Bob Rugani knows car audio. He was there in the beginning, opening his first installation shop in 1978 and has been active on the competition circuit for nearly 30 years, first competing in the Pro category and now managing the members of Team Zapco.
So when it came time for Bob to put together his latest show car a few years ago, he knew exactly what he wanted to do: assemble a thoroughly modern vehicle that would combine his love for classic cars with his two-plus decades of audio industry experience.
The result was this silver 1956 Ford F-100 that Bob and his son Robert designed and completely restored in 2002. Bob was raised on a ranch and the family had a ’56 Ford that he drove back then. “I always wanted to keep it,” he says, “but my dad sold it. So when I got the opportunity I bought another one.”
But that’s where the similarities betwen Bob’s F-100 and the Eisenhower-ear utility vehicle of his youth end. His is a bona fide street rod, a shiny, silver tribute to the latest and greatest in mobile audio technology. Still, the truck hasn’t forgotten its Detroit heritage. Bob embellished and built upon the simple style of the original. It’s a little old and a little new, like its owner wanted it to be.
New Classic
Bob and his install team started their restoration by pulling out the paneling and treating the entire vehicle with sound daping material. With that done, he set to work re-imagining the dash and the majority of the interior with a layer of silver fiberglass. Bucket seats replaced the original bench, giving the F-100 a futuristic look without sacrificing its original ’50s charm, and a new center console was created to house the A/V monitor and other system components.
For the audio system, Bob wanted something that would sound good while not taking away from the overall vibe of the vehicle. In other words, he didn’t want rattling bass that would distract from the rest of the install. So he kept things simple, mounting a set of 6.5″ Zapco components in custom kick panels and balancing them with a pair of 8″ woofers, also in the kicks. The speakers and components more than fill out the F-100′s small cab area. And they don’t get in the way of the interior design.
A Pioneer DVD player was mounted front and center in the console, replacing the F-100′s non-existent factory stereo and offering the driver plenty of entertainment options. But Bob wanted more hands-on control for the audio, so he added a pair of Zapco outboard equalizers to the mix. They handle the overall soundstage from their home in the glovebox, while the Pioneer’s onboard controls are used for everyday bass and treble tweaks.
A standalone crossover allows Bob to dial in just the right mix for his soundstage; and by tying the unit into the F-100′s center console, he made it look that much cooler. “We took all the control knobs and extended them off of the main board,” he says. “Then each knob was individually mounted in the center console in a half-circle design.”
Low Rider
The F-100′s sleek, silver interior is only the beginning. In the bed, Bob mounted three Zapco amps and a pair of 12″ Alumapro subs in a custom amprack, all covered with fiberglass and highlighted with a laser-cut Zapco logo. “The goals for the bass were very low response that seemed to come from the front of the truck,” Bob says. “This was accomplished with the port firing forward. It gave the low end an up-front presence without drowning out the rest of the system.”
And talk about an eye-catching setup. The entire rack lights up from beheath and is covered with a sheet of glass to protect everything from the elements. “Not that I ever drive it in the rain,” Bob says, laughing, “but in case I ever get caught.”
Of course, the rack serves a practical purpose, too. Rather than cramming everything into the cab, the bed arrangement gave Bob the room to spread out his components for a cleaner install. Also, by placing the amps and subs in the center of the bed, he was able to tuck all of the wiring and his 1.5-farad capacitor down and out of sight, adding to the truck’s clean, professional look.
Fun fact: the subwoofer box was actually built around the original seat from the cab of the F-100, with the subs mounted in the middle of the two seats.
Truck Exterior
In addition to the audio system, the install team also reworked the truck’s exterior, adding a tilted pro stock hood, new side pipes, running boards and a custom rear spoiler to give it a true street rod look. Wide racing tires were installed on the truck, and the Ruganis even updated every inch of the drivetrain and engine with new, high-performance components.
Over the last few years, Bob has taken the truck to street rod shows and audio showcases all over Southern California, even making several appearances at the annual COnsumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Everywhere it goes it never fails to turn heads.
But even with this success, Bob isn’t ready to call his F-100 finished yet. “I’ve always had the drag racing look,” he says, “but it’s had that same look for almost five years. So my next venture is to kind of give it more of a road racing look—a little bit smaller scoop, a little bit wider tires in the front, maybe a little bit lower overall. The idea is to think more in terms of what a ’56 Ford F-100 would look like if Carroll Shelby built it.”
The install team built a pair of custom 3/4″ MDF kick panels for the Zapco CK 16.2 6.5″ component speakers, isolating each driver in its own compartment. A pair of 8″ woofers, also in the kicks, supplies the midbass for the frontstage.
Pioneer’s AVH-P7300DVD was chosen to anchor the A/V system in the truck. Its location, down in the center console, keeps it from cluttering up the clean, ’50s-era dash while still leaving everything accessible from the driver’s seat.
Two Zapco EQ30-SL equalizers give Bob plenty of adjustment options: while the Zapco SX-SLll outboard crossover lets him custom shape every aspect of the soundstage.
Father and son built the truck bed amprack using 3/4″ MDF that the former then sprayed in a cohesive silver. A Zapco C2K 6.0X amplifier powers both of the 12″ Alumapro RX subwoofers with 1,200 watts, while a Zapco C2K 4.0X and C2K 2.5X drive the 8″ Alumapro woofers and the components, respectively.
Old trucks aren’t exactly known for their acoustics. So Bob and son Robert treated the entire F-100 with Scosche Accumat sound damping material to nix vibrations and cut down on road noise.
Car Audio and Electronics