2008 Chevy Silverado - Full Circle

Speed and suspension are both winning attributes for any show circuit truck but to earn yourself a feature shoot, let alone land a cover shoot for the best damn truck magazine on the planet, appearance is everything. Street Scene, fine proprietor of quality custom accessories, stepped up huge for this Chevy in the way of the front and rear SS style bumpers, Cal-Vu mirrors, side skirt kit, and multiple black chrome Speed Grille inserts. In Pro Car Wear LED taillights and third brake light make for brighter day and night time illumination, as does the BF Xenon HID lighting kit that has been neatly tucked inside of the slightly smoked headlight housings. A Leer tonneau cover seals the bed for better aerodynamics and smoother looks. The factory GM Victory Red is already a great color for a performance minded truck, so Nica and Mike decided to keep it-with some minor modifications of course. The truck was taken to Fix Auto in Anaheim, California, where Dave Smith and Robert Alfredo sanded and re-cleared the OEM color but not before they put down a pair of DuPont Hot Hues Gunmetal racing stripes. The aggressive styling and paint scheme should give any unsuspecting lurkers a warning of what's to come once the key is turned.

The same styling cues of the Chevy's exterior have been incorporated into the cockpit, which makes for a lush, sporty compartment to punch the gas and hit the switches from. To class up the Silverado's interior, Tony Hernandez from HOT Motorsports navigated the mouse to myautoextras.com, where an order was placed for a black zebra wood grain dash kit-pretty exotic, huh? A U.S. Speedo stainless gauge kit has also found its way inside of the cab and behind the newly transformed dash. Tony also wrapped the seats in Katzkin black-leather covers with suede inserts and red stitching. With the dash and seating arrangements taken care of, the guys at HOT Motorsports constructed a custom center console, which houses the Dakota Digital auto ride system, Kicker 10-inch Solo X subwoofer and two Kicker 61/2-inch component speakers. For additional sound, another set of Kicker 61/2-inch components and 4x6-inch midrange speakers were hooked up to two Kicker 650.1 amps and an Alpine head unit.

With all the bases covered, the '08 Silverado came together quite nicely. The idea of paying homage to the Silverado of twenty years ago is a great way to place the custom truck tradition's past, present, and future into direct juxtaposition. Off-the-shelf components have made it easy and affordable for the average truck owner to build the custom rig of their dreams. Nica, Mike, and the HOT Motorsports crew have used this truck build as an opportunity to make a statement that a cover truck can be built largely on bolt-ons and loads of creativity - the latter being as important as the parts themselves. So here we sit, almost a decade into the new millennium and we have much to look forward to as far as the evolution of the modern-day pickup goes. Like the old saying goes: To have a bright future, you must first understand the past. That is exactly how this build was approached and you'd better believe that the sentiment will surely inspire fellow truck owners to push the limits with their own haulers.