In 1978, Henry Jorzik purchased a 1970 Ford F-100 truck for his work as a bricklayer.
Henry wanted a pickup that could handle the rough stuff required for his line of work and chose the ’70 Ford pickup for the task.
Jim Sutherland
Henry was a journeyman bricklayer who learned his craft in Germany before emigrating to the Ottawa region in Canada for a new life. That new life included his son Rudy who became very familiar with his father’s work and the F-100 at an early age.
In fact, Rudy spent plenty of time in the truck because he worked with his dad when he was a teenager, both on weekends and during the summer, so the ’70 Ford pickup became a part of his bond with his father.
Rudy even learned how to drive in the truck, including mastery of its 3-on-the-floor manual transmission. Consequently, every element of the truck was a time and place in Rudy’s life.
However, a combination of the rigors found in rough work and salty winter roads eventually took their toll on the Ford pickup, so Henry was forced to scrap it in 1986 because it had massive structural and rust issues.
The memory of the F-100 was intertwined with Rudy’s memories of his dad, even before Henry passed away in 2008. In 2016, Rudy decided to honor his late father’s memory by searching for a 1970 Ford F-100 pickup that would remind him of the original truck and his time in it. Rudy wished he had pursued the idea before the passage of so much time.
In 2018, Rudy found a suitable 1970 Ford F-100 pickup in Oregon and headed from his British Columbia home to purchase it. Rudy drove it back to Canada and described it as a trouble-free trip with no issues except for worn wiper blades that were outmatched by the rain.
Rudy’s truck was in excellent shape and easily passed its mechanical inspection for road certification in its new Canadian home. His game plan for the truck began once Rudy became its owner.
The truck had a different factory paint color from his dad’s pickup, but Rudy respected its originality, listened to his wife, and decided not to repaint it in the first truck’s shade of green. However, Rudy decided to change his Ford truck’s interior color back to the original pickup’s interior color.
Henry’s truck had a 302 V-8 under its hood, but Rudy’s pickup has a big 300 six-cylinder hooked up to a 4-speed manual transmission. The good news is Rudy can live with the difference because the driving experience is basically the same for him.
As mentioned, Henry’s 1970 F-100 was scrapped 39 years ago, but somehow Rudy was able to locate the original truck’s brake light bezel in a box of his dad’s stuff. The kicker was Rudy’s replacement truck was missing the bezel, so Rudy was happy to use it in his F-100.
Rudy also found his father’s pipe, an unopened pouch of tobacco, and his father’s toolbox, all of which Rudy carries with him in the truck.
Rudy’s connection to his dad’s truck also extended to his hobby because he built a scale model of the original 1970 Ford F-100 to honor its role in his life.
The last comment on his truck is best left to Rudy:
Occasionally I just sit in the passenger seat, and the memories just flood back to my teenage years…the only difference is that unmistakeable smell of pipe smoke.
Rudy Jorzik
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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