Scotten Motors Summer '26 Road Trip Project 1 Logs 500 Trouble Free Miles and a Top 3 Win
- J. Scott Niezgoda
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Project 1 went on a two-week summer road trip and came back with bugs on the windshield, camp dust in the seams, new friends in the rearview mirror, and exactly zero dramatic roadside breakdown stories.
That last part may be rude to tradition. Old trucks are supposed to provide at least one scene where someone stares into the engine bay with a flashlight held in their teeth while pretending to know which noise is “probably fine.” Project 1, Scotten Motors’ 1977 electric converted F-150, declined the assignment.
Across two weeks in Summer ’26, the truck camped in a few National Parks, hauled Scott to State of Charge ’26, earned a top 3 build presentation finish, and visited friends across the country in Nashville, Roanoke, Kansas City, Boulder and Indy. By the time the trip wrapped, Project 1 had logged more than 500 trouble-free miles.
For a vintage pickup with a new electric heart, that is more than a road trip stat. It is a proof point with a sunburn.
A vintage truck is still the best road trip time machine
A road trip in a 1977 F-150 hits a different part of the brain.
Modern vehicles can be excellent. Quiet cabins, cold cupholders, seats with more settings than a diner menu. But an old Ford pickup brings its own kind of magic. The hood looks long enough to land a small plane. The doors close with that familiar metal clunk. The dash is simple enough that a person can understand it before coffee.
Project 1 keeps the soul of that old truck, just without the gas-station perfume. It still feels like a square-body pickup from the Carter years. It still looks like it should be parked beside a lake with a dented thermos and a tackle box in the bed. The difference is that this one rolls along under electric power, smooth and quiet enough to make a person wonder if the truck is sneaking up on the scenery.
That blend is the whole charm. Project 1 is not trying to erase the past. It is trying to take the best parts forward.
The trip made that clear. Out on the road, the truck became a moving scrapbook:
campground mornings with the kind of coffee that tastes better because it was made outside
National Park stops where the truck looked perfectly at home under wide-open skies
long stretches of highway where the cab turned into a rolling conversation booth
friend visits that turned quick stops into front-yard show-and-tell sessions
Somewhere between the first campsite and the last driveway, Project 1 stopped feeling like a build and started feeling like a companion. That sounds sentimental, sure. So does keeping old shop rags because they “still have some life left,” and every garage has at least six of those.
More than 500 trouble-free miles is the kind of quiet win that matters
The loudest road trip stories are usually about what went wrong. The flat tire. The overheating. The mysterious smell. The motel chosen at midnight because the truck decided it was done participating.
Project 1 did not give us that kind of content.
Over more than 500 miles, the 1977 electric converted F-150 simply did the job. It started. It drove. It stopped. It carried people and gear. It showed up where it was supposed to show up. That may not sound dramatic, but for anyone who has ever trusted an old vehicle beyond city limits, it is basically a parade.
Trouble-free miles are the best kind of bragging rights because they do not need much explaining. A vintage truck with a fresh conversion can look great sitting still. The real test starts when the route gets long, the weather changes, and the schedule includes actual places to be.
For automotive enthusiasts, this is where the build gets interesting. A clean shop project is one thing. A road-tested truck is another. The first gets admired under good lighting. The second earns trust through bug splatter, heat, dust, and the occasional snack wrapper in the footwell.
This is also where an EV conversion becomes less of a theory and more of a driving experience. The old truck does not need to idle, rumble, or leak personality onto the pavement to feel alive. It just needs to feel honest. Project 1 did.
State of Charge ’26 gave Project 1 its trophy moment
Every good road trip needs a high point. For Scotten Motors, State of Charge ’26 delivered it.
Project 1 was presented at the event and took home a top 3 build presentation finish. That is the kind of result that makes the whole crew stand a little taller, even if everyone is pretending to be cool about it.
The win mattered because the truck had already been out doing truck things. It did not roll in as a delicate trailer queen, polished into temporary perfection and afraid of gravel. It arrived with miles behind it and a story attached. That gives a build weight.
