During this process I had acquired a set of rims from a yard sale in Roxbourough off of some guy that said his Toyota pickup didn’t have enough power to get him down the road like he wanted. I gave him $40.00 for the set of four. I proceeded to clean up the frame and remove the big rocks that had been wedged between the cab and the bed, there were a lot of them.

Somebody had used the truck to haul some river rock and overloaded the bed and got some wedged between the cab and bed. The brakes felt kind of funny so I started going through the system. The master cylinder was about half full of dirt so it was a wonder I even had brakes at all. I continued working on it, replacing the driver’s door and straightening out the dents and dings, applying primer as I went. I took it to many parades and car shows during the work stages that had been performed. I took 2nd place in Albuquerque New Mexico at a show when I went down there.

I got two different trophies for things such as the amount of primer on the vehicle, and for my exhaust pipe configuration at the Funplex Car Show through following years. My lady friend, Mickey Hendrickson, had the seat upholstered for my birthday present one year and the following year I painted the truck Dove Grey with a Teal tinted clear coat over the top. I have been asked many times when I plan on painting the primer and I always have to take them up close to see the Teal color heavily accented around the front grill and the fender wells. This truck has been to The Goodland Kansas car show 10 times, Atwood Kansas twice, Laramie Wyoming Buckingham Mall show tree times, Westminster Mall at least three times, Gateway Colorado car show once, Keensburg Colorado show 11 times and uncountable parades. The chassis, except for the drive train, is all original, as well as the body. The windshield was replaced this year and I powder coated the rims to give it a different look. I use this truck in a lot of parades, so I installed two 200 watt amplifiers to power my concert speakers so that I can play music at these parades. The 4th of July Parade in Firestone, 2007, I took 2nd for the presentation of music.

It has been a really faithful vehicle. When I want power I have it, and when I want to do a parade on the hottest day of the year it doesn’t overheat. I love it.

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A little extra from the old site...

The ColoRODans member in the spotlight for the month of December is Ted McArthur. As a Colorado native, Ted enjoys being associated with the club and sees it as a natural fit. "Every car that I've owned has been a classic," he said, from his '41 Chevy sedan to his '57 Chevy pickup.

McArthur's allegiance for classic cars is also settled squarely on Chevy automobiles. Ted and his family are more than a little partial to Chevy's, not only as their most common mode of transportation, but also their collector cars. He said some other highlights in his classic automobile collection include his '52 Chevy three-window coupe and a '57 Chevy coupe he bought as a bank repossession for $285 about 20 years ago. "This is a Chevy family," he said.

McArthur's current driver is his white '57 Chevy pickup which he bought 8 years ago. In it, he installed an aftermarket heater, an overdrive transmission and a high performance 327. Several military tributary stickers are displayed on the sides and back of the cab on the pickup, something which McArthur takes great pride. As a Navy soldier from 1958 to 1961, McArthur was once stationed on a destroyer and said he is "proud to be an American."

Ted McArthur's immediate family includes son Byron and his wife Kathleen, their daughter Steph and son Matthew. Byron also gets in on the classic car action, with his '78 Monte Carlo. Byron rebuilt the car, which he bought for $150 in 1995, and mostly uses it for fun. Ted said the entire family enjoys classic vehicles, his son since he was about 12 twelve years old.

"I live and sleep cars," Ted said as he pointed out a quilt his mother made from T-shirts that were from shows and clubs he has attended and been affiliated with in the past. He is also currently a member of the Rocky Mountain Chevy club.

McArthur's occupation is a journeyman cabinet maker. He works out of his shop at home, and said he "was born in a machine shop." McArthur is originally from Burlington, Colorado, where some of his family owns a John Deere dealership.