There are pickups and there are pickups but this one is a little different from most all of them.
A good friend of mine traded a flamed 1951 Ford Coupe for this Chev recently. The exterior was just as you see it, but he's put the interior to it. It's a pretty impressive piece of gear. Let's take a look.
It's been slammed and slaughtered. Car junkie lingo for chopped top and lowered ride height. The top is painted and the rest is mostly bare metal. It's a look that is quite popular right now.
I don't know if there is a real Hellhound Garage, but that's the sign on both doors.
Look at the left center, there is a clue. The pickup actually sets on a Mustang II frame. It's got absolutely modern running gear. You can also see the finish on the bed. Pretty nice! Chris says the wheels and tires will need to be changed before he considers it 'ready for prime time'.
You can see a lot of what's been done here. The Chev radiator shell and headlights were retained but modern bulbs and radiator make it a real road warrior. Note the modern fan assembly and Mustang rack and pinion steering. It drives sort of like your family sedan.
This is a motor that can only be described as 'nasty'. It's a 350 CID Chevrolet with roller cam and rockers. That manifold and twin carburetor set up is really racing gear. Note the completely replaced firewall. All custom and hand made, it looks like it belongs there.
This is the part that Chris did. The interior. It's the same fabric and pattern that he used on his previous Ford. You can see some serious touches here. The seats are from a WWII vintage B-17 Bomber, the shifter grip is a carburetor body from a vintage Harley Davidson (he also fixes and rides them)
Yes. It has a rollbar and high grade fire extinguisher-both probably really good ideas for this vehicle.
Gauges and steering wheel and a good look at how small that windshield really is. Yes, that is a genuine shrunken head and it has shown up in every vehicle like this since I've known Chris.
One more detail and I'm gone. Check out the coil cover right here. Sir Walter Raleigh Tobacco can fitted so that it looks like it was made that way. It's the details that make are really good custom.
I hope you have enjoyed this somewhere near as much as I have enjoyed showing it to you. I'll get back to Lassen Volcanic National Park on the very next post, I promise!
Thanks for reading all the way to the end. I really do appreciate it.
All words and photographs in this post are mine. For better or worse.
You want some really cool stuff? Check these authors, they will not disappoint.
