Owner: Ryan "Rizzo" McFadden
Ride: '00 Ford Ranger
Hometown: Taylor, MI
Club: Vertically Challenged
We are all presented with challenging situations in life, and the outcomes always depend on how we handle the problems as they arise. We can either roll over and let those problems get the best of us, or we can take action and rise up to turn it into a more positive result. Ryan McFadden from Taylor, Michigan, found that some obstacles actually hold a few surprise benefits.
This '00 Ford Ranger happens to be Ryan's first mintruck that he started working on as soon as he got it. His first efforts with the static-drop and a few bolt-ons got the truck looking decent. He thought it was enough to take home a trophy or two at some local shows. However, it was not in the cards, and Ryan found himself going home empty-handed. This caused him to take yet another look at the way his truck had been completed to that point. His Ranger was taken off the road, and Ryan was more determined than ever to turn disappointment into success.
Over the years, Ryan has taken the buildup of his truck one step at a time. In doing so, he's taken his ride to a whole new level of modified. This time around, he gave the truck a completely new persona by an airbag suspension and a stock-floor body-drop that laid the truck out harder than a Ronnie Lott open-field tackle, courtesy of PMA Motorsports. The body of his Ranger received the same type of treatment with the shaving of the emblems, cowl vent, door handles, gas door, and tailgate. He also molded in a roll pan, frenched in the license plate box and '89 Caddy taillights. After several hours of sanding, the Ranger was ready for a few coats of color; an eye-blinding yellow from House of Kolor. From there, tape was laid down to form a cool set of flames that was filled in with candy blue. After Ryan swapped out the factory seats with a set of racing buckets from Summit, installed a Pioneer-based stereo system, and finished up the last touches here and there, it was time to reap the rewards from all his efforts.
Proud of its new look, Ryan decided it was time to see how his truck would make out on the show scene. He took the truck to a show at Ford's world headquarters in Michigan, where a Ford representative asked him why he did this to a suspension that Ford spent millions of dollars to design. Ryan's response was, "Well, if you designed something cool, I wouldn't have had to modify it." Without knowing what to say, the representative just kind of walked off, which left a smile on Ryan's face.
Since then, Ryan has been to several shows, collected a bunch of trophies, and now has a feature for his efforts. Not too long ago, Ryan met a member of Ford's design team and was told that certain features and aspects of his truck were used in the design of one of Ford's concept vehicles. Not only has he achieved the new look he was hoping for, but the truck is also featured in his favorite magazine.