It’s the first of October at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Blow-up aliens are everywhere. Fox-body Mustangs seem to be multiplying by the minute. There’s race gas in the air and golden-brown leaves are falling from the sky. It’s a confusing time at Ford Festival 2021, but leave it to a pair of “Bumpside”-era Ford F-100s to drag us out of the dreamscape that is Ford Festival and back to Earth.

Ivan Korda and Dan Houston are buddies who have a mutual love for all things Ford. They’ve been car show cruising for years and after Ivan built this beautiful 1969 last year, they now cruise their patina’d F-100s in unison. There are countless shows to go to where these trucks get love, and they were an absolute hit at Ford Festival 2021.

You couldn't miss this pair of trucks as they pulled into Beech Bend from the registration area.

Dan has had his truck for a few years, but Ivan got his right when COVID hit and used building it as a coping mechanism for the lack of social contact.

Ivan found the truck in Alabama where it was buried in a yard. He pitched his idea for the build and “Project F Word,” was born.

“I wanted to build a Pro Touring-inspired muscle truck around my 1969 short bed Ford F-100 that featured a modern drivetrain, manual transmission, stout rear end, track-inspired suspension, and big brakes while preserving the original patina,” says Ivan.

Ivan’s other project is a supercharged, 9-second S550 Mustang. He is not scared of power in any way, but he’d been focused on going straight for a long time. What better way to change directions than to make a pickup truck a corner-carving beast? The F-series’ original handling prowess was nothing to write home about. At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there is a bunch of one-off suspension components or custom drivetrain mounts, but he decided to stick with mostly bolt-on parts for the Ford.

Ivan was already quite familiar with the Coyote powerplant, so he ordered up Gen III Coyote Aluminator crate engine straight from Ford Performance. When you pop the hood, it looks like it came that way. The engine bay is full of Earl’s FlameGuard insulation. The Coyote’s power is sent through a Tremec T-56 Magnum that utilizes a Silver Sport Transmissions bolt-in swap kit.

QA1 bolt-in front and rear suspension system updates the suspension while coilovers deliver modern ride quality and handling. The F-100 is equipped with big 14” Baer Brakes with 6-piston calipers, and the finish on the calipers and master cylinder are a thing of beauty. Rolling around the brakes are Rocket Attack wheels.

The truck kept its original paint, but since Ivan needed help with his bed floor, he called his friends at Foreign Fabrication to work some magic. They ended up making a floor that looked old and new at the same time with a trick access panel for the fuel system and rear suspension. The riveted, faux-tina floor is convincing, but the real star in the bed is the vintage Pleasure Chest cooler. When you open the bed floor, you’ll see just a part of the exhaust system he fabricated, using Hooker BlackHeart headers, Flowmaster FlowFX mufflers, and a lot of three-inch exhaust tubing.

Dan Houston’s light green ’67 F100 was built with the same goal in mind, but with a simpler approach. His idea behind building the truck was to use as much Ford OEM stuff as he could. Originally, the truck came from the factory painted baby blue, but when he found the Ford it was painted this odd mix of colors. From what the former owner told him, the current color is a 50/50 mix of Boxwood Green and Frosted Turquoise.

It has the original F-100 chassis, with a different twist. It has a Ford Crown Victoria front suspension with a 2.5” drop to keep it as low as possible. The warmed-up 4.6L V8 in it was another parting gift from the same Crown Vic. Like his friend, he also wanted to go the manual transmission route. This truck has a TR3650 5-speed manual hooked to an 8.8-inch Explorer rear end.

Ivan and Dan’s trucks both sit low, but Dan’s seems to sit just a hair lower. The Aodhán DS08 wheels measure 19x8.5” up front and 19x11” in the back. Dan told us that he switches wheels every 6 months or so, but these are his favorite set yet. Eventually, he plans on building a 5.4L V8 that’s sitting in his shop for this truck.

Ivan and Dan's F-100s hung out all weekend parked next to a very rare find in the United States: a 1979 Ford B-100. Not sure what that is? Imagine a dentside-era Ford three-door SUV that's longer than a full-size Bronco.

Both of these trucks have different executions but are very similar in their initial goal. The process of building a car is all about the end goal, but there are so many ways to get there. These two trucks are a brilliant illustration of that. These two friends had a heck of a time at Ford Fest. They even brought the whole family out to hang out and everybody was smiling all weekend long. We hope to see more updates on “Project F Word” and his buddy Dan’s beautiful ’67. Hopefully, they’ll be at Ford Festival again next year.