Ask Queensland cattle farmer Raymond Oppermann about his restoration of his dad’s 1958 F600 Ford, and you can hear the pride in his voice.
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You might also hear him getting a bit choked up – because this is a very special truck, which has been in the family for almost 60 years.
“My dad was a cane and cattle farmer, and he bought the truck to cart cane to the sugar mill at the time,” he says.
“He used it for that purpose for nine odd years before he upgraded, but he didn’t sell it.
“It had an old wooden tipper body on it and he kept that on it and had it working around the farm.”
The truck was eventually put into semi-retirement, only being taken out for the occasional spin.
“It was always kept in the shed, which is why it’s in pretty good nick for its age.
“It could sit there for six months, 12 months, but it would still run — you just had to put a battery in it and some fresh fuel and she’d fire away.”
This pattern continued until Ray eventually decided it was time to completely restore the truck.
It was stripped down, with the cab taken off and the motor removed — and Ray left with just a bare chassis.
It then sat around again for a few years as Ray was often away for work, but finally in 2018 he finally set about restoring it in earnest.
The chassis was sandblasted, new brake lines and brake cylinders put in, and the cab was sent to Advanced Custom Worx in Yatala.
“I did as much work as I could do myself, but I’m not a panel beater, so I sent the cab to Troy at Advanced Custom Worx.
“He repaired it and painted it up and it came out probably better than it did from the factory.
“A lot of people have said that back in the day they didn’t have the ability to do the paint as well as they can do now.”
The truck didn’t have a paint code on it, so Troy had to work a bit harder to find the right match.
“We had no formula for the colour, so Troy sent the inside of a door panel, which hadn’t seen the sun, to his paint rep,” Ray explains.
“They polished it up and matched that colour.”
The engine, a 272 Y-Block, was sent to Michael Vaughn at American Direct Parts in Rosewood.
“It’s a V8 engine but they called it a Y-Block in those days,” Ray says.
“Michael did a great job rebuilding the engine, so it still has the original one in there.”
For the most part, Ray kept the truck original, apart from moving the fuel tank.
“The fuel tank used to be in behind the seat, that’s where they were in that period.
“I didn’t like that — I wanted a bit more capacity as it was only a small tank.
“Even though it had a vent running outside, it was a petrol motor and it wasn’t great to have the fuel right beside you.
“So, I took the fuel tank out of there and I’ve put a custom-made fuel tank on the side of the chassis.”
Ray, who lives in the rural town of Kalbar, picked up parts for the truck online, ordering some from the US as well as enlisting the help of Classic Pickup Supplies on the Sunshine Coast.
“They’re a Chevy and Ford parts supplier and they tracked down a lot of parts for me as well,” he adds.
He also bought a 1969 F600 and nicked some parts from that.
“It’s basically the same truck as my dad’s F600, they just changed the grill a little bit over the years,” he says.
“It was in a bad state but there were a lot of good parts on that truck so I salvaged some of them to help get dad’s truck back together.”
Ray still has a few small jobs left to do on the truck, like a new roof lining that needs to go in.
But he’s delighted with how the restoration has turned out and thinks his dad, who passed away over two decades ago, would have been proud to see it.
“It’s very sentimental for me, it’s been in the family for so long,” he says.
“It’s turned out way beyond my expectations, and I’m over the moon.
“My dad’s been gone 20 or 21 years now but I think he would have been happy to see the truck restored.
“It does bring a tear to my eye, to think about that.”
The truck recently made its debut, escorting a local teen and her partner to their high school formal.
“I’ve known the girl since she was a baby,” says Ray.
“She loved the colour of the truck and she asked me back in April if I thought I would have it ready.
“We managed to have it done in time and she was delighted.
“When I saw her on the day I realised why, because the truck matched her dress so well!”
Ray said the truck got plenty of attention at the formal, which he was pleased about – and he can’t wait to show the truck off some more next year.
“Next year I’ll be taking it to as many truck shows as I can!” he says.
“The first one will probably be the Walcha Antique Machinery and Truck Show in February.
“I’m part of the Historical Truck Society up here in Brisbane so I’ll go their show in May too, and whatever else pops up.”
Ray already has an array of awards under his belt, thanks to his two other trucks — a 1990 LTL Ford prime mover and a 1952 F1 Ford pickup.
The LTL Ford is a Limited Edition Kentucky model that he picked up from PJ’s Custom Spray Painting and Truck Mechanical in Brisbane.
“I’ve always had a bit of a thing for LTLs, I remember them as a teenager,” he says.
“PJ’s Custom Painting had the truck for a number of years before they decided to sell it, and I thought it was a great opportunity to complete my collection.
“When I got it, it was all painted up the way it is now and I just had to do a bit of mechanical work to get it back on the road.”
As for the F1 pickup, that was imported from the US and is still left-hand drive.
“I was actually looking for a 1956 Ford F100 but I came across this one on the internet and I just fell in love with it,” he says.
“An import company in Mount Victoria did all the work for me and brought it over here.”
When asked whether he has any advice to share when it comes to restorations, he laughs.
“Make sure you’ve got plenty of time, and plenty of money!
“It takes so long when you’re also working, you get busy and you have to let it sit for a while before you can come back to it.
“But if anyone wants to give it a go, I say do it. It’s well worth the reward in the end.”
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