Supafly.com

In the early 1990s, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre introduced gangster rap to MTV with their G-funk anthems “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang“ and “Gin and Juice.” The videos were pretty straight forward: a day in the life of Snoop and Dre being cool hanging out with friends and the ladies in South Central LA.

But the real stars of the videos were 1960s Chevy Impalas with hydraulics that made the cars bounce. I had never seen anything cooler in my life. I turned 16, and I bought a ‘61 Chevy with every intention of adding hydraulics. (My plans were ruined when no mechanic in my rural hometown in the South knew what “hydraulics” were.) Although my hoopty never worked out, I’ve always admired Snoop’s ability to pick cool cars.

Here’s the problem. Earlier this week Snoop’s newest album came out, and he’s looking G in from of a Datsun. See for yourself:

That’s a Datsun 510 Wagon from the late 1960s or early 1970s.

An original ad promoting a few of Datsun’s finest automobiles.

Don’t get me wrong, Datsun made some cool cars. The Datsun 510 makes a vintage Japanese racer that wins respect at a car show. Datsun also made the original Z cars that were reintroduced early this decade as the Nissan 350Z. But Datsuns cannot be gangster cool.

My guess is that Snoop was stoned on the day of the photo shoot, and he thought he was posing in front of a ‘64 Impala wagon.

Kids, don’t do drugs!

I’ve stumbled across some cool trucks that are for sale here in the city. Last week I found a late model convertible Chevy truck on eBay. This week I found this tasteful 1963 Chevy Truck for sale over on MarkBarbee.com.

First, take a look at the original concept drawing. This is the kind of stuff they taught us at Georgia Tech…it makes me want to bust out my tools and start drawing. It’s rare that a finished product looks so close to the original drawing. Most drawings are sensational and cool, but unrealistic to fabricate with a real car body. But here they got it right.

The idea.

The reality.

The minor difference don’t amount to much, but they are worth pointing out. They removed the “parking lights in the hood”, something Chevy should’ve done before the truck ever left the factory. They used a stock grill instead of the Rolls-inspired grill in the concept. I would’ve liked to see them make the bumper as it was in the concept sketch with the concrete-scraping crease along the lowest portion of the bumper.

Here’s some more photos:

Notice the smoothed-out tailgate and the deleted bumper.

To make room for big rims, you have to remove the inner fender well. Now the top of the wheel rises well into the engine bay. Other classy details are leather seats and suicide doors.

To pull off this ride height requires a lot of reworking of the frame. The photo below shows all the modifications beneath the bed. Typically, the gray frame would be pretty flat from front to back. But here, the frame rises up and over the rear axle to allow for the low stance. The two yellow boxes are batteries for the airbag suspension.

Beneath every cool truck is an unexciting foundation.

Let’s talk about the bed, because that’s where all the magic happens. First, the wood looks fantastic juxtaposed against the chrome strips. This is the pinstriped suit of the auto world. Second, the leather panels tucked around the perimeter are subtle, yet luxurious. The inset frame of stitching gives it an extra detail. A poor man’s version is to paint the bed to match the interior. (Take a look at the Datsun truck in a previous blog.) Lastly, you’ll see that the fenders rise just to the top of the bed because the rims are that big and truck is that low. On a stock truck, you’d might see 10-12 inches separating the two.

Well done.

Chevy got low low low. That’s the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, home of Super Bowl XLII.

The glamor shot.

Summary: Big Rims Save Lives

Big rims have saved many vehicles from the junkyard, including this generation of the Chevy truck. Throughout my childhood, guys were only interested in the generation that came before and after. (Check out ChevyTrucks.com for a detailed history with photos.) But this generation didn’t have many fans because it’s body was so wonky. If you wanted to describe the truck like it were a person, it had a big head that goofy glasses.

But big chrome rims fill out the fenders and allow the truck to have better proportions. The trucks that were once forgotten are getting dragged out of desert junkyards and into the welder’s shop. Just look at how this 1963 Chevy looked on day one.

Every so often I’ll go online and see what cool cars are for sale here in Phoenix. Last night I found this massively custom 2000 Chevy Silverado on ebay.com

I read online that the owner invested $100,000 to make this truck look just like he wanted. By the time the time ran out on the auction last night, the highest bid was $15,000, which did not meet the minimum reserve.

