When Ken Stewart of Hampton was asked to describe how he felt the first time he sat behind the wheel of his Ford panel truck, he summed it up with one word: “euphoria.”
“It was finally a dream comes true,” said Stewart, 74. “Most of the trucks of this make and model are very rare – few and far between.”
Stewart enjoys showing off his truck at area car shows whenever he can. He said his love of the Ford panel truck goes back to his teenage years, growing up in Wichita, Kansas.
“In high school, you may have an allowance, but it’s not nearly enough to afford a classic car like that,” he said. “I ran around with a guy who renovated old cars, and they happened to be Ford products. I just happened to like the Ford panel truck since I was a junior in high school.”
Stewart, a former homicide detective, retired from Clayton County Animal Control 11 years ago. He searched for a year before finding a 1954 panel truck in South Florida that he wanted to have restored.
However, he said, there was one person whose approval he wanted to secure before making such a purchase – his wife Barbara.
“There are other people who just go out and buy it, and I just don’t happen to be in a position to do that,” said Ken. “When you’re lucky enough to be in a position to have your best friend have the same interests that you do, and for it to be your wife, you’re fortunate enough to make a decision like purchasing an old classic a lot easier.”
Although the truck had been restored previously, he wanted some additional work done on it. He then turned to Mark Engel, owner of Atlanta Auto Restoration in Hampton, for help with the project.
“When I’m not able to handle a part of a restoration I want to work on, I take it to Mark,” said Stewart. “I’m a firm believer that if you want it done and done right, you take it to a professional who can make it look the way you want it to look. And Mark is every bit of that.”
Restoring the truck, said Stewart, would cost approximately $50,000.
“It’s one of those things where you buy it and restore it as you can afford it,” said Stewart.
Stewart has two sons who serve in the Marines. One of them, Kenneth Alan “Kas” Stewart is at Camp Pendleton in California, and the other, Kyle, is stationed at Yuma Air Station in Arizona.
Stewart added that the murals, by far, exceeded his expectations. He said the artwork on the truck “describes me almost to a T.”
“On one side is a rendition of a Clayton County Police badge and an American flag with the caption ‘We the People,’” said Stewart. “The other side has a rendition of a Marine in combat fatigues and weaponry.
From the people who have seen the murals, they’ve fallen in love with it just as much as I have.”
Stewart met Engel through acquaintances at Summit Racing while buying parts for the truck. Engel said the restoration exemplifies “pride in craftsmanship and pride in our country.”
“We were hired by him to do some cosmetic restoration work and some mechanical upgrades,” said Engel. “We worked in conjunction with Craig Stanley. He actually did the airbrush work on the sides, and then we clear-coated it and polished it.”
Engel said he has also provided Stewart, who is disabled and confined to a wheelchair, with transportation to Yuma, Ariz., every year for a car show.
Engel confirmed that Stanley created a pair of murals supporting law enforcement and the United States Marine Corps, to be included on the truck.
Since the restoration was completed, Stewart has participated in several car shows with his truck. He said the artwork on the vehicle typically gets a positive reaction from people who see it on display, and that he hopes to take the panel truck to more car shows going forward.
“You win some, and you bomb out on others,” he said. “I’ve shown it at Midnight at the Oasis in Yuma, Arizona for the last two years. This coming year, we’re hoping to show it at Lake Havasu in California.”
