Classic Truck Performance

26/07/2024

Red is the new Black ... or just very popular at the (either way, it def photographs better 😎)

#101

24/07/2024

For the life of me I can't figure out why is building an F-Word, but I guess someone's gotta do it, right?!
Actually, I dig on the Fridges, and Sam's doing this one up right ... starting with plenty of metal rehab by , which we'll be covering in the magazine here real soon.

24/07/2024

Dennis Strobel has been a lifelong enthusiast of hot rod and custom vehicles. In 2009, on the way to a vacation with his wife, Saun, in Holmes County, Ohio, they happened upon and attended a Goodguys event in Norwalk, Ohio, where they saw a stunning ’41 Ford hot rod pickup pull into the show. See the full feature by clicking the link. NotStock Photography built by Korek Designs
https://bit.ly/46jTpqY

23/07/2024

Who's hittin' the highway headed for the this week? We're excited to spend the weekend on Central CA coast and escape the SoCal heat for a few days ... not to mention enjoy some FREE PIE at the Inn at Avila Beach! Hope to see as many of you there as possible!

19/07/2024

Whatch'all think about us Collabing (that's def a thing, isn't it?!) with Henry Richards on a build with his own personal TF Stepside (Similar to truck, pictured.)? Of course, we'd make sure he drove it to Triple Crown of Rodding and then out to the West Coast for the Grand National Truck Show (maybe even a stop at Dino's on the way back?!) for all to see. A SPEC classis is already on order, so regardless, this build's gonna be Steadfast no matter what!

#1955 #1956 #1957

17/07/2024

Our hobby is full of amazing people, and yesterday July 16, 2024, we lost one of the greatest: George Poteet.

George was many things (collector, entrepreneur, land-speed racer, etc), but first and foremost he was the kindest and most generous human being I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Our hobbies, the LSR community, and basically anyone who happened to cross paths with Poteet at a show and engage in conversation with him while he enjoyed a homemade sandwich with his wife, are that much better off because of George. One thing he was quoted as saying in a 2018 Car & Driver interview that I'll never forget: “I don’t get off in getting big awards anymore. I’m in it for other people now.” While his vehicles were built to his standards/liking, such as the latest from (his '60 Ford crew), they were built for us to appreciate and enjoy.

RIP George ... you will be sorely missed.

(Bonneville portrait by Alexander Babic)

11/07/2024

Speaking of the Grand National Truck Show (I mentioned in my Reel yesterday), y'all ready for the 2nd Annual this September 14-15 at the Fairplex in Pomona? Kinda curious what the contention for the World's Most Beautiful Truck is shaping up to be like ... looks like I'll have to wait myself till the actual judging takes place Thurs 9/12!

10/07/2024

Check out Matt de los Cobos’ ’72 Blazer with its distinctive ’67 Grille by clicking the link below!
https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/august-2024tw/

In this issue: Matt de los Cobos’ ’72 Chevy Blazer, Scott’s Hotrods’ ’51 Chevy Build: Custom Grille and Taillights, Kerry “Duck” Cunningham’s ’59 Chevy Apache, and much more...

10/07/2024

Jim is a general contractor, so he’s spent his life behind the wheel of a truck of some variety. His father was a police officer, and he said he can remember hearing his dad coming home from work in his 440-powered Plymouth Fury, so it gave him an appreciation of big-block horsepower early on in life. When he got his hands on this Dodge pickup

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09/07/2024

One of Classic Truck Performances's special features that I greatly look forward to producing, the Legacy Series pays tribute to my heroes of the classic truck/hot rod world ... the ones who inspire me to continue doing what I do. In our Sept 2024 issue, we dedicate pages to the late, great Fat Jack Robinson and his personal F1 hauler, with a fantastic retrospective by his son, Johnny Rotten Robinson and photos by Tim Sutton (these samples are to celebrate the cherished 😎)

08/07/2024

And just like that ... we're already onto the next issue of CTP! Sept '24 features the Messman '63 C10 by gracing Page 1 thanks to while inside we've got our semi-controversial LWB-to-SWB conversion with ; a follow-up and more in-depth look at stainless oval tube exhaust; coverage from the Grand National F-100 Show and lots more!

