Oh, and look out for the truck in Off-Road Magazine in the April issue! A business card was left on the truck at the Off-Road Expo that lead to an interview and photo spread done on the truck. We’re excited!

It all started when the rear end broke. He couldn’t replace it with another stock rear end, it had to be a Currie rear end. That was 4 years ago. Since then, he has taken it down to it’s bones and rebuilt it as an almost trophy truck. I hated it. He spent more time with that truck than he did me. He spent more money on that truck than he did me. But as I learned more about the world of off-road trucks I came to see just what an exceptional job he had done. And as our relationship transformed into an engagement and we started thinking about the future, I saw that he had been building an investment.

I didn’t want him to have to part with his baby, but he had built something that could finally get us free from debt and able to invest in his fabrication business and start saving a down payment for a house. Suddenly this truck became our step forward that we desperately needed.

But…it wasn’t ready to be put up for sale yet. He didn’t want to have something half-finished for sale and only fetch us minimal money. He wanted it right, he wanted it perfect. He is a fabricator by profession and took pride in his work. So, I waited. And waited. More late nights alone. More tubing and parts to buy. Finally, when he and I were moving into our own place together, the truck was ready to be put up for sale. Unfortunately, that’s when this economic bubble started deflating. And things have only gotten worse since then.

People that would splurge on a “toy” like this don’t have the money anymore. Those with expendible cash are saving it in case of rough times ahead. And those with a LOT of expendible cash are buying $200,000 tophy trucks.

And so we wait. It’s been over a year now. It’s still his project and he works on it and makes it better and better all the time. We have had some strong potential buyers and plenty of interest, but it just hasn’t sold yet. I’ve had these deadlines in my mind…”it’ll be sold by your birthday,” “it’ll be sold before we move again,” “it’ll be sold by the holidays,” etc. And now I hope for “it’ll be sold before we get married.” That’s 6 weeks away. It’s not looking good. And so we’ve put things on hold. It feels like a distant dream. I long for the day that we find that certain someone who will see the hard work and talent that my fiance has poured into this truck and want to be it’s new owner. That person’s out there.

And so we wait.