Back in the early 1960s, a wily chicken farmer and race car driver from Texas named Carroll Shelby wrangled a deal between the Ford Motor Company and England's AC Cars. Shelby, a self-described "guano distributor," convinced Ford to give him a then-new 260ci V-8, claiming he had secured the U.S. rights to build AC Cars' roadster. At the same time, virtually out of the other side of his mouth, he told the Brits he had a new engine ready to be installed in their chassis. While neither assertion was technically true at the time, Shelby forged ahead anyway and managed to create what is arguably one of the most significant sports cars of the last century, the Cobra.
The New Musclecar
Moving ahead to the 21st century, while trucks now outsell cars by a large margin, musclecars are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. As an offshoot of these two trends, there's a fast-growing interest in diesel truck performance-that's what Diesel Power is all about.
Given the emergence of the diesel-powered "muscle truck," it's altogether fitting that Jason Hulst's '07 F-350 Super Duty dualie pays tribute to Shelby's sports car. But the "Striker," as he calls it, is not just a styling statement because, truth be told, a properly equipped diesel pickup can best the dragstrip times of a 1960s-era Cobra (running on a road course is another matter). What an astounding fact, considering that a Cobra weighs just over a ton, while a Super Duty tips the scales at nearly four times that amount. Yet the average pickup's diesel has even less displacement than the big-block V-8 that powered the 427ci version of the Shelby Cobra!
Building the Striker
Jason's inspiration for this performance pickup project started with a Cobra replica he built with his father, Paul, at his dad's street rod shop, Hulst Customs. The color scheme was similar to the one shown here, and under the hood was a gasoline-fueled Ford 351W V-8. (We've actually seen a Cobra replica powered by a BMW diesel, but that's a story for another day.)
Having built a number of other Ford project vehicles, the Hulst father-and-son team felt comfortable tapping into the Ford Racing heritage to create a high-performance long-hauler. The intense, three-month buildup included extensive massaging of the bodywork, suspension, and engine bay. Jason crafted the hood scoop and redesigned the front fascia, shaped from foam and fiberglass. (An aftermarket body conversion kit is in the works.) Clearance lights on the roof were shaped and cast in-house as well.
Paul fabricated an aluminum surround insert and the custom grille that's recessed 3 inches to give it the flavor of the Cobra's large oval opening. The nose treatment also features Cobra-style cooling fans (incidentally, the 427 Shelby reportedly used refrigerator fans to keep the big-block 427 from boiling over). He also tubbed the rearend and crafted the scoops in the rear fenders.
Cobra Look
Andy Peterman of Hulst Customs handmade the side pipes and modified the suspension to fit the oversized Pirelli P-Zero Scorpion tires mounted on 24-inch American Force big-rig wheels with 8- to 10-lug adaptors. (In marked contrast to the original Cobra's 15-inch Halibrands with knock-off spinners and Goodyear Blue Dots.) The DJM suspension features Dream Beams (dropped I-beams) up front and a flip kit in the rear. This setup lowered the nose 8 inches and the back end by 10 inches. Extensive modifications were required on the wheels, frame, and suspension mounts in order to accomplish this aspect of the buildup.
The bed was modified with aluminum-panel inserts and a custom aluminum toolbox, and in keeping with the race car theme, the lid is held shut with hood pins. Also in the bed is a fifth-wheel hitch from Curt Manufacturing with a new hemispherical design. Other custom touches include bed-rail top caps shaped from steel, a custom rear bumper, and tailgate all painted to match the racing theme. The Ford black and Wimbledon White stripes are Glasurit sprayed by Paul himself.