Barry Zepick is the proud owner of a 1952 Fargo with a whole new attitude on life.
Fargo was a Canadian counterpart of the Dodge and was sold by Plymouth dealerships in Canada until 1972.
‘A 1952 Fargo was a reliable workhorse of a truck that left the factory with a humble flathead six under its hood and Barry wanted to change the horsepower game on his Fargo.’
Barry put the cart before the horse when he bought a 1955 DeSoto 291 Hemi before he bought the truck. The legendary vintage Hemi was the engine of choice for Barry and he wanted to use it in a vehicle that was a little off the beaten path.
Cue the 1952 Fargo pickup, a truck rescued from a previous life as a high school shop truck where it was an aging vehicle in dire need of a new lease on life. Barry took a hands-on approach to his truck project, including a very careful paint removal process done with a razor blade so he could take the finish down to the original primer coat.
The Fargo project was completed in a small garage with serious space issues so Barry put the larger parts on wooden dollies that could be wheeled in and out of the garage. He did all of the work himself except for the welding on the front clip modifications for the truck.
The truck front clip mods also include a Scott’s front suspension, disc brakes, and close ratio steering. Barry did almost all of the work, except for some of the precise welding on the modified front end.
Brian bolted the vintage Hemi up to a modern Chrysler 518 overdrive automatic transmission drives all that power to a 4:10 Mopar Sure Grip rear end. He also added power windows to his Fargo and removed the vent windows on the truck. The water pump on the Hemi was changed out to a GM pump for its lighter weight and better cooling efficiency.
The truck has flared fenders and custom LED side marker lights because Brian wanted to put his own custom stamp on the Fargo. It also sports an upscale mahogany floor in the box and a talented friend built the custom mahogany storage box for the truck bed.
Brian noticed the green paint job on a Kenworth when the big rig pulled up beside him in traffic and knew it was a great choice for his Fargo. The running boards are original equipment with after-market Model A rubber on top of them for a cool retro combination.
He even worked on the door handles and re-engineered them with strong springs so he could make them hang straight in the doors without any droop. The little details have added up to one amazing resto-mod Fargo with a whole new attitude on the street.
In fact, Brian ran the truck at around 80 mph (approx. 130 km/h) on its maiden voyage on an interstate and the Fargo only hit 2000 rpm at that speed. It was a comfortable ride sitting behind the wheel in the Fargo’s transplanted early 90s Chrysler New Yorker seats.
‘Brian gave a simple answer about why he chose a Hemi and Fargo combination for his project: “I am a Mopar guy-always been a Mopar guy”.
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Jim Sutherland
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