control setup, those drives as relaxing as ever. Not bad for an old truck that didn’t exist until just a few months ago!