You’ve gotta love a high-end street machine that’s built to be driven hard – stone guard on its undercarriage instead of two-pack; chrome doodads and polished doohickeys replaced by quality engineering to handle bulk power. There are many such vehicles being built in suburban sheds and garages as we speak, but to end up with a rowdy, road-going, tar-burning example as nice as Richie Vegara’s ’39 Ford pick-up, you’d need to enlist a top custom car-building shop like Image Vehicle Manufacturing.

First published in the August 2025 issue of Street Machine

The wizards at Image have turned Richie’s Ford into something the Sydneysider can jump in and have a ball with, yet it’s also stunning, powerful, and impeccably finished. After all, when you have a shed full of go-fast metal like a twin-turbo V10 Lamborghini, as Richie does, your shenanigans sled needs to be hotter than a stolen pitchfork on a summer’s day in Hades.

“I wanted a hot rod ute type of thing, something a bit different,” says Richie, who at this point is one of Image’s regular clients. “We definitely went off-track with it, because it was going to just get tidied up and with a normal, classic interior. But then we did the rollcage, then the outside…”

Bought out of Orange, NSW, the truck had already been subjected to the over-enthusiastic use of a grinder and bug-zapper. The roof had been chopped six inches and a ’46 Ford sedan front had been grafted on in place of the original 1939 metal. “It looked the part, but it had a crap 351 in it,” says Richie. “It was already built into a hot rod, but it was extremely poor quality, so I knew the boys at Image would have their work out for them. They chucked everything away besides the cab and panels.”

“Richie has always punished us with the vehicles he brings in,” laughs Image’s Mick Ellard. “When it came to us, it already sat on a sedan chassis, with sedan guards and the ’46 front end moulded in. It was actually an old army truck with a huge hole in the roof skin from where the machine gun sat. But it was such a mess that, if it was anyone else, I would have said no.

“Richie started out wanting a satin-black paintjob. Next thing, he wanted an LS, then a better front end, and then we realised we had to gut the floorpan and firewall, because they were hideous.”

The Image crew got to work, hand-making custom door handles, side steps, tray, and sequential tail-lights, and added a rollcage, aero fins and custom air scoops to the bonnet sides. They also widened the rear guards, pancaked the bonnet, and crafted a full sheet-metal engine bay.

“I knew I was going to go with a big motor, so we strengthened everything through the chassis and added the custom five-link in the back,” says Richie. “Image designed it all, and the packaging of all this work was really tight for them. I also wanted air conditioning as well, and they were spewing trying to fit it all in. I don’t drive with the windows down, so we had to go with an electric compressor that lives out the back near the rear of the tray.”

After Matt Ellard and Luke Wehbe nailed the fab work, Mick Ellard, Matthew Johnston, Gavin Laurent and Liam Charles got the body bang-on. Matthew and Gavin then laid down the PPG Graphite Grey with satin clear, offset by gloss black details.

When Richie said he wanted a big motor, he wasn’t kidding. The little ’39 Ford is now swole with 427 cubic inches of blown LS, built by Westend Performance off a Dart block. A forged steel crank, Oliver rods, JE slugs and custom roller cam do the heavy lifting, while the Higgins heads swallow the enormous amounts of enhanced atmosphere the Harrop 2650 belt-fed intake can provide. It’s handy for an impressive 950rwhp and should be perfectly reliable.

“I said I wanted every bell and whistle that could go into that motor,” Richie laughs. “I wanted a bulletproof engine that would push 1000hp on E85, no problem. At the moment, it’s flex-tuned, and even on 98 it’s nuts.”

With its short wheelbase and wide track combined with a similar power output to a 400km/h Bugatti Veyron, driving OLDDOG is now a fairly intense experience – even if your other ride is a twin-turbo Lamborghini.

“It’s the oldest car I’ve ever had, but it’s aggressive as hell and it just makes smoke,” laughs Richie. “I built it to drive it; I’m not one for building show cars. This is the fourth vehicle Image has done for me, and they have already started the fifth.”

We can’t wait to see what Mick and the Image crew do for Richie’s next build.

RICHIE VEGARA
1939 FORD PICK-UP

THANKS
Mick, Matt, Paul, Burnsie, Gavin, Luke and Liam at Image Vehicle Manufacturing for taking on the project and making the car better than I expected; Bill and Kaylin at Hy-Tone Motor Trimming for the mad interior; Dennis at Westend Performance for the engine; Mick at Street Cred Differentials & Fabrication for the diff; Rick at Ricky’s Drive Shafts; Ross at RollingStock for the wheels; my wife and family for their support during the build.