FORD FAN SPOTLIGHT – If regular visitors to FordRacing.com could vote for their favorite article to read on the website, we don’t need a poll to tell you it’s likely that the Ford Fan Spotlight would win in a landslide. That not only comes from all of the positive comments – and submissions – we receive via our ClubHub@Ford.com email inbox, but also from what you tell us in person when our Ford Performance Club Connect Meet & Greet tent happens to set up shop at your club’s car show over the summer. Take this email we got recently from Zac Winstead of Hartland, Michigan, for example: “Hello, I’ve seen your Fan Spotlight pieces – and they’re great! I figured the story of my 1977 Ford F-150 may make a good one. I’ve been around the truck since 1988 and it’s in my garage right now, so check out my write up and pictures, and thank you in advance for the consideration.” . . . No, thank YOU, Zac Winstead for submitting yet another great story about the special relationship that Ford owners enjoy with their vehicles. Just read what Zac told us below and we’re sure this one will get your vote as a winner, too!
“I was just nine years old when my stepmother, Patsy, bought this 1977 F-150 Ranger XLT in the 1980s. To me, it was the sharpest thing I’d ever seen. The way the paint caught the light, the gleam of the chrome – it was impossible not to be drawn to it. Before long, I was spending weekends with a rag and a can of wax, washing and polishing the truck. I wasn’t just helping out; I was falling in love with that truck!
“Dad and Patsy used the truck for daily driving, pulling boats all over the place and even towing a 30-foot Coachman camper to various campgrounds in the Midwest. It was a 460-V8 powered truck with the trailering package after all! Sometime in the 90’s my grandfather, known as ‘Big Daddy,’ knocked the passenger-side mirror off while backing the truck into the garage. That mangled the door pretty well. It was a sad day. Dad ended up teaching my sister and me to drive on that same truck I believe I was about 12 the first time I took the wheel. I remember he said, ‘Keep the hood ornament lined up with the white line and you’ll be in your lane enough (to help navigate the narrow Kentucky backroads).’
“After I graduated high school, Dad & Patsy handed me the keys to the truck. From that moment on, the F-150 was mine, and I set out to make it something even more special. I put in a remanufactured engine with a hotter cam and a few mild upgrades – enough to give it a little extra growl without losing its character. In 2007, I had it repainted in its original colors, bringing back the look I remembered from when I was a kid. Two years later, in 2009, I went through the rest of it, making sure every last switch, gauge, and accessory was functional. Nothing’s for show -- it’s all the real thing.
“Even now, the truck is a blast to drive around town. People notice it, of course, but for me it’s more about the feeling behind the wheel. There’s something about hearing that engine come to life, about knowing I’ve kept it going this long, that never gets old.
“In 2021, during COVID, my Dad was in the hospital in Owensboro, Kentucky. I drove the truck down to Kentucky and drove to many of the old spots we used to take the truck. The truck had been part of our lives for decades, and now it was there to bridge another moment form us.
“I still keep two photos close: One is of the truck in the backyard from around 1994, and another in the same spot in 2021. The years have passed, but our F-150 Ranger XLT still stands proud. And every time I turn the key, I feel like that 9-year-old kid again, seeing it shine for the very first time!”
Here’s How YOU Can Get In The Spotlight: For more than 20 years now, one of the most popular features on FordRacing.com and in our weekly Fast News e-newsletter continues to be "Ford Fan Spotlight," where readers can send in their own reasons why they're fans of Ford Motor Company and its vehicles. You know who they are: Ford "superfans;" grassroots Ford racers; unique Ford vehicle owners; loyal Ford enthusiasts; notable Ford club people; special Ford families; and/or any avid supporter of Ford, Ford vehicles, Ford motorsports, Ford Racing or Ford Performance who deserves a little bit of special recognition.
All you need to do to get you, your car or candidate considered is to send in a brief description (200-500 words or less) and a few photos (in .jpeg format, preferably around 1 mb in size) with the owner’s full name and hometown, please. Just tell us about the vehicle(s) and why you think Ford Racing should feature it (them) in the "Ford Fan Spotlight" for an upcoming installment of Fast News as well as for posting on FordRacing.com. Then email it to: ClubHub@Ford.com with your contact info. Your submission allows us the right to use your words and images (along with any edits) for editorial purposes; we’ll choose one submission in random order to post online. We hope to see YOU and your Ford story in our Fan Spotlight soon!
