ALL THE BEST FORD F100 TRUCKS FROM SEMA SHOW COVERAGE

We Scoured the SEMA Show Floor for the Very BEST F-100s

The SEMA Show is always the most anticipated annual “gathering of the minds” in the custom automotive world. Held in Las Vegas, occupying ALL of the Las Vegas Convention Center and literally bursting at the seams, SEMA is the world’s largest tradeshow featuring nothing but pure automotive bliss. We see amazingly built vehicles, peruse thousands of new and innovative products, catch up with old friends and colleagues, and meet new like-minded individuals from the industry.

As amazing as SEMA is for top-notch rides and new products, we have always been slightly disappointed in the lack of classic Ford trucks on hand. However, this year, much to our surprise, it’s quite obvious that the classic Ford truck market is on the rise. We were literally overwhelmed by the aftermarket support with a ton of companies stepping it up and bringing new products to market. And above and beyond that, there were A TON of badass Ford builds represented throughout all three halls in manufacturer booths showing a ton of Ford truck love!

Yes, there was still about a 1-5 ratio of F-100 to C10s, but the fact that so many aftermarket manufacturers are starting to jump on board proves that the F-100 truck will soon see a resurgence closely resembling the popular spike of C10s in the custom automotive aftermarket. And, of course, we just can’t be more excited! The year of the Ford truck is upon us, and we will be here to watch it all unfold.

Scouring the SEMA halls for the best of the best, we captured our favorite Ford truck builds and, to do something a little different than past magazine SEMA coverage, we put together little “mini features” on some of our favorite rides from the show and highlighted some of our favorite new products that will be hitting the market in 2019. What an exciting year!

Goodguys Giveaway Truck—’69 Ford GRT-100

The Goodguys Rod & Custom crew build an annual giveaway vehicle that never disappoints. For the 2018/2019 giveaway, they teamed up with Lucky 7 Speed Shop to build this beautiful 1969 Ford GRT-100. This muscle truck build is the brainchild of Lucky 7 Speed Shop and Eric Brockmeyer. Utilizing a custom chassis from Scott’s Hotrods paired with a set of JRI hydraulic over coil shocks and springs, the ’69 Ford GRT-100 now sits proper. Under the hood is a Roush Performance 5.0L SR Coyote engine. Add to that a 6-speed TREMEC transmission, Centerforce clutch, BF Goodrich tires, 18-inch US Mags, TMI upgraded interior, Dakota Digital and Kicker Audio goodies and so much more, and you can easily see why this one was one of our favorites from SEMA!

River City Rods 1976 Ford B100—El Chapo

River City Rods & Fabrication out of Davenport, Iowa, absolutely killed it this year! It’s probably one of our top three favorite Ford builds to date, something totally unique and out of the box, and aptly named “El Chapo.” This 1976 Ford B100 rides on a custom Roadster Shop chassis featuring RideTech suspension, and complete Energy Suspension upgraded polyurethane bushings. It was displayed in the Energy Suspension booth. The interior is a work of art and one of the stand out “mods” that caught our attention right away was the full custom billet grille. Insane detail throughout—well done guys!

FLO Airride’s 1962 Ford F-100—The FLO-100

Featured in the Precision Replacement Parts booth, the FLO Airride FLO-100 build happens to belong to our resident editor-in-chief, Mike Alexander. Sporting a ton of new goodies from Precision, the FLO build was used as their SEMA display vehicle, showing off the new Precision Ford weatherstrip line up. A full custom build from top to bottom, the foundation began with a bumper-to-bumper custom chassis from the talented crew over at GSI Machine & Fab as their first all-new F-100 chassis paired with the full FLO Airride treatment, Air Lift 3H management and copper details throughout the build. Keeping a classic look, that’s about where the “factory” stopped. Full Gen2 Coyote engine, custom Mobsteel wheels, Baer Brakes, deep black paint and custom body mods from the crew at AK Air Brushing, custom TMI burgandy interior, goodies from Dakota Digital, and the kicker is a talented team at FLO Airride brought this beauty from farm truck to SEMA Show floor in under 90 days flat!

Classic Car Studio 1970 Ford F-100 — Boss100

The team at Classic Car Studio always goes above and beyond, and this bump side is no exception. Sitting in the Magnaflow booth, this 1970 Ford F-100 sports a ton of unique mods, including the heart and soul of the build—a giant Jon Kaase Boss 520ci V-8 that truly rumbles through the Magnaflow custom exhaust. Classic Car Studio wanted to give a shout to their partners Roadster Shop, LMC, Kicker, Vintage Air, Magnaflow, BASF, Wilwood, Billet Specialties and everyone that came together to help bring this masterpiece to life in record time for another great SEMA showing.

Stone Fab 1951 Ford F1—Wagner Tuning

This wild 1951 Ford F1 was built by Stone Fab for Carsten Wagner of Wagner Tuning. The build is centered around stuffing a Twin Turbo EcoBoost 3.5L V-6 into a super classic Ford and keeping the exterior appearance weathered and mostly original. Obviously laid low thanks to custom work from Stone Fab paired with Air Lift suspension and management, and a wild custom three-piece wheel choice from Rotiform makes a bold statement for sure. Assaulting the senses in all the right ways, this impressive build worked its way right onto the cover of this special SEMA issue (full feature starts on page 12)!