This One Is No ‘Plain Jane’ of Classic Work Trucks
Growing up on a farm in the Orangeville area, Stephen Burnett, who is now a local Civil Engineer, has always had a passion for restoring classic autos. This love included the fortuitous purchase of a ’47 Ford Truck that he came across sitting in a farmer’s field when he was out visiting one of his clients and a car that he eventually brought home, much to his wife’s chagrin, he says with a laugh. I will let Stephen continue the story. ‘The truck was in pretty rough shape to say the least with a lot of rust and had a different frame and a different engine underneath. About a month later I was out in the Guelph area and came across another identical ’47 Ford and you can appreciate that being a 1947 model, it was also going to be in rough shape, but I liked that it had a solid original frame, so I bought this truck as well. You can say that my ’47 Ford Truck now is actually a product of two ‘47’s, where everything is pretty much refurbished, brand new or restored original parts.”
Stephen says that he always has been somewhat of a ‘car guy’ and growing up on a farm, gave him the opportunity to ‘tinker’ and fix up cars when he was younger. ‘Actually my wife’s father was my original auto teacher way back when, so there has always been some family ties to cars, you could say.” He adds that over the years he has rebuilt a few different cars including a ’69 Nova and Mustang, but the ’47 Truck was a little more of a unique build and was more of a California custom style.
So far, the rebuilds have been completed as passions of love to enjoy and drive and the ’47 Ford has been completed to the level that it was part of Motorama where they were situated in the popular front showroom and as Stephen says, up against some pretty stiff competition. “We didn’t get any awards, but there was a lot of interest in the truck. It’s been part of some other local car shows as well, but ultimately I bought the ’47 to rebuild it and drive it and that’s actually what we have been doing with all of our rebuilds.”
Does a rare find like a ’47 Ford Truck, get it’s share of attention when out on the streets of Orangeville?
“Sure, you could say that we are pretty much getting everyone’s attention right now, as this one is pretty loud with straight pipes on it and the exhaust comes right out underneath the running boards. We get lots of attention because of both the looks and sound (Laughs). It’s actually an old-style hot rod, with a fairly large engine.”
What was it that made the ’47 Ford Truck so special?
“Well, it came out right after the war and was meant to have a ‘Plain Jane’ look to it as many of the earlier Fords were designed with lots of chrome details. The ’47 was supposed to be the ‘back to basics’ work truck and I believe that is what drew my attention to it. If you look at the truck now though, you will see that we have added new chrome and replated some of the original chrome as well that was on the truck. The ’47 was meant to be a work or farm truck, which matched my farm upbringing and I think that is what the attraction was for me when I first saw it. However, by adding some other design elements now, I believe that we have also increased the value of that year as well!”
Restoring any classic vehicle comes with its share of work to bring it to final completion, which is basically the talk among some of the like-minded people that helped along the way with the ’47 Ford Truck.
“We have actually surrounded ourselves over time with some great people and businesses that share the same passions and helped us with the rebuild along the way. Mario Calleja from Calleja Kustoms was our professional builder and did a lot of the body work and the frame modifications and assembly. We also had a group out of Pickering, Small Wood Custom Painting, who did the beautiful paint job, which I might add, that my wife picked the colours for. They initially complained that it was 16 coats of paint, but they still did a great job and the truck does look amazing. Also, we had Curtwood Customs out of Muskoka do the interior and they did a fantastic job as well. Obviously too, with older vehicles, most of the parts come out of the U.S. so this gave us the opportunity to meet some good people from Florida to Texas to California and Ohio, either via email or phone calls, so it became a great project to work on!”
Is it safe to say that your life has always been about design?
“You could probably say so, as back in high school I was always tinkering with my original Monte Carlo or Mustang and as a career path I chose Civil Engineering where I focused on buildings and water treatment plant design, but there has always been this element and passion for design and rebuilding.”
A life-long resident of the Orangeville area, Stephen and his wife Julie also operate Hereward Farms, a five generation homestead in East Garafraxa which is now home to a lavender farm. He says the auto restoration business is called Angry Dad Motors, (the name is a story in itself) and the farm allows him space to work on and store the vehicles in a large barn on the grounds.
Of course, I have to ask, what’s the story behind the name Angry Dad Motors?
“Well, I actually have to credit my wife for the name. Guys usually have their sports cars in late high school and maybe even into college, but as they get older and get married and have kids, there’s no longer the time or even the money for the cars, so they have to give them up and they just become ‘angry dads’.”
WRITTEN BY: LARRY SIMPSON | PHOTOS: CORY BRUYEA