Car events have a special kind of energy. People lean in. They ask the same question three different ways because they are trying to picture the work in their own garage. They point at little details. They nod quietly when something is done right. The best compliment is often not a big speech. It is a slow walk around the vehicle, followed by, “Yeah, that’s clean.”
Project 1 gave people plenty to walk around.
The truck carries the familiar shape of a late-1970s Ford pickup, which helps. There is no mistaking it for anything else. Big grille, squared shoulders, honest bed, old-school proportions. The electric converted side adds the twist, but the F-150 DNA remains easy to spot.
That matters. A good restomod, electric conversion, F-150 build does not turn the vehicle into a costume. It respects what made the truck cool in the first place. Project 1 still reads as a 1977 pickup. It just happens to move with a newer kind of confidence.
The top 3 finish at State of Charge ’26 was not only about shiny parts or clever packaging. It was about the full picture:
a clear concept
a useful finished truck
a vintage look that still feels authentic
a real road trip behind it
more than 500 trouble-free miles to back up the story
That last part is hard to fake. Judges and enthusiasts can tell when a vehicle has been built to move rather than pose. Project 1 had already been earning its keep.
Camping near National Parks made the trip feel properly old-fashioned
There is something wonderfully funny about taking an electric 1977 pickup to camp near National Parks.
On one hand, it feels new. Quiet driving. No exhaust note bouncing around the campsite. A vintage truck that no longer smells like an old lawn mower warming up.
On the other hand, the rest of the experience is pure road trip tradition. Folding chairs. Cooler logistics. Dust on everything. The eternal mystery of how one bag of snacks can disappear in the first 90 minutes. Someone saying, “We should get moving early tomorrow,” followed by absolutely nobody getting moving early tomorrow.
Project 1 fit into that scene better than expected. It had the stance and shape of an old truck, which always looks right outdoors. The bed could carry the unglamorous stuff that makes camping work. The cab had just enough vintage charm to make every stop feel like a photo from an old family album, minus the avocado-green station wagon and the cooler full of questionable bologna.
The National Park stops also gave the trip a slower rhythm. Event travel can make a build feel like a schedule. Camping turns it back into an adventure. You notice how the truck looks in morning light. You notice how people react to it in passing. You get time to appreciate the small stuff, like the view over the hood or the way an old door handle feels in your hand.
That is the funny thing about Project 1. The electric side gets attention, but the old truck parts still do emotional work. Nostalgia is not just the sound of an old engine. It is also the view through a flat windshield, the shape of a bench seat, and the way a pickup makes any roadside stop feel slightly more important than it is.
Visiting friends turned the truck into a rolling reunion
A cross-country road trip is never just miles. It is people.
Project 1 visited friends across the country during the two-week run, which gave the build a different kind of test. Any vehicle can look good in planned photos. It takes a special one to keep people talking in driveways, garages, parking lots, and front yards.
Old trucks are social machines. They invite stories. Someone always had one in the family. Someone learned to drive in one. Someone remembers riding in the bed when everyone thought that was normal and seatbelts were treated like optional shoelaces. A 1977 F-150 does not arrive quietly, even when it literally drives quietly.
The electric conversion added a second layer to every conversation. People wanted to know what it felt like. They wanted to see how old and new fit together. They wanted to hear what was kept, what changed, and whether the truck still felt like a truck.
That question matters most. Project 1 did not become interesting because it became electric. It became interesting because it stayed recognizable while becoming more usable in a new way.
The friend visits also added a proper human scale to the trip. Build presentations and show results are great, but the best reactions often happen away from the event. A friend walking around the truck with a grin says a lot.
That is the real fuel of old vehicles. Memory.
Project 1 came home with more than miles
That is a strong two weeks for any vehicle. For a 1977 electric converted F-150, it is the kind of road test that turns a project into a proven build.
The biggest takeaway is simple. Project 1 works. Not just in the shop. Not just in photos. Not just for a quick loop around town before everyone starts checking gauges and sniffing the air. It works on the road, with real miles, real stops, real weather, real camping gear, and real expectations.
That does not make it perfect. No beloved old vehicle is perfect. Perfection is for appliances and people who alphabetize socket drawers. Project 1 is better than perfect. It has character, and now it has stories.
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