Hollow Point - 2008 Ford F-650

This F-650 is at the Top of Darth Vader's Christmas List

By Harley Camilleri, Photography by Harley Camilleri, Maxwell Matthewson

It would seem that there isn't much real estate available to bring anything new into the world of custom trucks. Lifted and lowered trucks are not exactly some new phenomena, so how does one stand out in a crowd of very similar appearances? The fastest way to get the proper attention is to find that diamond in the rough; something that was overlooked or considered to be just too darn difficult to accomplish. We believe this F-650 does all of that and then some.

Built by Adam Genei and the Mobsteel crew in Brighton, Michigan, the huge Ford would seem slightly askew when delving into the company's previous custom vehicles. All outward appearances point to an affinity for classic Lincoln Continentals made of solid steel and every one dressed in a healthy coating of black. Adam tells us, "The cars we build are a part of American history; vintage Detroit steel, not a fiberglass reproduction. Steel with a soul, and the blood, sweat, and tears of our friends and family." After speaking with Adam at length, it becomes very clear he has a deep passion for the custom industry and his company's work shows that conviction. So how does the Hollow Point F-650 even make the cut? Basically, Mobsteel's customers drive more than just classy Lincoln Continentals and want their other vehicles to reflect a similar style.

One of the many high-profile clients having purchased a number of custom rides from Adam is NFL All-Pro, Albert Haynesworth. Apparently, Albert believes so highly of the work coming out of the Brighton shop that this truck was built entirely on a phone call alone. If that isn't saying something positive about Mobsteel, then we don't know what would. In the course of only a few minutes, Albert expressed his desire for something different and suiting of his personality. Adam responded with the F-650 and ideas to make it big, bad, and black. With the talking part handled and freedom to run, Adam secured an '08 Ford F-650 cab and chassis, and the reality of a plus-sized project was underway.

First on the list was getting the frame handled. It was determined that many feet of frame were going to see the cutting room floor before the standard Ford 8-foot longbed could properly fit. The frame was lopped off an amazing 15 feet and a matching '08 factory bumper was installed making the rear end appear as if the Blue Oval rolled off the assembly line itself. Suspension was handled by cutting off nearly every suspension mount, both front and rear, before relocating and fabricating new mounts to allow the truck to not only sit lower, but actually function properly and maintain the trucks GVWR. A custom front beam axle was built in house at Mobsteel and features an additional 3 inches of lowering compared to the stocker. Goodyear commercial airbags lay the medium-duty rig down over 325/45R24 Pirelli Scorpion ATR rubber and custom 24x10-inch Aztec wheels. All told, when the air is released from the F-650, its roofline measures 28 inches lower than when the project began thanks to the air suspension and 5½-inch lowered body.

Tilting the custom grille and hood forward over the handcrafted steel bumper reveals a massive Caterpillar inline-six turbodiesel. Governed for low speed work, Michigan Caterpillar in Novi, Michigan, reprogrammed the ECM to allow the truck a little more freedom to run. Breathing through a 6-inch turbo-back exhaust, the 11,950-pound truck can now run to 110 mph. Flying down the roadway from the command center, driver and passengers alike will be sitting comfortably in quad bucket seats stitched in two-tone, handtooled black and tan leather by No Joke Custom Upholstery in New Carlisle, Ohio. A suede and aluminum overhead console holds two 17-inch widescreen monitors, and filling those monitors is an audio video system piled high with JL Audio component speakers and amplifiers controlled by a Pioneer DVD head with an iPod docking station.