Building Bombshell: Amber Zanella’s SEMA Showstopper!

This One-of-a-Kind F-250 Lives Up to its Sensational Name  

Building a SEMA show truck is no easy feat, even with months to complete it. But to have to switch gears and start a whole new build just a month and a half before the show? Well, that’s a whole different level of “not easy!”

Such is the story of this beautiful 2019 Ford F-250 named Bombshell. Owned and built by Amber Zanella and her husband Travis Zinner of Apache Junction, Arizona, this truck is a gorgeous showing of talent, determination, and tenacity.

Amber and her husband own many companies, but one they are both particularly passionate about is  ZZ Garage Co.—a custom automotive company specializing in hot rods, old trucks, and SEMA show builds. Under ZZ Garage Co., Amber and Travis had taken on the task of building a 1964 Ford F-350 for the 2023 SEMA Show. Unfortunately, it was discovered that much more body work was going to be needed to finish the truck than they had time for before the show deadline. So with just 42 days to go before the SEMA move-in, the duo switched gears and plotted to take Amber’s truck from a daily driver to a dream truck.

“We committed to a truck for the booth, so we were still bringing one,” Amber told us about the time crunch surrounding her truck build. “Sometimes it takes sleepless nights, blood, sweat, tears, and beers! I personally had a hand in everything on this truck. Nobody helping was allowed to work longer than me!”

While many people would have given up and decided too much work was involved with too little time left to get it done, Amber and her husband persevered, and the resulting truck is quite the ride!

Building a Standout 

While there are certainly a lot of built modern F-250s out there, Amber wanted hers to be one-of-a-kind. With a frontend conversion kit, she set the build apart from the rest straight away, adding to it a Flog Industries Steel Demon Series front bumper with adaptive cruise control and a premium front bumper pocket, as well as a Flog Industries Demon Series rear bumper with bumper sensors and rear tread plate kit for an extra aggressive look. But that’s far from it when it comes to the added features of this truck.

Also fitted to the F-250 is a Cervinis Super Duty cowl hood and an Overkill Fab 2022 Super Duty grille, the latter of which is adorned with a custom “Bombshell” name plate and vintage-inspired bomber babes. The running boards on both sides of the truck are similarly fashioned, with the Bombshell name, as well as tire tread, and another bomber babe cut into the non-slip rubber.

The truck is topped off with a custom gray bomber plane-themed wrap designed by Brandon Ardor of Ardor Printing in Snohomish, Washington, which was then printed by Ryan Nave of Black Label Wrapsmiths in Phoenix and installed by Amber, Ryan, and PPF Pros. Just laying the wrap took over 12 hours of work.

Making the truck stand out even more are Malibu Barbie Pink powdercoated accents, from the grille inserts to the Gen-Y Mega-Duty 10K drop hitch, all done by Amber and Tomahawk Coating in Apache Junction, Arizona. Amber was fully immersed even in the powdercoating process—a skill she was taught by the crew at Tomahawk Coating.

“Tomahawk Coating was actually where we did the build,” Amber told us. “We bought a lift, and rented a bay at their shop. They taught me how to paint my own parts and were mentors the entire way! All-time best sponsor!”

Lighting up the truck are Morimoto XB LED headlights and taillights, as well as a Morimoto X3B LED third brake light with a built-in camera. Additional lighting on the truck come from Quake LED rock lights, and strip lights, which Amber ran through the truck’s suspension arms for added effect, as well as Customs Unlimited 10-row ultra-high-intensity wheel lights. You certainly can’t miss Bombshell on the prowl!

While the exterior of the truck features numerous fully customized features, the interior is much less flashy, yet still one-of-a-kind. Take notice of the pink stitching on the truck’s factory dark gray Lariat seats, compliments of Cato’s Custom Upholstery in Tucker, Georgia.

“I didn’t want anything over the top, as I absolutely love the Lariat interior,”Amber told us. “So I took my seats to Philip Cato who very carefully removed the gray stitching in the seats, and replaced each hole with pink stitching. Very subtle, and I love it!”

Other features added to the truck’s interior include a LinksWell T-style head unit, as well as a few strategically placed pink components like a rear passenger compartment bag hook and fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror.

