November/December 2019 Vintage Truck
/The November/December 2019 issue of Vintage Truck magazine will soon be available on newsstands. Our cover story about a 1941 Ford was written by Candace Brown and photographed by Brad Bowling.
In the late 1950s, Ted Wilburn and his younger brother Rusty were little boys in southwest Virginia. They loved playing on their grandfather’s 1941 Ford pickup. They climbed all over it and even jumped up and down on the roof. “I remember breaking out the rear window with a bat, just goofing around,” Wilburn recalls. “If I had only known …”
About 20 years later, when that truck became his own, he would literally pay for all that mischievous fun, writing checks for auto body work and replacement glass. Those repairs, however, were only minor parts of a major restoration that preserved a vehicle with nearly 80 years of Wilburn family history.
For 1941, Ford’s half-ton pickups carried over the handsome, passenger-car-based styling and integrated headlights that had made the company’s new-for-1940 models so appealing. Wilburn’s truck came with the standard 221ci, 85hp, flathead V-8 and has the standard, floor-shifted, 3-speed transmission. A 4-speed manual—also floor-shifted—was optional.
Wilburn does not know the year his paternal grandfather, Herb Wilburn, bought the Ford secondhand for his work as a carpenter and housepainter, but the truck appears in a family photo dated 1945. Ted Wilburn’s maternal grandfather, father (also named Ted), and his Uncle “Doc” also used the pickup. After Herb Wilburn died in 1963, his two sons—Ted Sr. and Doc—owned the pickup jointly. All they did was preserve it in running condition until it could be passed on to a more motivated owner.
November/December 2019 Vintage Truck
“In 1979, while we were all at my grandmother’s birthday party in Virginia, my uncle asked if I would be interested in the truck,” Wilburn said.
The next weekend, Wilburn drove from his home near Charlotte, North Carolina, to Virginia and got the pickup. The condition surprised him. It had been patched together over the years and painted black. It was, he recalls, “pretty much used up.”
Through Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts in Concord, North Carolina, Wilburn met Bill Widenhouse, an expert on 1940 Fords who encouraged him to join the Early Ford V-8 Club. Wilburn tore the truck completely apart. The disassembly revealed the original Lockhaven Green paint (a color Ford used exclusively in 1941) and Tacoma Cream factory pinstriping—the scheme it wears again today.
To read more about our featured 1941 Ford, pick up a copy of the September/October 2019 issue of Vintage Truck magazine!
Articles in this issue include:
We Reach the Big 3-0-0!—In its 18th year, the Vintage Truck Magazine Vintage Truck Show sets yet another record for attendance. By Staff, Photos by Heather Bowling
The Family Ford—Ted Wilburn’s 1941 Ford half-ton has been in the family since it was a nice, used pickup! By Candace Brown, Photos by Brad Bowling
Green Bean—Bob Morton’s 1955 Dodge C1-D6 is remarkably untouched by time! Story and Photos by Candace Brown
A Barn Rescue—Glen Andrews put this 1938 Chevrolet 1/2-ton pickup back on the road! By Tom Gibson, Photos by Harris Lue
Letter from the Editor
Letters to the Editor
Chevy Talk: 1978 Chevrolet C-10 Custom Deluxe
For Ford Fans: 1979 Ford F-100 Flareside
Independent Trucks: The Kansas Farm Truck
Delivery Designs: Studebaker Exits the Commercial Car Business
The Road Less Traveled: Stewart Trucks
Truck Show: Readers show off their favorites
Hey Loren!
Aid for the Anxious Amateur: Waking Up Tired Wheels
Classifieds
Granny Gear: Odd Ogg 82
Gallery: Photo courtesy Bob Kisken
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