Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 4, Issue 35 - July 2023 i Classic Truck Performance

Back in the mid ’90s I had the pleasure of meeting (thanks to my mentoring coworker, Cortney “Tito” Hallowell, RIP) and ultimately becoming very good friends with a custom bike builder by the name of Matt Hotch. At the time, Hotch was constructing ahead-of-its-time V-twins under the name Hot Match Custom Cycles—some of which you may have witnessed on cable TV’s Biker Build-Off series—so we shared a common interest in the two-wheeled variety. But Hotch never limited himself to the cycle world. Fast-forward quite a few years to Dino’s Git Down back in 2020—my first one repping the pandemic-fresh Classic Truck Performance/In The Garage Media—and who of all people do I run into … my old friend Hotch. As our reunion conversation progressed, Hotch said that he was looking for…

On a brisk yet sunny Saturday morning in Gainesville, Georgia, truck enthusiasts from all over the region gathered at Auto Metal Direct (AMD) for the Meet N’ Eat Truck Jam 2023. But this event was more than just a chance to show off their prized vehicles, it was an opportunity to give back to the community in a big way. Every truck entry fee, spectator fee, and vendor fee were paid in the form of a new, unwrapped stuffed animal, which would be donated to the local children’s hospital and police department through the Eddy Bear Foundation. This unique twist on a truck show not only brought joy to the participants and spectators but it also made a meaningful impact on the lives of children in need. The event was…

Early in 1970 Art Morrison could be found at any number of dragstrips behind the wheel of the VW pickup wheelstander named “American Flyer”—and fly it did with a fuel-fired big-block Chevy in the bed. By 1971, Art Morrison Enterprises (AME) began as a one-man operation in a home garage focusing primarily on manufacturing drag race chassis along with related components, and, as it’s often said, the rest is history. Over the years AME’s product line expanded most notably by pioneering the high-performance, bolt-on chassis market, which began with the ’55-57 Chevy GT Sport chassis developed in 2002. Today, AME can provide custom one-off chassis for almost anything with wheels, along with a complete line of vehicle-specific chassis, including ’67-72 Chevrolet/GMC pickups. AME’s C10 chassis is based on 2x6-inch framerails…

Nothing makes a story more heartwarming than having a little family history tied into it … but this one’s extra special, as Alex Rosales’ ’53 Chevy is ALL about family! “It had always been a dream of mine to one day restore my great-grandfather’s truck and be able to have my family ride in it and maybe one day have my kids drive it,” Alex says. “I wanted to keep the truck’s body and interior as close to original as possible and leave the natural patina but went with a modernized chassis and drivetrain so it would run like a late-model, high-performance car (or better). “The truck has been in the family since 1953. My mother’s grandfather bought the truck at Davis Chevrolet in Redwood City, California, in 1953. He…

In a parallel universe, there’s a completely different side to the classic truck world devoted to the restoration and preservation of vintage haulers to mirror a time when they rolled off the production lines. It’s a moment in time when trucks were ready to get busy doing what they were designed to do, from hauling heavy loads to delivering the goods and even acting as workhorses on farms across the country. For Kyle Gendreau of Franklin, Massachusetts, bringing the ’67 Ford F-250 Custom Cab laid out across our pages back to life wasn’t just about the restoration, it was about completing a journey regarding a lifetime passion of farming and agriculture. While many youngsters his age were seeing muscle cars rule the streets and watching nitro-fed Gassers light up regional…

1. FATMAN FABRICATIONS’ ’80-86 FORD F-150 BOLT-IN/WELD-IN FRAME STUB Fatman Fabrications has been hard at work developing more bolt-in-capable kits for our front suspensions. Their newest addition covers the ’80-86 Ford F-150s. We decided that instead of having to cut out all of the twin-I beam crossmember a better approach on these trucks was to use our extensive experience building weld-on stubs and a whole new front frame section that will bolt on using some of the existing holes for location. The customer will have the option of welding it in for some extra peace of mind and added strength. By going to a cleaner, more compact, stronger set of 2x5x0.188-inch wall rails we’ve added a bunch of strength and stability. This kit will also use our new modular engine…

Above and beyond being a tribute to Mom, as it were, Ken Tilton’s C10 has even more family ties associated with it, as his wife, Sonia, was beyond instrumental in seeing that her husband persist in the completion, especially during the times he simply wanted to throw in the towel. “When I was 15, my brother and I spent a summer with my aunt and uncle in Idaho. My uncle had a ’70 C10 that I fell in love with. That trip was a special time for us due to my mother’s [death] the summer before. So, having this C10 is a true remembrance of the summer.”—Ken Tilton “[Sonia] has been behind me since I got the truck back in 2006. There were multiple times when I wanted to sell…

Have you ever wondered why there aren’t nearly as many Dodge trucks out at shows as there are Chevy and Ford pickups? Those of you who have are most likely Mopar fans because the vast majority of showgoers probably don’t even stop to think about the misrepresentation of Dodge badges at these events. The fact of the matter is that there aren’t enough of these trucks being built and customized for show and performance sake. Frankly, there are far less Dodge enthusiasts out there. Also, the aftermarket just isn’t as supportive as it is with the automaker’s counterparts, which makes it that much harder to build one. It’s just the way things are but when there is a badass Dodge truck lurking in the shadows, you had better believe we’ll…