1973 Ford F100 Prerunner: Classic Look with Modern Performance

At King of the Hammers in Johnson Valley, Larry Chen caught up with Alex and his 1973 Ford F100 luxury prerunner, a street-legal desert truck built by Tribe 16 and shown off at the Yokohama Tire booth.

Featured in “This ’73 Ford F-100 is a Street-Legal Luxury Prerunner” by Larry Chen.

Alex is no newcomer, with a background in Ultra4 racing and the Best in the Desert series, and he’s prepping this truck for the Nora 1000 with Yokohama as title sponsor. What makes it unusual is that it’s street-legal in all 50 states yet built for long-distance desert racing, with 23-24 inches of front travel, roughly 28 inches in the rear, a 70-gallon fuel tank, and dual 37-inch spare tire holders.

The classic look is intentional. Tribe 16 preserved the stock door handles, mirrors, and grille, and kept the Baja Designs lighting hidden so the vintage F100 lines stay clean until the lights are needed. Inside, it pairs old-school touches like roll-up windows with air conditioning, heat, a large GPS navigation screen, a detachable steering wheel, a Holley EFI system, and a fire suppression setup.

Build highlights

• Builder: Tribe 16
• Platform: 1973 Ford F100, street-legal in all 50 states
• Suspension: 23-24 in. front travel, ~28 in. rear
• Engine: crate LSX 454, ~432 hp to the rear wheels
• Transmission: Turbo 400 (from a previous buggy)
• Fuel/spares: 70-gallon tank, dual 37-inch spare holders

Cooling comes from dedicated coolers for the power steering, transmission, and engine, with a relocated brake booster freeing up space. The result is a truck Alex can race in the desert and still drive on the street.