or lifelong truck lover Tom Patterson, childhood dreams of owning his own hot rod quickly came together when he was lucky enough to meet up with Mike and Brad Swaney of Hayman Creations in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The result of their partnership was a sleek 1929 Model A Tudor that was everything Tom desired in his own custom hot rod. Down the road, these three town natives would once again join forces and devise a plan to construct the hot-rodded pickup that Tom had craved since he was knee-high to a chrome bumper.
Since then, Tom has made a career in the construction field, which led him into owning and operating his fair share of work trucks. His love of pickups started with his first ride, a 1970 Ford F-250 4×4 that he used as a daily driver. More pickups followed over the years, as they served not only as work trucks but also as a key part of the day-to-day family chores.
Turns out Tom and the Swaneys were family acquaintances, as Tom knew Mike’s dad from working in the area over the years. “As soon as I met them and saw their incredible work, I knew these were the guys I wanted to work on my new hot rod,” Tom states. From that meeting the guys hatched a plan. Tom handed them a short list of things he wanted in his pickup and the Swaneys rolled up their sleeves and got right to work.
When Tom got his Model A back he couldn’t believe the Tudor’s major makeover. “They did everything they said they would do and more. It was perfection in my eyes. I could not be happier with the look and ride of the Model A. It was an amazing transformation,” he states. From there on the trio of car enthusiasts became fast friends. It didn’t take long for Tom to set out on the road, bringing the Tudor to shows all over the Mid-Atlantic states where the hot rod received the bed full of accolades that it so greatly deserved.
So Mike and Brad got right to work designing the truck that would bring it all home for Tom. The first major purchase for the Apache was an LS3 package consisting of engine, trans, and computer out of a 2010 Chevy Camaro. It was a great start to the build and immediately solved the question of what was going to propel this pickup in the future.
The powerplant was set aside for the meantime, as the boys next set their sights on building the bones of this truck. After some searching, the Swaneys settled on a TCI chassis, deciding that this was the best option to build the truck into a ride that could be driven daily, if needed, and handle like a modern car.
The body of this Apache had seen better days and the Swaneys knew that there would be a need for some new sheetmetal and some extensive massaging on the outer skin just to get this Chevy into shape for paint. “The truck was rough. We only used the back of the cab, half of the floor, and the hood from the original truck. We picked up all-new sheetmetal from Lutty’s Chevy Warehouse in Cheswick, Pennsylvania. We replaced the roofskin, inner roof panel, cab corners, the steps in the cab and the outer cowl pieces, along with buying a brand-new bed, doors, and fresh new fenders for the truck,” Brad says.
Once the body came together, Mike basted the body in Axalta Matador Red. It was finished off interestingly enough in a blend of gloss and satin clear. As far as the interior goes, it was new ground for the dynamic duo. “We built all the interior panels and covered everything ourselves except the seat. It is all wrapped in Relicate Kalamata leather. It has a Vintage Air HVAC system, power windows, and is stuffed with a Classic Instruments TFO1 Tach Force instrument package in the dash,” Brad says. To finish off the cockpit, a Billet Specialties wheel was mounted on a chrome column shift Flaming River steering column.