I had to come up with a title that was catchy and quick to grab your attention, plus pertain to the vehicle that this article is about and the title fits this truck very well. The truck was built by Kirk Peterson about 15 years ago, and then about 8 years ago it was given a good going over to make it all fresh again. That’s right! This awesome looking, show-winning machine was last freshened up that long ago and still kicks butt!

The truck that Kirk built, which has stood the test of time, is a heavily modified 1957 Chevrolet 3100 Series stepside. The frame is a modified stock piece that has been reinforced with square tubing and then powder coated. The front suspension is a Heidts IFS with rack and pinion steering. The rear section of the stock frame was altered so it could become the home of a Cadillac Allante disc brake rear end that is equipped with 3:73 gears. The powder coated rear suspension is a four link equipped with Eaton three inch drop springs. Raising or lowering the truck for show or cruising is taken care of by a Shockwave system from Ridetech. The brake system on the truck is all Corvette from the power brake booster assembly to the disc brakes on all four corners. The wheels for this custom chassis are Foose Fishtail with 18’s on the front and 20’s on the rear.

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The road to building an award-winning vehicle can be a long one with a lot of twists and turns. The travel down this road is attempted by many but not all follow it to the end. Larry Griffey, owner of Larry Griffey’s Hot Rods & Restorations, has traveled this road many times in his business of building vehicles that are as varied as his taste in them. He has built everything from weekend cruisers to Great 8 winners and a First Place winner at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Eight years ago Larry came across a 1954 Corvette project car that was just a pile of parts and a custom Jamison Chassis. It took a while and quite a bit of negotiating with the owner, but Larry finally got the deal he was looking for and the Corvette found a new home in his garage. The car sat for a few years then Larry and Chuck Powell began a six-year journey down a road that saw a whole lot of custom fiberglass work take place on the car. Larry’s wife Robbie was a major factor in keeping them focused on seeing the project to completion during those years. With the initial fabrications and body modifications completed at Larry’s home it was time to move the car over to the shop for final fit of the body and disassembly for the car to be painted. At this stage all the talents of Kevin Riffey and Dustin Boone were brought into action completing the car with all of the equipment on hand at Larry Griffey’s Hot Rods & Restorations. The group effort at Griffey’s saw the Corvette transformed into what would become a 2017 Great 8 Award winning car.

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When you look at a car, two things about it are the most prominent. Your eyes will tell you really quick whether the car is a winner or not just on those two items. These two items should complement each other on many levels to make the vehicle stand out from the rest of the crowd. These two points of interest that I am talking about are paint and interior, which can turn an ordinary vehicle into a show winner.

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While doing a photo shoot of a private automotive collection of very diverse original, customs, classics and hot rods I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. I know a huge number of auto enthusiasts watched the TV show Home Improvement just to see what vehicles would turn up in Tim “The Toolman” Taylor’s garage or on his show “Tool Time”. The show ran from September 1991 through May 1999, and Tim Allen was just awesome in his character’s role as a guy that really wanted to be a hot rodder even though he was just a bit challenged mechanically. Over the series there were many vehicles featured, some more prominently than others, and what I saw in this private collection is supposedly one of the first vehicles to be featured on the show.

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