Cars on The Corner: Brandon's 1975 Ford F-350

*This article originally was published in the McPherson College newspaper "The Spectator" *Many restoration students have great stories about how they acquired their project car, but some of the best stories are when they have been handed down from relatives. This is the case for student Brandon Chaffin who got his 1975 Ford F350 from his grandpa, who bought the truck new.

Chaffin was fifteen when they pulled the truck out of his grandpa’s property where it had sat for around 20 years. Him and his family spent some time doing basic maintenance as well as replacing the brakes, tires, cleaning the gas tank. Once they had it running, he drove the truck with his mom and brother, from Santa Cruz Calif. To Austin Texas.

He continued to drive the truck throughout high school and is still fond of the memories and friends he made with the truck while working on it in his auto-shop class. Like many gearheads he enjoyed driving his project as teenager, having the feeling the freedom of being behind the wheel in his own ride.

Since he got the truck, he has continued to do basic maintenance on it and drive it as much as he can. He has also stayed away from modifying the truck too much as he wants to keep the truck as it was when his grandpa drove it back in the day. And just like his grandpa he continues to use the truck to haul his other projects around. Although there are two modifications, he said were some of his favorite parts of the truck, one of which is the custom horn he installed which has the sound of a cow, that provides a laugh for everyone around when he honks.

Chaffin is currently a junior in the auto restoration program and hopes to work in the painting side of restoration after graduating and plans on continuing to drive his grandpa’s truck for as long as possible.

*This article was originally published in March 2021 in "The Spectator".