Vehicle Description
1948 Dodge Pickup
Did you ever wonder what's happened to the old classic pickups that
seemed to all but disappear? It's a rare moment when you come
across one that is not been sitting in a farm field rotting away
with the only saving grace is it makes a great photograph. Back in
the day there was heavy competition for the "work truck" and
manufacturers were scrambling to pile on features that would one up
the competition, and Dodge was no exception.
For consignment, a 48 Dodge truck built by noted drag engine
builder William "Biddy" Windward of Newark Delaware, who built
engines for notables such as Don Garlits, Bob Casseday, Walt
Kingsley, Ray Marsh and Joe Jacinto. After this career, a desire to
stay active led to a trophied Sprint car stint, engine building
career and restoration. On a back road trip, he came upon a
photographic scene as described above, and decided this would be
his next project. We give you the remnants brought back to
life!
Exterior
Dousing the almost gone, but not forgotten steel panels, a pilot
cab which was painstakingly rebuilt and restored where able, is
Sherwin Williams Red Pearl. A few goodies were added on the way by
narrowing '54 truck rear fenders 6 inches and taking 4 inches out
of their height. The hood was one pieced, antenna frenched in, and
'50 Pontiac taillights put on. A remote tilts the replanked bed
skyward, to show it off a bit, and reveals the gas filler, which is
also remote operated. Swan neck mirrors stick out on either door
panel and add more highlight as well as allow you to see the other
traffic disappearing behind you.
Interior
Giving the interior new life, the original dash was filled with
Auto Meter gauges, a tilt GM column, Camaro steering wheel, and a
Lokar stick shifter. A custom fawn leather bench stretches between
unique door panels, sits under a neat headliner, and is flooded by
square weave carpeting, all pristine and allowing the cab to smell
like a dream of leather, and look like a fantasy of chrome. A
custom roll bar has been added just to stick a little tongue out to
the original work truck concept and is now quite the different
story.
Drivetrain
The original 392 Chrysler Hemi has been machined, and bored and
stroked to now a 500ci Hemi monster. Some other go-fast goods were
added such as a Delta Crank linked to Howard rods topped with
J&E pistons. For the fossil and air delivery an Edelbrock
dual-quad intake sports a pair of Edelbrock 750-CFM carbs, sparked
by a Mallory Unilite Distributor. A Biddy custom air cleaner is
complimented by finned aluminum valve covers. Custom headers suck
the spend gases out to Flowmaster mufflers. Get up and go is pushed
through a Mopar 727 transmission from Independent Transmission.
Undercarriage
The original frame was blasted clean, and tubular cross-members
have been added. For that on the rails handling, Corvette IFS was
put on front, and out back a Corvette IRS was installed and
packaged with 3.50:1 gears. To throw out the hooks a Corvette dual
-bowl master pumps fluid through stainless lines to 4 piston discs
on each corner. For its stance 17" Fisk Profil 10 Wheels in silver
wrapped with Dunlop performance rubber on the rear, and BF Goodrich
rubber on the front.
When you spend the majority of your past tinkering with nitro
fueled V8's that the big boys are using to rack up Wallies, you
have an A game that you become accustomed to. This build done in
the afterlife of that thrilling time, shows all those experiences
flowing out to make one absolutely awesome classic truck with an
adrenaline shot of Hemi, and an ear covering sound that will
definitely grab eyes.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 300 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania,
conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76
Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and
our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for
more information or to come see the vehicle in person.
