Car show epitomizes qualities that made America great

LINCOLN -- John Odom didn't get the award for the most distance traveled to reach the 12th annual Chicken Rod Nationals held at Lincoln Square on Saturday.

That went to Daniel Real, of Panama, Okla., who drove his 1975 Ford Maverick about 77 miles, while Odom, who lives just down the road about 36 miles at Cedarville, discovered his 1951 Ford near Burns, Oregon, a 1,785 mile drive from Lincoln.

Historically, that ranks Odom's 1951 Ford F5 Mini Semi among the longest hauls before arriving at Lincoln.

"A rancher buddy of mine owned it and we drug it out of the sagebrush," Odom said.

Odom decided it was time for the Ford to traverse the Oregon Trail in reverse, crossing three time zones and the Continental Divide. Instead of going all the way back across seven states that didn't include Arkansas to the 2,000 mile long Oregon Trail's historical starting point near Kansas City, Mo., Odom brought the Ford home to give it a new life in the "Land of Opportunity."

Odom went for a custom look, installing a Cummins turbo diesel motor, and turned the truck into a flatbed with dual 35 gallon tanks.

"We chopped it in half and clipped it with a '90 Dodge dually," Odom said.

Nine months later, the equivalent of carrying a baby full term, his dream came to fruition and the 1951 Ford became driveable with a few rough edges.

The first car show he took it to was last year's Chicken Rod Nationals held Saturday, June 25, 2022. Getting to the show safely was a bit of a trick.

"It didn't have any brakes. I drove it up here and I downshifted, we took our time and the rest is history," Odom said.

Odom won "Least Original" at the 2022 show and captured attention with people marvelling at the diesel motor installed in the truck as well as the dual chrome smokestacks positioned on either side just behind the cab.

"You don't usually see a diesel engine in an older vehicle," said Jorge Jordan, who was impressed with investments put into the restoration. "They work hard on putting them together, the paint, the style."

This year the truck won an award for "Top Rat Rod." Odom also changed the description from 1951 Ford Flatbed to "1951 Ford F5 Mini Semi" and added chrome custom wheels and chrome fenders over the rear duallies.

According to the "Precision Car Restoration" website, "considerations have to be made to the level of quality and the ultimate safety and drivability of any vehicle. At some point a car has to make its way out of the bottomless pit known as a 'rat rod' and truly be considered a real hot rod, custom or cruiser."

Odom's choice to give the truck a "workhorse" appearance stands as an appropriate tribute to the hardy pioneers traveling the 2,170-mile east–west, large-wheeled wagon route known as the "Oregon Trail" that connected the Missouri River to fertile valleys in Oregon.

Using covered wagons pulled by teams of oxen or mules, beginning in the 1840s, the trek required a minimum of 5 to 6 months and could take up to a year moving over rugged terrain. Before embarking, emigrants sold their homes and businesses plus possessions they couldn't take with them. They purchased hundreds of pounds of supplies such as flour, sugar, bacon, coffee, salt, rifles and ammunition. Other necessities hauled in the approximately 6-by-12 wagons included water barrels, tar buckets and extra wheels and axles.

Odom's ingenuity incorporating the 1951 Ford cab with a 1990 Dodge dually rear end blends creativity, originality and resourcefulness, things the American pioneer spirit respected.

Those qualities exemplified "American exceptionalism," and they have not vanished from the American mindset.

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