A Bombshell Right Down to the Pavement

You can’t have a custom F-250 without somehow altering the suspension, of which Amber had high hopes for in regards to her dream build. That’s why she chose a full Papis Super Duty 10-inch to 12-inch long arm cradle lift kit with a dual steering stabilizer. This massive lift not only gave Bombshell extra height, but it also added additional components to carry the gray and pink color scheme. Even the Carbon Shock Technologies coilover shocks were treated to the same Malibu Barbie Pink hue seen throughout the truck.

Powering the truck is its factory 6.7L V-8 pushed to peak performance with a Pusher Intakes air intake and piping system, as well as an EZ Lynk tuner. A Custom 5-inch polished stainless exhaust system exiting the rear passenger side of the truck by way of a Sinister Diesel AR-15 exhaust tip, as well as a 60-gallon Ford midship replacement fuel tank from Transfer Flow, were also added to the truck.

Planting the truck to the pavement are 40-inch Predator Mutant X-MT tires wrapped around 24-inch Fittipaldi Off Road FTF506 wheels with custom pink accents and matching pink True Spike lug nuts.

A beautiful build that has a one-of-a-kind look as well as personality, Bombshell is certainly a truck to keep an eye on. Built for a SEMA 2023 debut and then displayed at the 2024 Lone Star Throwdown with much grandeur, this truck is certainly proof of Amber’s hard work and tenacity—something we certainly respect around here, especially of a woman in the male-dominated world of custom truck builds!

“The struggle of being a female builder is that no one believes I did it. But I get to sit back, look at my build, and say ‘I did that’ to myself, and that’s all I need to be happy,” Amber concluded. “I never give up! It’s a blessing and a curse all in one.”

In this case, we’d definitely say it was a blessing. We can’t wait to see where Amber takes her dream truck next!

TRUCK SPECS

Owner

• Amber Zanella
• Apache Junction, AZ

Chassis & Suspension

• Papis Super Duty 10-inch to 12-inch long arm cradle lift kit
• Carbon Shock Technologies coilover shocks
• Papis Super Duty dual steering stabilizer

Wheels & Tires

• 24-inch Fittipaldi Off Road FTF506 wheels with True Spike lug nuts
• 40-inch Predator Mutant X-MT tires

Engine & Drivetrain

• 2019 Ford F250 6.7L V8
• Pusher Intakes air intake and piping system
• EZ Lynk tuner
• 60-gallon Transfer Flow Ford midship replacement fuel tank
• 5-inch polished stainless exhaust
• Sinister Diesel AR-15 exhaust tip

Body & Paint

• Front end conversion kit (2017-2019 to 2020-2022)
• Overkill Fab 2022 Super Duty grille with custom “Bombshell” nameplate on the mesh insert
• Morimoto 2020+ XB LED headlights
• Morimoto 2017-2022 XB LED taillights
• Morimoto X3B LED third brake light with camera
• Cervinis Super Duty cowl hood
• Flog Industries Steel Demon Series front bumper with adaptive cruise control and premium front bumper pocket
• Flog Industries Demon Series rear bumper with bumper sensors and rear tread plate kit
• TUGZ universal steel tow hooks both front and rear
• Custom “Bombshell” running board skins
• Quake LED rock lights
• Quake LED strip lights run through the suspension arms
• Customs Unlimited 10 row ultra high intensity wheel lights
• Gen-Y Mega-Duty 10K drop hitch with serrated hitch step
• Grey bomber plane-themed wrap designed by Brandon Ardor of Ardor Printing in Snohomish, WA; printed by Ryan Nave of Black Label Wrapsmiths in Phoenix, AZ; installed by Amber, Ryan, and PPF Pros
• Malibu Barbie Pink powdercoat accents done by Amber and Tomahawk Coating in Apache Junction, AZ

Interior & Stereo

• LinksWell T-style head unit
• Dark gray Lariat interior and seats
• Custom pink stitching by Philip Cato of Cato’ \s Custom Upholstery in Tucker, GA

Special Thanks

“I have no words on how grateful and appreciative I am of all of our sponsors, let alone sponsoring a small-town girl with her dream build. They trusted me, my decisions, and my drive to conquer this. I definitely could not have done this without my backbone—Travis. He is my biggest fan, and kept me motivated, even on the hardest days of the build. We got this!

Photo Credit: Corey Decker