This old truck he truck and its story I dedicate to my Grandfather, Elpége Theriault. I always remember how he had a way of taking something that was junk and finding a use for it. He could turn an old clawfoot bathtub into a swimming pool or a glass jar into a holding container for rusted screws and bent nails. He always had an old car or truck to play with. I think the saddest day was close to the end of his life when he had been shafted by a car salesman into buying an old 1972 Delta Eight-eight. The car was in bad shape and should never have been on the road. But to my seventy nine year old grandfather it meant freedom. I had to drive the car back to the lot fearing for my life, trying to keep the car on the road, and praying that the front end would not give out in traffic. Anybody that truly knows me also knows that I have driven a lot of junk in my life. I have managed to squeeze two or three years out of a dozen vehicles that were well past their prime and destine for the graveyard. But this Oldsmobile was the only car that I ever drove that I actually feared for my safety. My Grandfather died soon after this event. Every time I drive the Fargo I think of him, and I smile. I picture him beside me on our way to going fishing or clam digging One of my projects or hobbies, that I have a love-hate relationship with, is my old truck. It is a 1948 Dodge/Fargo half-ton. I decided to document the story after a kid, driving the other way in traffic, dropped his mouth open, stared, waved, beeped the horn and gave the truck a warm thumbs-up. I had always wanted to own an old truck after, at age 17, I had seen one passing over the MacDonald Bridge. My eyes flew open from the back seat and my mouth dropped and I knew some day I would have an old flat black truck like that one. The truck was found on the Old Guysborough Road that runs in behind the airport. This is considered a country backroad. The person that had the truck wanted $1,500. Which included a 1949 parts truck as well. Knowing my ability to negotiate a good price I brought a friend to do it on my behalf. My friend was able to get the truck down to $900. I had my Uncle Lee tow the truck home with his tow bar. This was around 1993-94. Before the girls were born and when I still had my 1991 Firebird. When the girls came along I was faced with several issues. Most important, the Firebird really was not a family vehicle. It was in mint condition and I did not want to spend the rest of my life telling them not to play around it or to get their feet off the back of the seats. So I sold the car. In the metro area it was one of two cars like it. The other one had T-bar roof. I liked the car a lot and it drove very nice on the highway. Anyhow the car was gone, with no regrets, and now I could focus on using the monies from its sale on the Fargo. Of course that was after I got a new washer and dryer, siding for the house, refinished the family room and bought a new furnace. This meant that I would have to make some decisions on how I spent the remaining change. The first things I decided was not restore to original. This was not a big issue since unlike GM and Ford you were not going to easily find parts for a Fargo. So I decided that I would buy a newer truck and use the drive train (motor, transmission and rear end) for the Old Fargo. In addition I would have to use the entire wiring harness to change over to a 12V electrical system. This would be a challenge since I have never done much more then change the oil and plugs on any vehicle. So I bought another truck. It was a 1982 Dodge half-ton, that was almost a collector vehicle itself. I decided to go with this truck because it had a slant six, which is a very dependable system. Also it was a vehicle maintained by the power corporation so it was in great shape. The original motor was replaced with a 1979 slant-six, which was okay with me. The person wanted $1,800 for the truck. I decided to negotiate on my own this time. I got the truck for $1,775. Now you know why I usually do not negotiate for myself. I bought the truck around 1996 and drove it over the next two years as I took apart the Fargo. At some point I decided that I would put the Fargo body directly on the newer Dodge frame. This was easier said than done but it was going to provide me with the best of both worlds. I would have the look of the older truck, which I always wanted, and the dependability of a modern vehicle. I started to strip the 1982 Dodge and sold most of the body parts for $1,000. This meant that after two years of driving the truck only cost me $775. I was now into the project for a total of $1,675. I do not count the cost of tools in the total cost of the truck but I probably spent at least another $2000 here alone. I bought two fiberglass fenders for $650 from a guy that made them in his garage in Owen Sound, Ontario. I also bought some extra body parts for a total of $500 that included two spare doors, a hood, a nose-piece and some trim. Beside the body parts I had to replace nearly 90% of the nuts and bolts used to assemble the truck. The cost is estimated at $400, which included any additional metal for fabrication. So now I was into the project for around $3,225. Besides that it cost me about $500 for materials and glass and another $700 for brakes and exhaust work. The total cost, not including labour, of the project is estimated at $4,425. I completed the disassembly of the two trucks by the year 2000. It took me another year to assemble the final version of the Fargo. This I did by myself, alone, in a rented one bay garage roughly 15 minutes drive from my house. I could only work on the truck once the girls were asleep and if it was not too cold (unheated) or raining (the roof leaked badly). In the summer of 2002 I pushed the assembly hard for about two months through some of the hottest days to complete the truck. This I had to do because I did not want to spend another unheated roof leaking winter/spring in a rented garage. The truck was done by the end of September 2002 and it passed inspection with no problems. I have now driven the truck, mostly on the weekends, without a single mechanical problem. It is painted flat black so that I do not have to worry about scratches or where I park the truck. My girls love the truck and at times they help me to work on it. It is as much for them as it is for me. We travel to the beach, park and playgrounds in the truck. They find it hard to believe how much attention is paid to the old truck. The horns beep, the road workers wave and the kids give their thumbs-up on almost every trip. I have been asked by a few to sell the truck. With the labour alone in this truck I would rather park it in a field and let it rust before I would sell it. The truck was professionally appraised at $8,000 as it stands with its flat black paint. I am planning to slowly upgrade and hope to some day get the truck painted. Some of the things I would like to do this year is to have wipers, a heater, a newer modern (softer) bench seat and perhaps a set of custom rims. e-mail me Last updated March 22, 2005 Other links: 1974 Charger, 1982 Toyota Supra