All of these photos were taken here in Tempe. I love the special photo effects that give it that sci-fi feel.

I’ve found some trucks online and at cars shows that I’ve stored on my hard drive. I decided it was time to post them to my blog…

1974 Datsun truck. This is a badass little truck with clean lines and an impressive ride height. Although I wasn’t alive when all of this went down, I’ve heard that Datsun and Toyota pioneered the “small truck” concept in America in the 1970s. These trucks don’t have a large following with classic car fans, but you’ll occasionally find one customized at a local car show.

I’m guessing they shaved off the door handles. I like that the bench seat matches the color of the bed liner. It makes the truck look more like an open-air SUV.

1970 Chevy C-10. The 1970-72 Chevy C-10 shortbeds are my all-time favorite truck because they have balanced proportions and clean lines. This primer black truck proves that you don’t have to do much to these trucks to make them look customized.

There’s nothing prettier than an understated chromed-out front end.

1970 Chevy C-10 stepside. I show this because I love the gray-on-gray paint with the subtle red pin stripe to separate the two tones. I don’t care for the rear flared fenders on these trucks because they look like an afterthought–the designers didn’t spend much time getting it right. Although I’m guessing that the builders of this truck spent some time smoothing out on the top of the bed to clean things up. Most builders don’t bother with the drama and remove the bed altogether and replace it with a Chevy bed from the 1990s Silverados.

Nice paint.

1972 Chevy C-10 Cheyenne Super. This is the best-looking truck that Chevy has ever put out. On most of these trucks, the cab is painted the same color as the side stripe (usually white.) On the top and bottom of the strip is two pieces of chrome trim inset with a wood panel. The colors are custom here, as is the blacked-out side trim.

Notice the grid-like stock grill, bumper with inset lights.

1999 Chevy Silverado. This was the last year of the body style that began around 1988. This was a complicated era for trucks because in the 1990s America fell in love with the extended cab pickup. (Then in the 2000s they moved on to a bigger crush with the quad-cab pickups. ) The problem with these longer trucks is that they no longer have the tidy proportions of the standard cab truck.

Notice the clean line that begins near the hood and stretches to the end of the bed. I like the smooth chrome bumper, stock grill, understated side-view mirros, and new custom leather seats.

2000 Chevy Silverado with Escalade front clip. Cadillac dressed up the Chevy Tahoe SUV with a new front clip and created the Escalade. It seemed lazy if you ask me, and I didn’t expect that anyone was gullible enough to invest primo dollars on a SUV that was obviously a Tahoe. I was wrong. People bought it…a lot of people.

Since then, I’ve seen a few SUVs around town that were born as Tahoes, but the dude owner invested in a Cadillac nose job so he could impress women who are easily impressed. On the other hand, I think it’s creative when dudes add the Escalade clip to their standard cab Chevy Silverado. There’s no intention here of convincing people you are more rich than you are. You’re just having fun mismatching body parts that came out of the GM factories. Plus, it looks cool:

From the windshield forward is all Cadillac.

I snapped this photo at Barrett-Jackson a couple years ago. It’s a 1939, but I don’t know what type of truck it is. I love yell0w-letter tires that give the truck a beefy, street-fighter appeal.

1939

After discovering Hummer was going to make an H3 Truck, I found that Hummer was hoping to move in on the Jeep Wrangler with a small convertible SUV. I can’t imagine a cooler way to get to the beach…

Tougher than nails. Notice that the door panels bevel out; most Hummer body panels are deliberately flat. I love the exposed hinges on the doors and bolt heads on the fenders.

With the roof panels removed, there’s enough room for a surf board. My guess is the slotted vent near the windshield base is an air intake for the engine. This allows the SUV to drive in deep water without the engine inhaling water.

Don’t miss the rugged details of the hood.

A loaded gun.

If I would’ve stuck with Industrial Design as a career, this is the type of drawing I would be doing for a living. I’m kinda jealous.

Halo? Anyone? I think Hummer knows who their demographic will be for the HX.