Dare to be different, you say? Jim Lew of Stockton, California, took that very challenge when he envisioned what his 2017 Shelby F-150 Super Snake would become. Jim’s vision was created in 2008 when Shelby American Inc. designed the Super Snake Truck. The company built just 10 prototypes, but it was enough to get the juices flowing for Jim.
“In 2010, I found a truck in Ohio,” he begins. “And not only was it a low-mile California truck, but it was exactly the model Shelby used for their own build: a 2008 5.4L FX2 Super Crew Cab. I flew out to Ohio, inspected it, drove it and bought it.” It took him four days to get it home, then seven long years to get it to the same caliber as the original Shelby prototype (all that he needed to do was the hood, front bumper and splitter to make the build complete).
After nearly a year, he found his dream truck in Lancaster, California. However, he wanted a full-blown Super Snake and this one didn’t come equipped with the Whipple supercharger. To make it legal in Cali, he had to send the truck to the Shelby facility in Gardena, California, for the supercharger installation.
After campaigning his concept for months, he was then invited to join the Streets Illest Car Club. It was there that he was referred to Scott Vann and his crew at Clean Concepts in Fairfield, California. The rest, you can say, is history and destiny for that matter. When the truck came out of the shop just before the 2019 SEMA Show, Jim’s dreams became a reality!
“I don’t care one way or the other, I like it,” Jim admits. “But if any vindication was needed, I got it when I debuted the truck at Fabulous Fords. I parked under the Shelby tent as Shelby’s guest, even though they didn’t know what I did. Gary Patterson met me there, got a good look at it, stared me right in the eyes and said ‘Jim, this is badass!’ If the president of Shelby is happy with it, I don’t care what anyone else thinks!” Stay tuned for more upgrades to Jim Lew’s Super Snake!
