Well...I saw one of these at the local chevy store and wondered if it could be made into something respectable. This is SoCal's version....I guess my question has been answered....it's beyond help. Sorry for this being non traditional....but the truck had me wonderin.
I gotta be honest with you, I have seen a few of them driving around (not like that but stock) and I kinda like em. Hey, a roadster pickup is cool. are they expensive?
I was cruisin down Bellflower Blvd Tuesday next to one. I was in my 40 GMC. The Whatchacalit was wearing dubs and was taller tham my truck. Them things are way huge compared to how they look in pictures. Like AMC Matador coupe huge, and ungainly because of it. But I still think it's a step in the right direction compared to the dowdy old "Gramps Boxes" GM has been making since the 70s. Oh, I didn't stay next to it long, I had to move on down the road, away from it...
$40,000, a bed smaller than most 70's caddy trunks, weak motor. They look like a bad 80's jellybean rod to me. I'd gladly take a silverado and the $15 grand or so in change.
At least the one in the pic's got running boards...they look like a total abortion without 'em...here ya go...cut the top 50% percent of a early 50's chevy truck off, chop it a couple of inches and use it to replace the ugly as shit windshield, roof and back cab wall of the new "truck"...take the grill off of it and just stick a moon tank in there instead...bumper's gotta go...it needs a ribbed one....either french the headlights alot (4 inches at least) or replace them with 54 Buick headlights and bezels....lakepipes....dummy spots...Radir 5 spokes with wide whites...yank the piece of shit powering it and drop in a late 50's Cadillac mill with 4 twos, or better yet, if you REALLY want to piss people off...stick a hopped up 235 stovebolt six in it with 2 twos ....GM would shit....
Keep in mind, it'd be a hell of alot of work....and I'd only cut the roof off of an early 50's chevy truck if the truck was WAY beyond saving...it'd be stupid to cut up something saveable that already is cool, just to fix that conglomerated thing...you know, you could go another way with it that would really yank peoples chains....stright axle front end, radiused rear wheel wells with tires hangin' out an inch on each side, blown 392 Hemi...big hole in the hood....black primer... ...
If you want an old car, buy an old car. The crap that the new car manufacturers have been trying to pass of as 'retro' vehicles have missed the mark by so far that I'm doubting that anyone on the design team got the point in the first place. Look at the Thunderbird, the PT Cruiser, the new Beetle, and even the new Mustang. They're all basically modern econo-cars with slightly retro looking style. Maybe enough to fool your average MTV viewer, but not me or (I hope) anyone else that subscribes to the HAMB. I ask this -- what have we accompished in the last 40 years. Has fuel economy increased? No. Ford Falcons were getting 30 mpg in 1960. Fiats were getting better than that in the 20 years earlier. What do all of your suspension refinements get you? Nothing. Drive an early BMW 3-Series and compare it to a modern 3-Series. Hell, my '65 Triumph Spitfire, which was about as technically advanced as a riding lawnmower, could out-handle most modern cars. Check out the latest in NASCAR suspension, and you'll see the same basic setup as a 60's Chevy pickup. Interior comfort? Sit in a 70's F-Body and tell me you'd rather be anywhere else. Emissions? My stock 40,000 miles '65 Fairlane barely registered. I think we're lining somebody's pocket, and it's not the local mechanic coz he's out of a job since the stealerships have all the specialized tools. Anyway, I'm drunk and rambling. Point is: modern car 'refinements' don't offer significant improvement over older technologies. Most of the advantages that modern cars have over older cars are do to the increased precision and repeatability of modern manufacturing techniques and the decreased cost of molded polymers and previously exotic materials such as aluminum. Side note: fuel injection rules, up and down, and there's no arguement otherwise. Computer controlled systems are infintely more flexible and robust than analog or mechanical systems. All I have as an excuse is technophobia. Side note #2: Fuck the system. Buy an old car, maintain it, drive it. Let the auto manufactures know that you don't need them. They haven't offered me anything new since the front wheel drive Toronado/El Dorado and that was years before I was born. This is capitolism and your dollar is your vote. Cast it wisely. Ed (who has likely alienated 90% of the people on this board by now)
i got to test drive one of those things on a road course. i got in, the chevrolet represenative told me to keep both hands on the wheel, do not hit any cones and make it go as fast as you can. holy crap those little things haul ass for a new car and they handle like a dream. i like em, but not for the price. diego
As far as I'm concerned, there has not been anything worth buying on a dealer showroom floor since way before I got my drivers licence. ( some high end cars are cool, but not for the money ) You really dont know if a certain brand and type of car was a good one until years after it was taken out of production. This retro movement is amusing to me, because I really do drive old cars...
I slid by the local chevy dealer to get an "up close" look at a yellow one. I liked it but at 50K, I'd have to win the lottery to afford one. I think it could be saved with a good slamming and a grille and headlight transplant from a 50 chevy pickup. Give it a chrome, blade-type bumper [I know---won't pass federal safety standards] and downsize the tailights to some molded 50 chevy pickup units with another blade bumper out back...throw in a pair of dual exhaust pipes out the back and I'd feel good driving it...BTW, make that 50 chevy grille a chromed one.... I like the yellow paint, too......just my choices.
If your wanting a newer truck that performs, the Syclone's and Typhoon's are a hell of a lot less cost, proven and a lot of fun.
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