RealRides Volume 16: Rebecca Monticello

Most automotive retailers and magazines turn the spotlight outward—showcasing customer builds, reader submissions, and fan favorites. And while we appreciate that perspective, we flip the script at RealTruck. The people answering your calls, sourcing your products, and building out the categories you shop from aren't just truck enthusiasts by job description. They're truck enthusiasts by nature—the kind who can’t wait for the weekend to install the next mod.​

Welcome to RealRides, where we pull back the curtain on the builds, restorations, and passion projects owned by the RealTruck team. This month we're featuring Rebecca Monticello—Product Category Lead for Heavy Truck and New Product Specialist out of Ann Arbor, Michigan—and the Stroppe-inspired Ford Bronco that's become as much a family member as a vehicle.

RealRides is RealTruck's monthly series dedicated to the vehicles owned by the people who make this company run. Each installment features a brief interview with the employee, a look at their build or builds, and the story of how they got there—just the trucks, Broncos, Jeeps, and classics that our team drives to work, takes to the trails, and modifies in their garages.​

The series exists because we understand the importance of a company run not just by businesspeople but by true enthusiasts. We believe that buying from RealTruck means providing parts to truck people, designed and supported by truck people, and RealRides is how we showcase that to our customers.

​Rebecca Monticello joined RealTruck two years ago as a New Product Specialist supporting off-road, steps, and cargo management categories—drawn in, as she puts it, by the chance to share her experience as both an enthusiast and a customer. Since then, she's stepped into a larger role as Product Category Lead for Heavy Truck—a category that, by her own description, felt immediately familiar. "It's a passion-driven category—much like off-roading—where quality matters, but style and individuality matter just as much."​

When she's not managing product categories, Rebecca is a cub scout den leader for Pack 226, a gardener, a hunter and angler, a tennis player, and a self-described explorer who brings her kids Patrick and Charlotte—and their dog Bandit—on as many adventures as the schedule allows. She's also, by her own account, a former Mopar loyalist who now lives in a FoMoCo household, with a red Bronco, a white F-150, and a blue Boss 302 Mustang. As she puts it, "Can't get more Ford than that."​

Her longer-term ambition is competing in the Rebelle Rally within the next five years. If her track record with builds is any indication, she'll be ready.

For Rebecca, the connection between who she is outside of work and what she does for a living isn't a coincidence. "I joined RealTruck as a New Product Specialist supporting off-road, steps, and cargo management categories, drawn in by the fact that I could share my experience as an enthusiast and customer."​

That alignment showed up memorably during a steps ergonomics study, when she brought her kids in to participate. And it showed up again when she and her husband volunteered at RealTruck's booth during the Downtown Hoedown. "I love that RealTruck isn't just a place I clock in and out of—it's a company that encourages you to be part of the experience, and makes the work feel a lot more personal."​

"The best part of the job is working with a team that genuinely cares about what we build and seeing how much pride customers take in our products."

The Bronco didn't come out of nowhere. Rebecca's automotive history would impress any enthusiast—and it explains exactly why she ended up where she did.​

Her first truck was a 1989 Dodge D100—a vehicle she loved right up until it caught fire, which is a memorable way to end a relationship with a truck. From there she moved to a 2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ, lifted three inches and sporting a few other modifications. The XJ left a strong impression—but life moved on. Marriage to a Ford engineer, two kids, and the need for reliable family transportation landed her in a Lincoln Navigator for a stretch.​

The Navigator was comfortable. It had heated and cooled leather seats, rear-seat screens, and all the amenities that make long drives with young kids survivable. But it was also, by Rebecca's own assessment, a mom car. When it came time to replace it, she wasn't hopping back into a conventional kid-hauler.

The vehicle that ended the Navigator era is a 2023 Ford Bronco Big Bend with the Sasquatch Package and the 2.7L EcoBoost V6—a combination Rebecca specifically chose for its balanced amenities. As she puts it, the Bronco is "Capable but also more comfortable than a Wrangler. I also really appreciate all of the accessory ports that Ford included, making it really easy to customize."​

The Bronco is first and foremost a daily driver—school runs, grocery runs, the commute to Ann Arbor. But it's also become the vehicle Rebecca uses to get to Holly Oaks ORV Park, the Lake Michigan dunes, and any trail that looks interesting enough to warrant a detour.​

What makes it unmistakably Rebecca's, though, is the livery. Working with Wrap Detroit, she created a custom vinyl wrap built around Bronco's racing heritage—gold stripes, a blacked-out hood, and a design that directly references the Stroppe racing Broncos of the 1970s, particularly Big Oly, the iconic Parnelli Jones desert racer.​

There's also a fun footnote to the livery story—a few months after the wrap was completed, a Bronco designer approached Rebecca at a gas station to talk about it. Shortly thereafter, Ford released the Stroppe Edition Bronco. "We joke that Ford copied my design," she says.​

The modification list extends well beyond the wrap:​

• Havoc EVOC Fender Flares and Hood Struts

• Havoc Lasso LED lights

• 4Wheel Parts Front Tube Bumper and Skid Plates

• Go Rhino DSS Frame-Mounted Sliders

• Go Rhino HS-10 Hitch Step

• IAG Tub Protectors, Door Pocket Cup Holder, and Grab Handles

• Corsa Sport Exhaust System

• BuiltRight Nerf Dart Stubby Antenna

• Ford Tailgate Table

• SuperLift 2-in. Lift 

• 35” Toyo Open Country RT Trail tires

The Sasquatch Package from the factory already provides 35-in. tires, locking differentials, and a wider track, which is why Rebecca's first mods leaned toward protection and personalization rather than raw capability.​

"The Bronco was very capable from the gate, so I didn't feel like I had to go straight into performance mods. My favorite mod is the vinyl livery—it's what makes my Bronco truly one of one."

​And then there's the moment that confirmed she made the right call on the vehicle. The first sunny day after bringing the Bronco home, she pulled the top off and took the kids for a cruise. Patrick and Charlotte—kids who'd grown up in a Navigator with screens and climate-controlled leather—threw their hands up like they were on a roller coaster and shouted, "This is so much better than TVs!"

Rebecca and her Bronco’s newest accomplishment includes securing a “Show and Shine” award at a recent event at the Silverlake Sand Dunes. 

A huge thank you to Rebecca for sharing her story, her builds, and her kids' verdict on the top-off experience. The Rebelle Rally goal is one we'll be watching—and given the D100, the XJ, the livery, and the trailer build in progress, there's no question she'll show up prepared.​

We'll let Rebecca close it out:​

"I grew up watching The Dukes of Hazzard and Smokey and the Bandit, where the vehicles weren't just ordinary cars—they had their own unique style and felt like a character in the story. That always stuck with me. My dad had some really creative builds too, from custom Jeeps to even a zebra-striped truck, so having something personal and different has always been important to me."​

Stay tuned for the next installment of RealRides. In the meantime, check out past features on Lindzy Jackson, Todd Henderson, Mike Holsomback, and Brendan Soriano.