The 1949 Ford F-100 was the predecessor to the Blue Oval’s eventual domination of the American truck market, laying the groundwork for the F-150 that has become so beloved by construction crews and office workers alike. The humble F-100 lacks pretty much all of the creature comforts and capabilities of today’s aluminum-bodied, turbocharged pickups, but the big engine bay is quite inviting to hot rodders. That said, it still takes a twisted mind to come up with this particular 1,200 horsepower contraption.

Built by Chuckles Garage in Santa Rosa, California, as a way to demonstrate the shop’s considerable skills, this 1949 Ford F-100 is on the receiving end of a 1,200 horsepower Cummins inline-six turbodiesel. It isn’t hard to guess why they dubbed their creation Old Smokey.

The monster 5.9-liter motor was yanked from a 2006 Freightliner before being upgraded with two turbochargers; a 66mm Silver Bullet turbocharger from Industrial Injection, and a massive Big Brother Schwitzer Series 91 mm turbocharger. Set up as a compound turbo setup, the smaller turbo spools up first to provide the initial boost before the bigger turbo kicks in for killer high-end power. Despite this new turbo setup, though, the Cummins motor still uses its original 2006 ECU to run everything, albeit with some upgraded software. Total output is 1,200 horsepower, which pales only in comparison to the 2,000 lb-ft of torque Chuckles Garage is claiming.

As though that’s not enough power, an NX nitrous injection kit was also added to the setup. Just for chuckles, we guess. Sitting behind this potent powerplant is a 47RH four-speed automatic transmission that’s been beefed up with Suncoast Diesel billet components and a new solenoid that allows for sequential shifting. The truck maintains its factory front chassis, though Chuckles did install a custom tubular rear. The tubular a-arm setup with custom lower control arms and SPC adjustable upper arms were upgraded in the front suspension, while the rear suspension gets a four-link setup with an adjustable pan hard bar, and AFCO Pro Touring remote reservoir shocks are used on all four wheels.

Look for Old Smokey at SEMA 2016, which will be here before you know it.