Blast with us into the semi-distant past -- 1970, to be exact. It had been mere months since American astronauts had landed on the moon, with Neil Armstrong uttering the unforgettable words, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." On the heels of the resounding success of the first lunar landing, astronauts Fred Haise, Jack Swigert, and Jim Lovell climbed on board the ill-fated Apollo 13 space vehicle, returning to Earth after eight harrowing days in space. Remember those unforgettable words? "Houston, we have a problem."
During this period of multi-million-dollar moon shots, Danny Guernsey's Ford F-100 came to life in Dearborn, Michigan, and made its way to high-desert Hesperia, California. Danny, the "D" in C&D Fabworks, chanced upon the then-lowly Ford sitting in a Hesperia front yard. The shortbed two-wheel-drive had been upgraded with two-hairs-larger-than-stock tires and red-booted performance shocks. The rig was certainly a worthy ride for basic backroad bashing at low-to-moderate velocities, yet a far cry from the wolf in vintage clothing that it is today. Inspecting the old iron, Danny saw a Class 8 race truck in embryo. A deal was struck: Danny parted with a dirt bike, and the owner gave up the F-100. Big plans were made. Then, life got in the way.
 Danny grips a Momo steering...  Danny grips a Momo steering wheel and mashes a CNC dual-reservoir brake pedal. The gas pedal is a custom in-house creation that features a dimple-died tread surface and a turned-up edge that keeps a heavy right foot in place during high-speed strafing runs. |  Plan A was to create a Class...  Plan A was to create a Class 8 desert-racing truck, but something happened on the way to the starting line. The truck is fully capable of racing in Class 8, but the vehicle took on a more versatile life as a high-powered long-legged prerunner. The custom-sheetmetal dash plays host to Auto Meter gauges, a Garmin GPS unit, an XM satellite radio receiver, and an underdash A/C pilfered from a salvage-yard donor. |  Ford gave the F-100 the original...  Ford gave the F-100 the original I-beams, but the beams found beneath today are one-off creations that are both stronger and longer. Back in the day, Ford dreamed that drums would do a competent job of stopping the shortbed. We suppose drums can be good, as long as you're hauling nothing more than a rolled-up newspaper or are going slightly faster than human walking speed. C&D wisely beat the drums into the dumpster and fit 1-ton hubs and sure-stopping disc brakes onto the long-travel beam ends. |
Danny took a leap for independence and left his parents' nest. Then a budding fabricator, Guernsey was long on talent, but had yet to grow the reputation that C&D Fabworks enjoys today. He needed cash and sold the truck to his dad. The truck did some more sitting, and Danny's dad finally decided that he, too, would sell the truck. At this point, Danny was in a better financial position, so he bought the truck back. The big plans that were made nearly a decade earlier were finally transformed into metallic reality with the help of business partner Chris Wrublevski, assorted premium off-road components, and several hundred hours' worth of fabrication.
When the transformation was complete, Danny was the proud owner of the retro rocket seen orbiting the pages of Off-Road. "Sure, there's conversion fiberglass available to update the appearance of the truck," Danny mused. "But I decided from the beginning that I was going to keep the vintage look." It was a good move. We thoroughly dig the looks of Danny's truck, but can attest that the old-iron looks are only fiberglass-skin deep. Blue-anodized King coilover and bypass shocks blend with custom C&D front and rear suspensions. The C&D/King combo yields 18 inches of front I-beam travel and 24 inches of rear three-link bump-swallowing action. Of course, that's the rocket part. What's the retro part? Besides the obvious looks, '70 trucks are exempt from thorn-in-the-side smog inspections required by the state of California. Danny was forever free from the burden of ensuring that each and every component under the hood was either factory original or smog-legal. This freedom meant that Guernsey was at liberty to design and build his engine cage and choose his engine components with only one thing in mind: performance.
After completing the metallic masterpiece, Danny ruefully decided to sell the now-stellar Ford. It seems that yet another giant leap is about to be taken. "We want to build and race a Trophy Truck," he revealed. "We want to keep it hard-core and get to where Danny Porter (of Porter Race Cars) is now." Given the trajectory that C&D is already on, we'd say it's only a matter of time before we see a C&D-built Trophy Truck on a SCORE starting line, complete with thoroughly modern racing weaponry. In the meantime, we're glad we got to discover just how cool old-school can be.
 If that looks like a Chevy...  If that looks like a Chevy part, it is. Saginaw steering boxes are easy pickings in the wrecking yard from a variety of Chevy cars, and they're stout units to boot. |  This Saginaw was reworked...  This Saginaw was reworked by Howe Performance and set up with a Howe hydraulic ram assist for no-sweat steering effort from lock to lock. |  Custom swing-set hinges bolt...  Custom swing-set hinges bolt to the '70 framerails and keep the wheels pointed in the desired direction through the full range of suspension travel. |
 Most of us mount coilovers...  Most of us mount coilovers to a separate engine cage, then tie the engine cage into a full rollcage if we're lucky enough to get that far. |  Danny was able to start out...  Danny was able to start out with a master plan, so he designed the upper shock mounts into the engine cage, tying the whole collection of tubes into a cohesive unit. |  |