After seeing trophy trucks up close at a SCORE desert race in Baja Mexico, Michael Widener knew he had to have an offroad truck. With his love of hot rod engines and old Fords, Widener knew that he had to have a classic. When Widener found out that a family friend had a bone-stock 1973 Ford F-100 shortbed, he bought it sight unseen.
The F-100 now has a fully boxed frame, custom I-beams, radius arms, and a full rollcage built by Jason Heard. The steering box has been modified by Howe with a custom swing steering along with a double sheared steering arm.
A host of Bilstein components, 9100 coilovers, 9100 four-tube bypass shocks, and bumpstops provide the cushion up front while out back the 9100 four-tube bypass shocks with bumpstops share space with the AutoFab leaf springs and two-link kit. A quartet of Wilwood four-piston calipers and rotors provide plenty of braking. The F-100 now rides on Mickey Thompson 35×12.5 Baja MTZ tires mounted on 15×8 American Racing Mohave wheels.
The F-100 is powered by a Ford 390 big block and features solid lifters, ported heads, H-beam rods, forged pistons, and ARP bolts throughout. A Holley dual-feed carburetor sits on an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold, and long tube headers feeds the exhaust to Black Widow mufflers. Horsepower is over 500 on pump gas.
A Culhane Transmissions built Ford C6 gets that big power to the GMR 9-inch with a Powertrain Industries driveshaft. The 9-inch is a full floater that features Strange 5:00 Gears and a Detroit Locker. A CBR trans cooler keeps everything cool.
The 1973 cab is steel but the bedsides and front fenders are fiberglass pieces from Autofab. Widener himself painted on the Glacier blue and white paint, but he had Alpha Wrap of Long Beach, California, cover some aluminum panels to give them the carbon-fiber look.
All of the factory lighting is operational, including turn signals and reverse lights but Widener installed the three no-nonsense Baja Designs Sol Tek HID lights on the front bumper.
Inside the truck retains the stock dash with custom aluminum gauge inserts. Widener chose Auto Meter gauges and hung a nice big tach/shift light from the roll cage downtube. Twin Mastercraft 3G seats with Crow Instruments harnesses secure the occupants while the driver holds the MOMO steering wheel and Winters reverse-pattern shifter.
The Winters is mounted on top of a very nice center console that also houses two PCI Icom 50-watt race radios along with the PCI intercom system and a host of switches. A Lowrance GPS has been bolted to the dash to provide guidance while the Vintage Air system provides A/C, heat, and defrost.
Widener says he uses the Effie “to play in, prerun, chase races, and still drive on the street. It was built to different, my idea of a desert hot rod.”
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