July/August 2022 Vintage Truck

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The July/August 2022 issue of Vintage Truck magazine is available in our gift shop now and will be available on newsstands soon. Continuing with our 30th Anniversary, we have in store for you some great features! The cover feature is a 1956 Ford F-100. Story by Loren Hoekema • Photos by Al Rogers

The Phoenix Rises

Jim Zarnoch’s 1956 Ford F-100 came back from the dead!

The bright red 1956 Ford F-100 on this issue’s cover was a worked-to-death, worn-out, former farm truck when Jim Zarnoch acquired it in 1994. Original owner John Curry bought the pickup from Athoe Motors in Batavia, New York, in 1956 and drove it to his farm near Fillmore on the north edge of Allegany County, New York. In the past 66 years, the F-100 has not journeyed far from its home.

Curry was a farmer, so the Ford was immediately put to work. Before the half-ton pickup was even a month old, the elder Curry loaded the bed with two tons of buckwheat because there wasn’t time for a second trip before the local grain elevator closed. Both back tires blew out en route to the elevator, setting a pattern for the truck’s life of use and abuse. On another occasion when Curry and his buddies were coming home after a night on the town, the pickup wound up on its side. The group righted the truck and continued home.

In 1970, John Curry passed away at the age of 62, leaving the truck to his only son Bill, who continued abusing and overloading it around the farm. The younger Curry, who had been driving the red Ford since the early 1960s, once used it to tow a two-horse trailer on a 5,500-mile round trip to a Walla Walla, Washington, horse show.

Jim Zarnoch was 18 and working for Bill Curry when he first saw the 1956 Ford sitting in a garage. The battered hauler had not been run for some time, but the pair replaced a couple of brake lines, cleaned out the gas tank, and got the red truck running again.

Curry turned 70 in 1994 and wanted to see the F-100 restored but no one in his family would make it happen. Knowing that Zarnoch was interested, Curry offered him the pickup for free. Zarnoch agreed to restore it and give the old farmer a ride when it was completed.

To read more about the 1956 Ford F-100 pick up a copy of the July/August 2022 issue of Vintage Truck magazine!

Articles in this issue include:

  • Elmer and the Learning Curve
    Craig Zehnder didn’t know he liked working on old trucks until this 1939 Chevrolet half-ton came along!
    Story by Brad Bowling, Photos by Eric Neurath

  • “Yeah, It’s Stock!”
    Ron Howard’s pristine 1989 Dodge Dakota Sport Convertible is in a category all its own!
    Story by Brad Bowling, Photos by Al Rogers

  • The Phoenix Rises
    Jim Zarnoch’s 1956 Ford F-100 came back from the dead!
    Story by Loren Hoekema, Photos by Al Rogers

  • Factory Demonstrator
    Marc Minarik’s 1959 Studebaker is a rare NAPCO 4X4!
    Story by Loren Hoekema, Photos by Jerry Heasley

DEPARTMENTS

  • Letter from the Editor

  • Letters to the Editor

  • Independent Trucks: 1976 Jeep J20

  • Books in the Bed: Reviews by Robert Gabrick

  • Chevy Talk: 1946 Chevrolet DP half-ton

  • The Road Less Traveled: Federal Pickup Trucks

  • Hey Loren!

  • Aid for the Anxious Amateur: Don’t Blow a Gasket!

  • Classifieds

  • Show Guide

  • Granny Gear: Raising the Dust

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