Written by Chadly Johnson
When I first spotted Mario Ferreira’s ’33 Ford pickup, I was walking through the show grounds of the 2010 Billetproof show in Antioch, CA. In a field of chrome, suede, and candy paints Mario’s ’33 stuck out like a sore thumb, its thick red metal flake glowing in the California sun. Wow, I thought to myself, that’s some crazy paint, it’s gotta be fresh out of the spray booth…I better go check it out. Then the hour glass figure of one of the pin-ups caught my eye and I was headed another direction. Later, I spotted it driving and watched it park on the far end of the show grounds. This time, I kept my eyes forward and headed straight for it. As I approached the pickup, I realized it was a custom with a nice chop top, but I still couldn’t stop focusing on its gorgeous paint job. Then it happened, as my eyes scanned along its cab corner I noticed…a crack. No, I thought to myself, it can’t be. I bobbed and weaved to get the sun to dance on the paint, and there they were, tiny hairline cracks in the beautiful paint. Could this actually be a survivor custom? Then I spotted the sign sitting on the custom stitched tonneau cover that stated “this truck was painted in 1965 and upholstered in 1966.” Jackpot, I thought to myself…this truck has a story to tell.
The story of Mario’s truck takes us back an amazing 50 years to 1961 when Mario spotted his future project at the age of 19. The truck came out of the Oakland area and was the product of a 50s custom make over with yellow paint, a chopped top, Merc hubcaps, and striping by Tommy the Greek. The truck had enjoyed a number of years as a show truck and was even published in a few magazines, little is known about its early years beyond that. On the flip side, the ’33 was well worn at this point in its life with all its glass cracked and a busted axle. Mario purchased the neglected truck, made the necessary repairs, and began driving it. After a couple of years had gone by and with some money set aside, Mario tore the truck down and spent the next several years focused on building the custom he had pictured in his head.
A different engine and transmission were installed, and the suspension was chrome plated from hub to hub both front and rear…remember the days when plating was still affordable? Overall though, the main focus was on the paint job. For the task of laying down the metal flake, Mario turned to Joe Cruces, famed builder of the Tall-T and the Crucifier show cars. Joe sprayed layer upon layer of lacquer over enough red metal flake to sink a battle ship. In fact, the truck’s windshield still proudly displays the Joe Cruces Body Shop decal. The following year after more money had been stashed away, the ’33 headed to Mac’s Custom Interior in Sacramento, CA for upholstery. Kenny Foster fabricated a killer one off bench seat and wrapped it and the rest of the cockpit in black vinyl that is top stitched with buttons.
Mario took his fresh custom to many shows during 1967 & 68, taking home many top honors. Much to Mario’s disappointment though, the pickup did not perform as well as it looked, resulting in a full tear down with plans of upgrading the chassis with a 327, an automatic, and a Corvette rear end. The body was removed from the chassis, wrapped in blankets to protect that Cruces paint, and tucked into the corner of the garage so the chassis could be addressed. Then that little thing called life got in the way. Mario got married and started a family, which srpouted new hobbies and interests. When the thought of getting back at the truck came up over the years, money was too tight, so the truck sat, out of sight and out of mind.
Next thing you know, 34 years have gone by. Mario’s son Michael, now a grown man, began nudging his Dad to finally get back at the old custom. So in 2003, Mario and Michael set out to finish the upgrades that were started all those years prior. With few extra pennies to rub together than before Mario sought out a brand new chassis that would delier the performance he had envisioned for the ’33. In much the same fashion as he sought out a top painter in 1965, Mario researched finding a top chassis builder, which led him to Roy Brizio. The Brizio team put together a new chassis that kept the ’33’s traditional styling in tact, but delivered flawless performance. A magnum tube axle and mono leaf spring combined with hairpin radius rods were used up front while rear bump duties are handled by coilovers attached to a 9 inch Currie rear end. A 410 horse small block Chevy built by Joe’s Engine Shop in Concord, CA was dropped between the rails mated to a slick Tremac 5 speed for low rpm highway cruising.
With the chassis a roller and the drive line in place attention was turned to the long dormant body. The ’33’s body components were carefully unwrapped, revealing a still gorgeous paint job and interior that stood the test of time. Remarkably, mario’s main prupose in keeping the old paint job was not initially to showcase an amazing survivor coat of paint, but to get his moneys worth out of his high dollar 1965 paint job. Aside from the updated chassis and running gear along with some Mooneyes gauges and custom nerf bars, the truck sits as it did in 1966.
It was not until Mario began driving the ’33 again that he began to realize what an amazing truck he had. Initially at open style car shows people began pointing out the flaws in the 50 year old paint, and it annoyed Mario, so he made up a small sign stating that the truck was painted in 1965 and upholstered in 1966. To the general public and the trailer queen crowd this still just meant an old truck with flawed paint, but when Mario’s truck was spotted by people rooted in kustom kulture it was embraced as an amazing time capsule, and a deep appreciation to what he had preserved was felt.
Mario drove the truck to his 1st show in 2009 put on by Roy Brizio who held a special event show casing cars he had played a role in over his 25 years of building. Roy personally asked Mario to bring his ’33 to the show. Since then, Mario has shown the custom at events such as the Sacramento Autorama and Billetproof where I was fortunate enough to spot it. Since Billetproof, mario and his wife have continued to enjoy the pickup including taking a 2500 mile trip to Victoria, Canada in which the ’33 performed like a dream. I think I speak for us all in thanking Mario for not taking a grinder to that historic paint and hope to see it survive another 50 years. A special thanks is also due to our model Taryn for adding even more class to Mario’s 2nd chance ’33.
