Barn-Find Dodge Trucks Dodge the Crusher, Hit the Road Again
If they can dodge the crusher, they can meet a wrench—and cruise again.
The automotive aftermarket has made it possible—and not at all unusual—for owners to build a street rod or a classic truck entirely from new parts. If those cars and trucks could talk, they might have stories to tell, but would those stories be nearly as interesting as the stories told by the old survivors?
To that end, we went hunting through our archives and dug up four of our favorite Dodge pickup trucks from the last 10 years. Although each of these four trucks was built to a different style, they share a few similarities, including that they are all Dodges. They are all also homebuilt survivors, saved from destruction after decades of neglect in somebody's barn, garage, or field. And they all have a long lifetime of stories to tell.
The Custom: 1934 Dodge 5-Window Pickup
Chet Jackman sent before and after photos of his homebuilt 1934 Dodge toStreet Roddermagazine. The early photos show the truck rusting away in the field where it had sat for 30 years, ignored by the family that bought it new. After buying it and taking it back to Sagle, Idaho, Chet decided that instead of restoring it, he would turn it into something unique: a five-window pickup. The process was hard work and involved stretching the cab and grafting on a modified 1929 five-window roof. The rest of the cab was treated to a bunch of custom modifications, including 1934 Dodge sedan rear doors, Pontiac rear fenders, Ford F-1 running boards, a 1956 Dodge tailgate, shaved body panels, and a sea of Viper Red paint.
