Project Vision
Our vision for this customized 1955 pickup is to create a great looking roadster that is a comfortable everyday runner. One that will serve my everyday needs but be built to perform if I ever want to use it.
Ha Ha! Yes, I know that sounds a little bit crazy / self-contradictory, but it will be one wild and crazy ride. It will still be street legal. One that I can use comfortably doing everyday chores.
I have owned a car and a pickup at all times continuously over the last 45 years. Truly, I owned my first pickup in 1980 at the same time I owned a car and have had both types of vehicles ever since. I recently gave up my pickup and now only own a car. Miss owning a pickup. However, this short deprivation was planned, because I had already begun building this replacement for my last pickup.
This meshes well with my plans, now. This project will end with me having a pickup and a car again. I’m looking forward to it.
My philosophy: always own a car to transport people and a pickup to haul things. Prior to owning my first pickup, I owned a 1977 Pontiac Black Trans Am with black crushed velvet interior. I had to haul some raw lumber in it. That day I vowed I’d buy a pickup! I bought a used 1964 GMC pickup. Never had to risk damaging my car interior again.
So… I’m looking forward to having this truck to haul things again. You really notice it when you have always had a pickup and suddenly don’t. This truck won’t have a large box but will have a nominal custom-built box / not flatbed. We will use the fenders from the original box.
As long as I am building a sharp truck, I am going to make it the BEST!
Great paint job and envious internals!
Here is the truck as it is at the beginning of our project and an example paint job, (even if not the correct colors:
Now you have a general understanding of our vision for the finished exterior of the vehicle.
We haven’t decided on the interior, but it will definitely be a cloth interior with bucket seats.
The interior color will be a bright red with ivory piping and appointments. The interior may have selected embroidery on the backs of the seats and elsewhere. We are considering our GTG Racing company logo.
Of course, we bought an outstanding power plant: a Hemi Hellcat Motor, 376 cu. in. with a 10 speed automatic transmission. Even though we are going to design it for 750 HP, it has the potential to easily be raised to 1,000 HP – 1,500 HP. In a way, we are designing this roadster to be a beast which can be easily upgraded after this 72 year old man is finished using it as my everyday runner.
This is a picture of the motor and transmission when we took possession. It is used. It has 15,000 miles on it. Nevertheless, that is essentially new for our purposes.
Of course, we have dismantled the motor to inspect and confirm that everything is in top notch condition.
The truck body has been removed from the frame as well as the entire original drivetrain. The frame will be cleaned and painted. Because this is a ¾ ton truck and has a very long frame, we are shortening the frame and replacing the box with a shortened shallow box.
The motor will be fitted to the frame. Then removed and painted blue and silver. The same is true for things like the cab, too. Everything will be dry fitted, removed and painted.
After painting everything gets reassembled one last time to minimize scratching the paint.
And, of course, we have chosen vintage Cragar wheels all around with 12” wide tires for the rear.