02/07/2024

One of CTP's special features that I greatly look forward to producing, the Legacy Series pays tribute to my heroes of the classic truck/hot rod world ... the ones who inspire me to continue doing what I do. In our Sept 2024 issue, we dedicate pages to the late, great Fat Jack Robinson and his personal F1 hauler, with a fantastic retrospective by his son, Johnny Rotten Robinson and photos by Tim Sutton (these samples are to celebrate the cherished 😎)

01/07/2024

How old (and low) can you go? That's been one of the things we've had a hard time defining: just how early does CTP go back when it comes to the trucks we feature? Well, the way I see it, if it's considered "fat fendered" (ie, post-1934) then I'm cool with it! As far as the low part ... well, '36 Chevy should easily answer both those questions!

#1936

28/06/2024

Mike Steele’s 1968 Chevy C10 “While I was dating my now wife, she took me to meet her grandparents in Tucson, Arizona. Pulling into the driveway I noticed this ’68 C20 longbed … faded white paint with a work camper shell and aftermarket A/C unit cut through the roof. I loved it immediately and took some time to walk around it, noticing two flat tires, a couple of minor dents, but a complete and true rust-free Arizona truck! See the full feature https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/may-2024ob/mike-steele-l-and-s-customs-1968-chevy-c10-longbed/

26/06/2024

Check out the new 1965-1979 F100 bolt in front suspension kit from Classic Performance Products, Inc. Time to ditch the beams?

https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/july-2024so/classic-performance-products-1965-1979-f100-ifs-independent-front-suspension/

In 1948 Ford introduced their first generation of 1/2-ton pickups, the F-1. They were revolutionary in so far as they were no longer based on passenger car frames and suspension components like all Ford’s light-duty trucks that had come before.

26/06/2024

Bitchin illustration from my friend and amazing tattoo artist, . Enjoy!

25/06/2024

NotStock Potpourri Tues ... What's your Favorite Flavor of the Day? (We choose em all!) ... 📸

24/06/2024

Fuelish Media captured this month’s cover “action shot” featuring Ralph Amezcua behind the wheel of his red-hot ’71 GMC! Click link to see the full feature of the truck.
https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/may-2024ob/

20/06/2024

Jay Rusk Built This Head-Turning ’66 C10 out of a $600 Donor Truck. See the full feature https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/may-2024ob/slammed-1966-chevy-c10/

18/06/2024

Connor Crews’ ’98 Chevy C1500 https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/may-2024ob/connor-crews-1998-chevy-c1500-obs/
When someone asked me what my dream car or truck was, I wanted to be able to show them a picture of my ’98 Chevy OBS!” 17-year-old Connor Crews told us. Man, when I was 17, my dream car was an ’83 Porsche 911 SC—something I could literally only dream of! So, to not only have that vehicle so soon after being able to legally drive in the first place, let alone being able to claim that you built it yourself … well, that’s quite an accomplishment!

13/06/2024

John “NotStock Photography” Jackson snapped this month’s cover of Josh Bentley’s stunning, Vini’s Hot Rods–built Squarebody. See the full feature by clicking the link below.
https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/july-2024so/

In this issue: Josh Bentley’s ’83 Chevy C10, A Blend-in Remedy for an Overlooked Detail, Walker Zeigler’s ’65 Chevy C10, and more...

12/06/2024

That Summer Vibe ...

workin out the final details on our August issue with beachside courtesy ... minus the SPF50

11/06/2024

https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/july-2024so/horton-hot-rod-parts-1969-dodge-d200-sweptline-paul-barber-parts-hauler/

11/06/2024

We've all wondered what parts manufacturing looks like overseas. With so much of our classic truck (and car) parts being produced in Taiwan, our team at Classic Truck Performance decided it was time to jump on a 14 hour flight and brave the food options to find out for ourselves.

Our trip focused on visiting factories producing reproduction sheet metal for classic cars and trucks but our adventure led us much deeper into replacement parts and automotive lifestyle products manufacturing. We were fortunate to have our good friend Paul, owner of Golden Star Classic Auto Parts, as our guide and translator as we visited Muscle Car GT, CHL Auto Parts and other factories in Taiwan.

Taiwan Makes American Trucks Great Again! Tour of Sheet Metal and Replacement Parts Factories

Before our trip, we kept hearing one name pop up: Mr. GT. All conversations about sheet metal seemed to lead back to Mr. GT, and during our trip we were able to spend multiple days with the man, the myth and the legend. Mr. GT is the owner of Muscle Car GT, the largest producer of sheet metal in Taiwan. We were able to visit the main Muscle Car GT Factory and find out the backstory of Mr. GT and the process of making sheet metal.

