The father-son team of Lance and Zach Garcia don't follow the crowd when it comes to creating cool street machines. Lance's little '29 Dodge coupe, for example, is not exactly a hot-rodding icon. Nor is Zach's '67 Ford pickup a model that has received much attention among truck fans -- so far.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Zach Garcia applied his considerable fabrication and painting skills to achieve a '70s-style mild custom look on his 1967 Ford F-100. No garage queen, the pickup is used frequently as his daily driver.
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Lance Garcia said his little black Dodge coupe doesn't have a lot of `creature comforts' because he didn't get carried away with the design. The diminutive Dodge was ahead of its time in many ways, built on an all-metal inner structure when most cars had wood framing inside their sheet metal.
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Zach Garcia decided to have a little fun by switching the first and last letters in the badging on his truck, transforming his `Ford' pickup into a `Dorf.' He tells people it was a rare one-year only vehicle that never really caught on with the public. Note the row-upon-row of hood louvers.
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A Mustang contributed its 302 small-block V-8 to the pickup project, providing decent power and gas mileage. Here the LTD A-arm suspension that was grafted onto the stock frame can be seen.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Often mistaken for a '32 Ford, Lance Garcia's hot rod is a five-window '29 Dodge coupe that rolls on Grabber Blue steel wheels outfitted with center bullet caps and wide whitewalls. The grille shell is, however, a '32 Ford unit, Garcia confesses.
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Junior Blackwell fabricated a new deck lid for the little Dodge coupe, which Rick and Jeb McGregor promptly punched full of louvers.
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The ultra-low profile of Zach Garcia's pickup is due in large part to the fact it rides on a transplanted LTD front frame stub, replacing the twin I-beam front axles. The frame kicks up high enough that full suspension travel has been maintained and there was no need for lowering spindles or cut springs.
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A set of chrome reverse wheels dressed up with wheel spiders mount 3/4-inch whitewalls at all four corners, contributing to the low, mild custom look.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Zach kept the cab of his `Dorf' simple and straightforward, but there's more here than meets the eye. He built his own aluminum insert for the instrument panel and uses an all-aluminum racing-style steering wheel atop an ididit tilt column. Mike's Custom Upholstery did the bench seat, while the door panels remain painted steel pieces. The Tiki head shifter controls a big C-6 automatic transmission.
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A three-piece folding tonneau cover keeps things nice and dry in the cargo area. The cover was made using plywood, a little padding and convertible top material.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
In keeping the `Dorf' theme going, Zach painstakingly even swapped the letters on the tailgate from one end to the other. The truck substitutes a smooth, rolled pan for a rear bumper.
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The nifty sun visor was not an add-on, but it too was treated to the louver treatment in keeping with the '50s hot rod look.
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The top of the coupe got the same treatment as the bed of the `Dorf' pickup: a padded plywood insert covered with black convertible top material, which produces a pleasing old-school look.
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The '32 Ford grille shell throws a curve at onlookers who assume the rest of the car is Ford-supplied, too.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Lance Garcia uses the same all-aluminum 15-inch racing steering wheel in his coupe, with a full complement of gauges and a tachometer for feedback. An Indian blanket draped across the bucket seats keeps things period authentic. Check out the wrenches used for window and door handles.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
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