Show-Truck Perfect F-250

When Michael Klassen, president of Idaho-based Bully Dog Technologies, was first presented with the opportunity to create a show truck supplied by Ford, he had some unique ideas. The pickup would ultimately serve as Bully Dog Technologies' flagship vehicle, while meeting Ford expectations as a concept show truck. Concept, as Klassen employed the word, had a very special meaning: It needed to be bold, make a statement, and leave an impression. The truck was designed, engineered, and built in time to premiere at last year's Las Vegas Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show, where Bully Dog campaigned the vehicle as the ultimate tailgate truck.

To build it, Bully Dog turned to the Alton Company in Pigeon, Michigan. The Alton Company pioneered the first stretch crew-cab pickups in the U.S. and had initially been founded more than 35 years ago to produce tractor crew cabs for Ford. In the meantime, the company has developed crew cabs for GM and Ford.

"Michael wanted a truck that would make a statement," recalls Alton owner Nick Pavlacheck, "so we built him the baddest pickup he'd ever seen." The truck sports a custom chassis to serve as the platform for a six-door crew cab. Also, through a series of well-concealed hydraulic ram pumps and electric latches, the box sides fold down to serve as cook headquarters for a Force 10 barbecue grill and Norcold cooler. These features are all neatly covered with a Leer tonneau mounted on electric jacks to raise and lower it, providing protection from the elements at chow time.

How long did this project take? "The stretch was relatively easy, only about three weeks. The fold-down bedsides took longer," Nick says. "By the time we developed our prototype and fabricated the real deal, we were into an additional six weeks." From the looks of it, attention to detail and quality levels rival the OE assembly lines.

As you can see, the project truck is considerably larger than a stock extended-cab model, but the package is brought back into proportion by 20x12-inch Weld wheels supported by nitrogen-charged Bilstein Remote Reservoir shocks and a Kelderman Air Ride system. Bumpers and runningboards were supplied and installed by fellow Idaho-based Off Road Alloys. The bumpers were fabricated from aircraft-grade aluminum and polished to a mirror finish, giving the truck a stately and mature presence. The paint theme was conceived by California-based automotive designer Chris Horton and applied using original Ford black and red DuPont paints.