This old F1 used to be a forgotten swap meet truck covered in layers of body filler and old paint. Now it’s an all-natural beauty.
When automotive websites uses the word “connection,” they’re usually reviewing some sort of high-dollar exotic sports car and explaining whether or not it they felt connected to it. Trucks are typically associated with the words “tough” and “strong.” This 1948 Ford F1 fits those two adjectives because it’s lasted 70 years, but it also has a strong connection to its owner.
The Hagerty YouTube channel profiled it for its series “Why I Drive.” It belongs to a woman named Lori Bentley-Law. She found it in the swap meet section of a car show.
After buying it, she started removing its old paint and body filler. Bentley-Law is a big fan of raw materials, such as the aluminum tank on a Harley-Davidson V-Rod, and the further down she went, the more she learned how she wanted her purchase to ultimately look. “When I started stripping down the Bondo and getting down to the steel on the truck, I knew that was the way I wanted to go with it.”
Bentley-Law’s pickup may not have a six-figure price tag or a V12 or European heritage, but it provides something that many exotic car manufacturers strive to give their creations: a sense of connection. Given her F1’s age and hardware, she constantly has to monitor and think about things. Has the needle on the temperature gauge moved as she climbs a desert road flanked by Joshua trees? Does she have enough space ahead of her for the drum brakes to bring her to a stop in time? “Every moment you’re behind the wheel, you’re thinking about connecting with the road and you’re connecting with the vehicle.”
But it goes deeper than that. The F1 is more than just a cool vehicle to Bentley-Law. “To me, this truck is a friend. And through the process of bringing this truck back to life, I became so bonded with this truck and it would just feel wrong to me to correct some of the things that are imperfect.”
Good call. It’s a classic with 70 years of character visible in its gorgeous bare sheet metal. We’re glad to know it’s driven by someone who loves it – for its beauty and its blemishes.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
