Sometimes, things are not as they appear. Take Jim Ryan’s 1939 Chrysler pickup, for example. The Sea Coral and Black-hued show winner may look like a pickup, but it didn’t start that way. Jim recalls, "The truck started out as a 1939 Chrysler Royal four-door sedan. We used part of each second door to form the rear of the cab, then tied the two together with the back of the 1939 Dodge pickup cab. The cargo box was fabricated from scratch, and the rear fenders came from a 1939 Plymouth pickup."
That’s already enough fabrication to make most of us squirm, but Jim’s Chrysler certainly doesn’t stop there. The cab was chopped 4 inches by Tom Pangburn, who also handled the body and paintwork. In the process, a custom, lift-off "Carson" style top was formed. The front fenders were widened and lowered 4-1/2 inches to gain a down-in-the-weeds stance, when combined with the grafted 1986 Dodge Diplomat front suspension.
It was that "all Mopar" fact that really impressed us--this is an all-Chrysler street rod! Jim says, "All parts came from Oakley’s, a junkyard near Windsor, New York. The entire drivetrain came out of an old New York State Police car. Aside from the exterior, other trick grafting is evident in the interior. The dash, complete with all the working instruments and stereo, was originally from a 1986 Dodge Daytona. So, too, are the six-way power seats, which were reupholstered in black by Jim Winters. The steering wheel is Budnik’s "Switch Blade" design.
Other tricks incorporated include the use of 1987 K-car power window mechanisms and power mirrors, a power cowl vent, which was engineered using an 1987 Chrysler LeBaron rear-window wiper motor, and a power antenna installed in the front fender. For power, the aforementioned patrol car supplied the 318 engine and 904 trans, which was treated to a color-key match of the exterior color. Yeah, it’s a gorgeous truck--or is it?