Ford Model T Mashed Up with a Polaris RZR Is a Homemade Off-Road Masterpiece
Rather than run a big-tire RZR like everyone else, this guy invested more than 1,000 man-hours into his creation.
If you live within a 100-mile radius of an off-road park—or heck, even a slightly wooded area—you're sure to see fleets of Polaris RZR side-by-sides being pulled by brand new dually trucks. It can get old seeing the same lifted rigs with big off-road tires time and again, no matter if that's your scene or not. Even some people who spend their weekends beating the trail with their own UTVs get sick of the monotony, which is why this guy combined a Ford Model T truck body with a custom-fabbed DOM tube chassis sporting a 1,000cc RZR engine for power.
Larry Bruns has no trouble finding his rig after coming back from a mid-ride pee break. It's the one that kinda looks like it's from 1925 while wearing a ton of custom components, from the personally fabbed cage to the beer can shock reservoirs. Aside from even the goofiest bits, it's a dedicated hill-climb buggy that Bruns invested over 1,000 man-hours into. That becomes clear the closer you look at it, rather than some builds that are the other way around.
The cab had to be chopped seven inches while the floor was then tucked three inches to fit the hand-crafted chassis, making for a 10-inch difference. Maxxis Carnivore off-road tires add to the extreme aesthetic, though they're clearly more about traction than they are style points. There's plenty of details throughout that cover those bases, like the copper still motifs that earn the off-roader its "Runnin' Shine" nickname. Everything's pretty on-point, then, with an old-timey funnel and gas pump handle used for the fuel filler neck.
Bruns added functional upgrades to the interior, too, like cupholders. Pieces like that usually get overlooked by the custom dash, which is all metal while still sporting the Polaris gauges. The gas pedal is actually a repurposed stove shovel, too, and Bruns told me that the airbox also doubles as a toolbox for trail-side repair jobs.
It'd be one thing if these mods were all for looks. Luckily, they aren't, as you can see in the Busted Knuckle Films video below. The RZR boogies up muddy staircase hills like any good buggy should.
In all, Runnin' Shine is probably Bruns' greatest single piece of work. That said, he runs a shop called CD Motorsports that specializes in custom Polaris RZR modifications, so he can build custom parts for you, too, if you so choose. In any case, his is a certifiably sweet build that's a nice break from the four-wheeling norm. Now he just needs to take it on a road trip.
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