Trucks in the Life of a Car Guy

I have be an automotive enthusiast my whole life, a "car guy" to the core. I grew up on a farm in Western South Dakota, so for many years, there were more trucks in my life than cars. Most of my first driving experiences were in trucks, not cars. Sure, the first performance cars I saw had a lasting effect on me, but so would some pickup trucks.
In my book, I have a chapter titled; "The Automotive Dark Ages" talking about the 1970's and early 1980's when car manufacturers were trying to get the whole emissions control situation figured out. For a time, we thought our beloved muscle cars were a thing of the past.
During those years I was an avid hunter, and a building contractor, so trucks were an important part of my life. But, even then, performance was a big consideration in my vehicle choices. As soon as I got a new truck, I would start making some performance modifications, often using parts intended for muscle cars, and it worked wonders with the trucks I owned.
Of all the trucks I owned, modified, and loved, one stands out above all the rest; my 1978 Ford F-150 short-bed 4X4 pickup. I had special ordered it with the biggest V8 engine available, 4-speed manual transmission, and limited-slip axles, front and rear. Then the modifications stared, and within a couple years, finished with swapping in a high performance, bored and blue printed V8 I had built in a college auto class I was taking at the time. I sold the original engine to help pay for some of my parts bills.
That truck would win three off-road rallies, many street races, and would take us to the best hunting spots for several seasons. It was a very important part of my automotive history. To read more of this story, check out my book at; Grab Some Gears

My 1978 Ford F-150 in the mountains of Northern Utah.