This week at SEMA, Ford unveiled Matt “Doc” Johnson’s recent restomod of a 1985 F-250 found derelict in a field.
The Truck
Johnson’s F-250 before restoration (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
Lovingly referred to as the Bullnose, 80s-vintage F-series trucks were ubiquitous in their day. The styling is pure 80s yet distinct and immediately recognizable to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past 40 years. This particular F-250 was a ranch truck that had been abandoned in a field for years. Matt Johnson initially bought it for $800 with the intention of using it as a shop truck, but greater things were in store for the old workhorse.
The Builder
Matt Johnson and his ’85 F-250 (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
Johnson is a mechanical engineer who once worked on pipelines and now runs an auto repair shop in Oregon; he also restores old 4x4s on the side. He has a personal history with the ’85 F-250. “I drove one daily for a few years. It was a $500 truck, and that was what I could afford. I drove it to college, I drove it to work, and I took my now-wife to the beach in it and proposed to her.” Not long after Johnson purchased the featured F-250 the engine grenaded on him and he left it sitting behind his shop for several months before approaching it as a candidate for a restomod.
Ford Gets Involved
Ford’s 460 cu. in. rests comfortably in the F-250’s engine bay (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
Johnson had initially contacted Ford Racing Parts about installing a 2.3-liter EcoBoost in a Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. Over the course of a month or two and meetings with Ford representatives the idea evolved and eventually Ford suggested using a Heritage engine for the Land Cruiser instead. Johnson was willing with one caveat, “A rowdy small-block, like a Heritage engine – that needs to go in a Ford.” It was there that he proposed the ’85 Bullnose that had been languishing behind his shop, and Ford agreed.
The Build
Johnson’s F-250 basking in the Oregon hills (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
The Heritage engine in question is the Windsor-based, Ford Racing 460 cu. in. small block, one of several crate engines available from Ford Racing. Out of the box, it makes 575 HP and 575 lb.-ft. of torque. For the suspension, Johnson turned to John Carrick of Carrick Customs, who provided a reengineered version of the truck’s Twin Traction-Beam (TTB) suspension. For the paint and bodywork Johnson turned to a hobbyist friend, whose work seems well above the level of your average hobbyist.
The Results
Johnson’s F-250 is shiny for now, but ready for its share of trail dust (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
What Johnson and company have created is an understated masterpiece. It retains the character of the original work truck, but reborn as a muscular off-roader with a torquey power plant and riding on 37” tires. It’s not so pretty that you wouldn’t hit the trail with it, but it definitely cleans up nicely. Many of us have fond memories of this era of Ford truck. My own are of a battered yellow F-150 that had served as a NYDOT vehicle before my friends and I got our hands on it. It’s hard not to get a little nostalgic when looking at that Bullnose.
Bianca Bailey