ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996             TAG: 9609160005
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 9    EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: WHAT IS ART?
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON 

HE TRANSFORMED A PILE OF JUNK INTO A REAL SHOWPIECE

Jeff Bennett was quick with his definition of art.

``I think of something you hang on the wall,'' he said.

Not something you drive down the road.

Then he thought about it a moment longer. He looked over the purple 1948 F1 Ford pickup truck that he transformed from a rusted heap of junk. Suddenly, his definition didn't seem so clear. ``If you take a pile of nothing and make it into something, then I guess that's something.''

Bennett, 31, is a body shop foreman at his father's shop, Perfection Auto Body, in Roanoke. The Ford was a project he took on in 1992 when he bought the vintage truck - or what was left of it - for $200. From there, he customized and modified just about everything, from the frame to the cab to the doors, and every inch of the body work.

Three years later, the truck was named F1 Truck of the Year at the F1 100 Super Nationals competition in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The truck also made the cover of ``Rodder's Digest'' magazine.

``I've been told I'm talented, whatever that means,'' Bennett said.

But he wasn't sure that makes him an artist.

``I'm just here,'' he said. ``I'm just going to do what I like to do and not worry about it.''

LENGTH: Short :   36 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Don Petersen. Jeff Bennett's customized and midofied 
          1948 F1 Ford pickup was named F1 Truck of the Year at the F1 100 
          Super Nationals competition. color.