Mr. GT started producing sheet metal for classic cars in the 80's. It started with reproduction sheet metal for early Mustang's and eventually grew into producing sheet metal for most makes and models of classic trucks and cars. We are talking thousands of parts for car models like: Chevy C10, Ford F100, Chevelle, Nova, Camaro, VW Bus, Porsche and so much more.

One of the most interesting thing we learned on the trip was the how sheet metal tooling is being made with state of the art technology. From scanning original parts from complete bodies shipped to Taiwan, to creating styrofoam moldings, to casting the parts, refining them and eventually being ready to start stamping parts. We are talking up to a few hundred thousand dollars of investment into producing tooling for something like a quarter panel. And when you walk through these factories, you see hundreds of tools used to make everything from the largest pieces to the smallest pieces of metal for our vehicles.

In fact, Mr. GT started reproducing complete body shells back in the early 2000's, and people thought he was crazy for doing so. Fast forward 20 years and it's so much more common to start a high level build with complete new reproduction sheet metal for C10's, Tri-Five's, Bronco's, Mustang's, VW Bus's, etc. And not only does that give us American's more options for complete bodies to start with, making complete body shells has also ensured that each piece of the vehicles fits together and works together.

While we were in Taiwan, Paul from Golden Star Classic Auto Parts showed us the different body shells he is building: 1955 - 1957 Chevy's, 1969 - 1972 Blazers and 1969 - 1972 Chevy C10's. We were also able to see some of the new injection molding machines Paul purchased from GM and shipped from Tennessee from Taiwan. These new machines will make grilles fro New Body Style Chevy Trucks from 1999 - 2006. Some of these machines weighed up to 40,000 per machine, which meant that Paul had to ship 15 containers to get all these machines to Taiwan, but Paul can see that the NBS will eventually be the hot truck and he will be ready to supply grilles for those trucks.

Overall, our team left Taiwan with a greater appreciation for the people, tools and companies making reproduction sheet metal for our classic cars and trucks. These business owners have invested millions of dollars into creating the tools to make sure we have options for replacement sheet metal and reproduction parts for our hobby. If it weren't for people like Mr. GT and Paul from Golden Star Classic Auto Parts our industry wouldn't have the options that we have today and we would likely have more rusted out trucks and cars lying in overgrown fields unable to be brought back to life. So to the producers and importers, we say thank you.

https://www.classictruckperformance.com/
https://goldenstarauto.com/
https://musclecargt.com/

11/06/2024

On location with the stunning Chevy Cameo at yesterday ... can't wait to see the full set of images!

10/06/2024

How to build an exhaust system for your hot rod truck.

https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/april-2024nv/1948-chevy-speedway-motors-old-anvil-speed-shop-custom-stainless-exhaust/

07/06/2024

One of the baddest AD's we've ever done laid eyes on ... and it's not even finished yet! If you've been a reader of CTP for any length of time, you've surely seen the extensive coverage we've devoted to all the various metal magic by on the '51 Chevy project. In our upcoming August issue, we'll be covering the Solidworks designed grille and taillights ... putting the work of art that much closer to being covered in paint! 😬

07/06/2024

The Ultimate in Surface Coatings?
An Inside Look at ZyCoatUSA Super-Versatile ZyBar

https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/may-2024ob/zycoat-zybar-ultimate-specialty-surface-coating/

05/06/2024

Still reeling from last year’s Keep On Truckin’ exhibit, I wasn’t sure what to expect at the 74th Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS) as far as classic trucks were concerned. But come Thursday following our three-day extravaganza at the MPMC Media Conference in Orange County, California, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pretty strong truck contingent vying for the Al Slonaker Memorial Award at the 2024 GNRS—not to mention a great variety of vintage haulers scattered around the remaining Fairplex buildings.
https://digital.classictruckperformance.com/issue/may-2024ob/2024-74th-grand-national-roadster-show-ambr-slonaker/

05/06/2024

Spending the day at getting some new threads installed in the '69 ... and get the pleasure of drooling over OBS with its fresh new TMI interior.

On the '69, we're going with TMI's Deluxe 60" bench seat in distressed brown vinyl with their new double-diamond stitching complete with full-height matching door panels and dash pad as well as full complementing carpet kit. TMI's taking advantage of this opportunity to debut their brand-new Installation Center (which is open to the public--contact TMI for more details 951-272-1996).