OWNER: Forbidden Fantasy Inc.
RIDE: '87 Toyota SR5 Turbo
HOMETOWN: California
CLUB: Forbidden Fantasy
Editor's Note: Every month we write about trucks and the owners who built them, or paid to have the trucks built by others with the know-how and tools. Well, this time we are going to flip the script a little and try something different. Over the last two years, Forbidden Fantasy has been working on building a show truck, not for any member of Forbidden but for one lucky individual who attended the 11th Annual Forbidden Fantasy Show and Shine. This truck carries with it a certain amount of pride, as it was built by a family; not a family that shares the same last name, but something that runs just as deep.
We caught up with Brian Goude, the president of Forbidden Fantasy, and asked him to tell us what it was like to build a truck, knowing someone else was going to fire up the motor and drive it home from the Forbidden show.
Brian: We have always tried to give cool stuff away in our raffles, such as rims, tires, and suspension kits. One year, we even raffled off a body-drop, which was won by a member of Local Finesse. A few years back, we were all sitting around after a show, wondering what we could do to make the show different.
"So, let's give a truck away." These were the words that came out of Jamie's mouth, who is an 11-year member. However, the giveaway for the '08 show amounted to something far more complex than we had thought.
The easy part was buying the truck; the hard part was finding the model we wanted. After a few weeks of searching, we tracked it down: a Toyota SR5 with a factory turbo. Once the check was signed, the truck was ours, and it was ready to be split wide open. Our first thought was a shop wanting some exposure would be sure to jump right on this one ... right? As most of you know, it is hard enough to find a shop to pay full price and get it done in a timely manner. So, imagine trying to find a shop to get it done for a buddy deal. The truck was supposed to be given away at our 10th annual show, but three months before the event-and with nothing done to the truck-we decided to postpone it.
Finally, Joe from Fast Times Rod Shop took the truck in and hooked it up with all the suspension goodies and body-dropped it to the rockers. We were moving along, so we could start promoting, as it looked like this was going to happen. We started inquiring about a body and paint shop that could tackle the work without breaking our bank account. We thought, why not keep this build in-house and send it up to our NorCal Chapter? A phone call was made, then the Toyota was not to be seen until a week prior to the event. Andy, Dave, and the rest of the NorCal guys spent countless nights getting the metalwork and bodywork all ready for Dave to spray it.
We started getting pictures from NorCal of the paint on the truck and the excitement began brewing. Once those guys were done working their magic, it was a pit stop in Bakersfield for interior, then back to SoCal for the final touches. The only thing missing in this entire build was a camera crew and producer, because this would have blown the pants off of any stupid reality show. This was real life, built from scratch, hands on, minitruck club blood, sweat, and tears.
So, on the day of the show, when we stood and watched Angela Ruoff win something we had built, it was an amazing feeling. We all have won trophies, we all know the feeling of people patting us on the back for a job well done, but this was on a different level. When the truck started and the winner broke out in tears; it was something Forbidden Fantasy could and will always look back on with pride.