Custom trucks are truly never finished. Even after Otto Rhodes and Bill Dickey fabricated a vehicle the custom car industry acclaimed as being a benchmark creation, Rhodes continued to modify Mountain Pearl in a quest to keep it cutting edge. This duo did a remarkable job of building this one-off truck featuring a 4-in. top chop and custom roll pan fit with 1958 Chevy tail lamps, and even a Chevy truck grille fit with drawer handles.
However, this truck’s mark in custom vehicle history came from the restyling of the nose. At first glance, the “pinched” fender treatment (where the fender bottoms have been pulled inward to create the fish-mouth appearance) is obvious, but imagine the work that went into extending the whole nose of the truck two inches to keep the front wheel wells in proportion! Mountain Pearl introduced the world of custom automotive enthusiasts to a look and style that was truly unique.
In July of 1962, the editors of Hot Rod magazine published a color photo of the truck (one of the first ever published in the magazine!) and, in August 1962, made it the focus of the magazine’s first ever four-color spread.
Soon, the twin I-Beam suspension of the all new 1965 Ford captured Rhodes’ attention. Wanting to install the latest offering from Ford, he opted to fabricate his own brackets and chassis crossmember to replace the straight axle with twin I-Beams, and then chrome-plated every part of the undercarriage: springs, drum brakes and 9-inch Ford rear end.
When the truck was taken apart to swap out the suspension, Rhodes also replaced the truck’s hot rod Olds engine with a new 360 cubic-inch FE engine. Wanting the new V-8 to be equal to the truck’s show quality, Rhodes installed a fully polished intake topped by 3-2’s onto the gold painted engine, fit with shop-made headers, connected to a fully polished C-6 transmission.
Little doubt that Dickey and Rhodes kept abreast of the components of new cars at the time. For example, they used a 1965 Ford T-bird dash cluster for instrumentation, as well as the floating steering of the 1959 Oldsmobile.
Many years passed and many rodders wondered about the status of this truck that had made such a dramatic statement, and then disappeared. Otto Rhodes had the best intentions for the future of this 1953 F-100 when he took it apart for the above updates; however, it would end up sitting in pieces for some 40 years!
Tom Pagano of Pagano Rod & Custom in Rancho Cordova, California didn’t hesitate for a second when he heard that Rhodes had decided to sell his pride and joy. While it would take the better part of a year to restore this one-off custom by stripping it down to bare metal and going through the driveline, Pagano respected the original builders by making few modifications that weren’t original.
“There was no reason to cut it up or make changes,” said Pagano. That included the application of Mountain Pearl white, just like Dickey had applied to this pickup back in the early 1960s. Some things are just too great to change.
All photos courtesy of Goodguys.
Tags: Car of the Month, Classic trucks, Goodguys, Hotrod Magazine
