ME & MY CAR
LYNFIELD BUILDER SHANE BAIRD DRIVES A 1970 FORD PICKUP TRUCK
Builder’s American Pickup Truck is solid, simple and copes with muddy work sites
What are you driving? It’s a 1970 Ford F100 Wimbledon white Heavy Duty Special, 360 cubic inch V8 four-speed manual. Why a pickup truck? I like American pickup trucks. I wear work boots and I’m often dirty and the simple truck interior works for me. When did you buy it? I bought it as a landed New Zealand-complied vehicle from an experienced importer. I’ve owned it for two years now, more than 10,000 miles (roughly 16,093km). Have you done much work on it? I’ve spent most of my time under the hood and underbody. I’ve fully rebuilt the front suspension, brakes and steering joints and painted the chassis and body floor. Everything is looking sweet underneath now. The best upgrade was a new electronic distributor, brand new carburettor and an AFR (air fuel ratio) gauge and vacuum gauge to help me tune it. Thanks to YouTube and the fantastic people who post videos, every question can be answered. It’s such a great help for an amateur vehicle restorer. I may give the chassis a lick of paint at some stage. The main thing is to keep it running. Is it your daily drive? It’s my daily work truck. I carry my tools and occasionally a small amount of materials. How is it having a left-hand drive? It’s fun to drive being left-hand drive with no power steering and no power brakes. You have to think ahead all the time. It engages you. How often do you clean it? The main cleaning I do is sweeping out the cab floor when there’s a bit of dirt there. Anything else in your garage? I like big vehicles but we have a little Toyota Corolla for sensible commuting as a family. There’s also a customised HarleyDavidson Street Glide for when there’s a need to get in the breeze. Do you get comments when you’re driving the pickup? I really appreciate the attention the truck gets from people who like it. Every day somebody talks to me about their own truck or how they just like this one. It’s great to interact with people on the road; a smile, a thumbs up or a friendly toot of the horn. I get it all. How would you describe your driving style? Definitely conservative. Driving a unique vehicle on the same route every day. It’s important to be polite. Why the number plate Bedroc? I’ve had that number plate for years. My name is Baird and a friend called me Bedroc. When the personalised plates came out, I thought why not get one — and it also suits being a builder. What’s its carry load? The truck has four wheel drum brakes that work fine, but carting a serious load is out of the question. It’s rated as a half-ton pick up; that’s only 500kg. It’s got loads of pulling power but it’s all about being able to stop safely. Favourite road trip? Driving with my 15-year-old son Daniel to Beach Hop in Whangamata. What do you keep in your truck? I always have jumper cables, a firstaid kit and fire extinguisher on board. Maybe for my own use but also to help someone else if needed. The best use of jumper cables was starting a stalled Chev pickup in front of hundreds of people at Beach Hop last year. If you had to describe this vehicle as a famous person? Charles Bronson for sure. He’s a Built Ford Tough type of guy and I enjoyed his movie Mr Majestyk. Dream vehicle? I’m driving it today; I believe in appreciating the present. However, I would like to re-power this old truck with an electric engine. That would be awesome. I look forward to the technology being readily available for this type of conversion. It’s a sunny Sunday morning. Where do you head for a drive? I fire up the truck and we head to our local church to join others in giving thanks for being able to live and raise a family in a beautiful, free, peaceful country.