In a special interview, Cody Westbrook, buyer for lifestyle brand Huckberry, talks about family ties, farm life, and how an emotional journey tracking down his grandfather’s beloved truck inspired him to launch the retailer’s new collaboration with Ford.

Huckberry dug deep into the Ford archives, unearthing forgotten logos and vintage branding, to create a limited-edition collection that is a testament to the enduring spirit of American craftsmanship.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The new Ford x Huckberry campaign features you on your family farm in South Carolina. How does it feel to have this personal slice of your life showcased in a major collaboration?

I'm proud of it. This is a multi-generational farm, and we look at it as our little slice of heaven. It's an honor to share it with everybody because I think what we have is pretty rare these days. Having the entire family all be neighbors on this one farm is not necessarily very common anymore.

The campaign centers on your grandfather's 1989 F-150 XLT Lariat. What's the story behind that truck?

I was a child of divorce. And like a lot of kids with single parents, they spend a lot of time with their grandparents. I spent a lot of time with both sets of grandparents, but my dad's dad, “Papa”, is the one who owned the truck. He and I always had something special.

Every day, he would pick me up from school. We'd go get ice cream and he'd take me to my baseball games, and so I had a lot of fond memories of the truck. He died my junior year of high school, and my grandma gave that truck to my oldest cousin. I was a little heartbroken because I loved that truck. My cousin ended up getting another car. He sold it off and it ended up changing hands a couple more times.

Fast forward: We moved back to South Carolina in 2023. Being on the farm, you have to have a truck. I hit my dad up, saying, “Hey, I'm looking for an old beater, just something I can use around the farm.”

A few weeks go by, and he calls me up, “Hey, I think I found something you might like.” We jump in his car and pull into an auto body shop. There in the parking lot is the truck. “Wow, that looks just like Papa's truck. Great job. You really nailed it.”

And he said, “No, that is Papa's truck."

He found it in a junkyard, bought it back and then fixed it and brought it back to life — got it repainted and running again. Now it's mine and it will never leave this family again.

So your dad not only found your Papa’s truck, but also restored it?

Yeah, he's the one who really brought it back to life. It looked exactly the same. There were a couple minor things that I've done since then. My cousin had put in a CD player, and I took that out and replaced it with the original cassette player. I just had so many good memories of playing tapes with Papa in the truck, I wanted it to feel exactly the same. That was pretty special, just the fact that my dad took the time to go out and track this thing down.

What was the moment like when you finally sat in your grandfather's truck again?

I don't think I said anything for 30 minutes. What really hit me was as soon as I opened the door, the smell was exactly the same — like I was a little kid getting back in Papa's truck again. It's so funny how smells can take you back in an instant. So, I sat there in the driver's seat for 15 or 20 minutes.

Getting in the driver's seat, it sort of felt like a dream because you thought about that truck for years, thinking it's probably in a junkyard somewhere. To think that it would be able to come back to life and be mine again was sort of an impossible thought.

How does it feel to drive that truck today?

I'm just afraid of messing something up on it, but I've gotten a little more confident in driving it around. The first few times I drove it, it was surreal because, as a kid, I was always the one in the passenger seat looking over at Papa and thinking he's the coolest 'cause he was the coolest. He was a country music singer in his younger years and a big baseball player, which is the stuff that I loved. So yeah, driving it today feels like stepping into his boots for a bit—still a little big on me, but it feels right.

What does this truck mean to you and your family?

It's sort of a physical reminder of [Papa] in a way, his legacy and what he left behind. But he left a lot more than that to his kids and his grandkids. I think he would be proud we're doing all of this, but I think he'd be even more proud of the man that I've become. I've tried to follow the path that he, my other grandparents and my parents have laid for me, so you know, that's the real legacy.

The Ford x Huckberry collection seems to celebrate this kind of heritage and craftsmanship. How does it feel to see your personal story become part of that larger narrative?

It's an honor to even be a part of this. The real thing that I'm most excited about is that my dad doesn't know any of this is happening. So this is all going to be sort of a big Father's Day gift to him in a way. We're going to get a bunch of the pictures printed – there's some really great shots of me and my wife and our daughter with the truck. He’s a big sap, so I know he's gonna really eat it up. He shocked me [with the truck], so I'm gonna give him a big surprise back.

What's your favorite piece from the Ford x Huckberry collection?

Oh, the Mechanic Jacket for sure; that thing is rad. I've been wearing that around pretty often and it's one of those things that every time I wear it out, somebody stops me and asks me where that's from. And I'm like, yeah, it's coming soon. You'll see it soon.

The limited-edition Ford x Huckberry collection is available now at Huckberry.com – just in time for Father's Day.