Worlds Finest Custom Stepside 350 TPI V8 700R4 with A/C

This spectacularly customized 1992 Chevy stepside pickup was developed to showcase the abilities of one very talented painter. Covered in more than $40,000 worth of paint and graphics with a stunning custom interior, it's a highly detailed show piece that couldn't be duplicated for four times the asking price. If you're looking for something to make the judges weak in the knees at the next custom show, this is your truck.

Starting with what is arguably the best-looking truck in decades, this short-cab stepside Chevy was given a comprehensive makeover. The base color is vivid red, but there are so many layers of airbrushed graphics and custom paint atop it, that it's hard to know where to begin. The flame job is layered with white, yellow, purple, and orange licks, laid out in such a way as to make them look three dimensional, yet traditional. You'll note subtle ghost flames licking across the rockers, all the way back to the rear valence, which houses a molded-in license plate frame. Then there are the graphics on the tailgate that highlight the House of Kolor logo, and obviously, all the paint on this truck is from the world-famous House of Kolor. Look closely and you'll be amazed by the amount of hand pinstriping used to outline the flames and to add depth and detail to the graphics—there must literally be hundreds of hours of work wrapped up in the finish alone. A flush-fitting bed cover with hydraulic struts has been fitted and painted to match, complete with its own airbrushed mural on the underside. Heck, the airbrushing is so extensive that it even stretches to the door jambs and frames, the inner fenders, the engine, and even the dashboard! You'll spend hours with this truck and still not see it all.

Other custom modifications include the billet grille that hides the headlights, the smoothed front bumper, the custom side mirrors, as well as the clear tail lights, all of which are popular sport truck tricks. Notably, it hasn't been shaved or chopped, which only serves to highlight the stunning paintwork instead of drawing one's eye to sheetmetal modifications. That also means that all the original glass could be retained with replacements easy to acquire.

Power comes from Chevy's evergreen 350 cubic inch V8 sporting a modified L98 tuned port injection setup with siamesed intake runners. But the engine itself isn't really the story, it's just there to move the paint job from show to show, and with that in mind, it's beautifully rendered. Most of the hard parts that see some heat have been chrome plated, but anything that wasn't chromed was painted in more of that cool House of Kolor candy paint. The heavily modified front suspension is candy green pearl, the intake and frame are purple pearl, and you can see more of the airbrushed flames licking throughout the engine bay as if the painter just couldn't help himself. It's also highly functional, with power steering, power brakes, and A/C, all of which operate correctly and use a newer serpentine belt system to keep everything spinning. Up front, there's a giant Be Cool radiator, which is just what you need when you're cruising the fairgrounds with the A/C blasting, and the engineering is first rate, because the lowered ride height doesn't affect suspension travel.

The engine is backed by a 700R4 4-speed automatic, which makes highway drives easy, and it's tucked up tight inside the beautifully painted candy purple pearl frame. The stock rear end is still there, but now it hangs on a set of adjustable airbags and a custom trailing arm suspension, and true to form, the rear end cover has been painted and flamed to match the rest of the suspension components. A dual exhaust system gives it a rumbling voice, with side exhausts dumping just ahead of the rear wheels. There's a disc brake at all four corners, along with fat sway bars fore and aft, making this big pickup somewhat of a sports car relative to its previous life. And to complete the flame motif, a set of Colorado Custom billet wheels were whittled up that look like flames themselves, and wear 245/40/18 performance radials.

But the show doesn't stop there, not by a long shot. Those painted door jambs I mentioned earlier were just the start, because the interior is a beautifully sculpted tan leather cockpit that will win its own share of awards. Aside from the dashboard and gauges (both of which have been heavily modified anyway), there's not a single stock component in there. The door panels are works of art, and the tan leather buckets are as comfortable as they look. A custom center console was fabricated to house a pair of cup holders, controls for the power windows, as well as the head unit that controls a $10,000 stereo system. There's another skull keeping you company between the seats, and like I said earlier, the airbrushing continues on the glove box lid. Overhead, a matching leather headliner has been fitted, while new tan carpets on the floor have been bound in matching tan hides. Billet aluminum trim panels dress up the stock instrument panel and controls, while the flame theme is continued with a billet steering wheel that was designed to match the road wheels. Heck, even the door sills are custom-made billet aluminum pieces. And quite honestly, it's impossible to call the bed a work area any longer, since it has been finished to the same high standards as the interior. With custom molded panels to house all the stereo gear, including the amplifiers and crossovers, a plexiglass window to show off the custom lowered rear suspension, and a fitted spare tire, it's the nicest (and largest) trunk ever devised. Forget trips to Home Depot, the only thing you're going to be hauling back here are the trophies this truck is sure to collect.

Over the top? Maybe. But you can't argue with the workmanship, which is simply phenomenal in every single way. With a build cost that is approaching $100,000, this is not your average sport truck. Every facet of the truck has been extensively modified, and even if you're not a custom truck guy, you can definitely appreciate the massive talent that it required to make this Chevy look this good. This is one of those vehicles that will stop people in their tracks at any show it attends, and the engineering makes it a machine that can be driven to shows, not trailered, giving you the best of both worlds. In the world of customs, this truck is not only amazing, it's an amazing bargain, too.