It's approximately 11 a.m. on September 21, and I am about to hop on a plane to Lubbock, Texas, to spend a few days at Hill's Hot Rods, where my project '85 Chevy C-10 has been under construction for the past several months. After speaking earlier in the week with HHR owner Jason Hill and learning that the truck was now 'bagged and shaved with big Bonspeed rims and rubber planted under the fenders, my excitement to get there was rapidly increasing. Remember, it has been quite some time since I piloted another show truck.
Anyway, back to my story. After hooking up with a connecting flight in Dallas, I landed in Lubbock at about 6:20 p.m. Texas time and headed with haste to baggage claim to get my luggage, while waiting for Mr. Hill to pick me up. Of course, this custom truck builder and hot rod enthusiast rolled up in nothing less than his 'bagged green and white square-body shortbed, with a 540ci big-block between the 'rails ("Highway to Hill," June '03), and put it flat on the ground, curbside. We loaded my bags around his custom motorcycle strapped in the back and headed straight to the shop where the HHR crew awaited my arrival. I got a first look at all the hard metal and suspension work they had done on what I have appropriately deemed "The Blazing Brick." As we arrived at the shop, I was greeted by my good friend and fellow enthusiast, Ron Knowles, who has been going to the Southern California shows for years and spent a great deal of time setting up the suspension on the truck. After seeing Ron, I was introduced to Nathan Hunter, Corey Jilek, and got re-acquainted with Randall Tharp. All of these dedicated individuals have worked very hard on my truck, and my gratitude and appreciation can hardly be expressed in words. Of course, Jason Hill has also done tons of welding, grinding, and fabricating to get the truck where it was at the time of this visit, and by the time you read this, the HHR crew will have finished the truck to an unmatched level of craftsmanship for the 2004 Truckin' Nationals in Phoenix, followed by its appearance at the 2004 SEMA Show, where it will be shown in the Createx Auto Air Colors paint booth.
After a few minutes of handshaking and shooting the breeze, Jason pointed to what I thought was my truck in the corner of the shop. It sat about a mile in the air, had a few things shaved, and still had the stock dash in place (we had planned a street rod-styled and classic Corvette inspired dash). I tried not to show my disappointment, and they tried to hold their laughter back as they had tricked me into believing this was actually my truck until the rear bay door of the shop was lifted and the real McCoy sat laid out under a car cover. We all laughed for a few minutes, and as the cover was lifted, my jaw dropped. As I stood there nearly speechless, the only word my mouth could utter was "badass." I soaked up all the killer metal work in my brain and my eyes widened, as I discovered how far the rear 22-inch billets tucked up inside the fenders. The windshield, rear window, and side window openings were taped up, and when Jimmy Davis of Stan's Car Stereo in Lubbock arrived, the paper was pulled and the dash, console, and custom rear cab scenery revealed. Jimmy spent a great deal of time building the custom dash, center console, door panels, and Corvette-inspired coving around the bucket seats. Let me tell you, it looks out-of-this-world awesome. We spent a few minutes discussing the dash and how the center panel would look, and I thanked Jimmy for all his hard work. The debut lasted about 1 hour, and after getting over the shock of how cool the truck looked, my adrenaline returned to a somewhat normal level and we locked up the shop and headed to dinner.