Illustration by: Jason Ru...
Illustration by: Jason Rushforth
Jason Rushforth has been scrawling car concepts since he was the same age as his 4-year-old daughter, Carly, and went pro at 24. Jason cites star designers Thom Taylor, Steve Stanford, and Chip Foose as the triumvirate of inspiration on his art and career. Heavily influenced by his dad, who practically embraces the Chevy brand as a religious icon, he loves all kinds of cars -- especially those of the muscular variety; hence the two designs he offers to us in this issue.
The Silverado SS Intimidator packs a respectable 345 horses under the hood and reinterprets some of Chevy's classic SS roots. But that wasn't good enough for Jason, who re-imagines the Silverado SS to his tastes in this concept. Rarely do we get a concept that the artist has defined any further than what can be seen in the rendering. So we'll hit the highpoints of the performance-oriented stuff and let you figure out the rest of the styling cues for yourselves.
Jason borrowed from Ford's Lightning and the Dodge SRT-10 Ram, as well as the 2007 Suburban. The truck is a fullsize with the wheelbase of a single cab. Six-spoke, 22-inch wheels have a red stripe as a reminder of the truck's SS roots. Monster brakes push six-piston calipers. Brake ducts are stylized evolutions of the current SS offerings, and the 3-inch by 3-foot opening between them is for the intercooler that chills the intake charge for the twin turbo 4.8L V-8. Jason chose a baby V-8 because of the infinite tunability of a turbo motor. If it were built carefully with premium parts, like the 7.0L on the Z06 Corvette, the engine would hardly break a sweat at 500hp.
Jason insists that the transmission must be the Allison that comes with the Duramax because of its ability to handle brutal levels of torque and horsepower and the flexibility of its six speeds. Adapt the Air Ride system found on the original Silverado SS concept truck and Jason says the truck could auto-cross or tow a boat to Lake Havasu, Arizona, and back.
Illustration by: Jason Ru...
Illustration by: Jason Rushforth
We love stoking our ongoing El Camino brushfire wars that flare up in our offices here at Truckin'. Is it a truck, is it not? Does it matter? Not to Jason. This concept is a late-model Elky with a 1970 nose. The interior (not shown) pimps with red leather buckets or a bench, and a dash packed with Auto Meter gauges.
One inspiration for this truck comes from the massive G-machine musclecar movement fueled by websites like www.lateral-g.net where guys take any old bucket Camaro or Rambler and turn them into corner-pounding, dime-stomping, super-quick street dragsters. Jason visualizes Hotchkis and Global West upgrades to make this Elky sing. The hood is the narrowed and shortened '70-'72 cowl induction that came with the front clip but with a smoothed-over vacuum-assisted flap. Jason cut a large opening across the front of the bumper for style and to air out the motor, brakes, or even an intercooler. The nose is smaller than a '70, so he says a good substitute for the 7-inch factory headlights would be 6-inch PIAAs to get the right proportions. Jason gave the back bumper some retro style and put modified versions of '70 Chevelle taillights in the bumper. Wheels are 19x8-inch Budnik Grids in front, with 19x12s in back, wrapped in Goodyear F-1 rubber. Brakes come from Baer, Wilwood, or SSBC. As for suspension, think Air Ride Shockwaves with massive sway bars.
Jason suggests that any badass motor be installed under the hood, from a TrailBlazer straight-6 with a turbo to a junkyard LS1 or big-block, as long as there's a six-speed behind it with a clutch pedal or a Gear Vendors under/overdrive unit.