- May 17, 2012
By Todd Dills
“We’re not 100 percent done with it,” says Bryan Martin, Joplin, Mo.-based Chrome Shop Mafia boss and perhaps the most well-known personality these days in the truck customizing world. He’s talking about the 1966 needle-nose Peterbilt 351 whose custom grille is staring you down in the picture above.
Some talk about the truck as Martin’s own personal project, and he admits that, “when we take it to shows or do a local parade with it, typically I’m the one ...
- May 16, 2012
Bruce Malmgren plucked a truck from his Utah fleet and built a winner
By Max Kvidera
In 2007 veteran driver and Utah trucking company owner Bruce Malmgren chose from his 30-truck fleet an ’06 Peterbilt 379 to play out his show truck dream.
He checked out a Salt Lake City truck show, found the competition to his liking and set out to add modifications to the truck, which had roughly 214,000 miles’ worth of nationwide flatbed hauling under its tires.
Malmgren decided three heads ...
- May 14, 2012
Jeremy Leavitt’s big red 379 does double duty as a hay hauler and show rig
By Max Kvidera
Almost from the day he bought the 2005 Pete 379, Jeremy Leavitt began customizing the truck. He had added touches here and there to previous trucks he owned but nothing like this one. “We’ve always had nice equipment, but I wanted to build a fancier truck that could work but still be taken to the shows,” he says.
In 2006 Leavitt spent more than five ...
- May 12, 2012
Custom rigs call for custom hooks. Homer Schultz III has just that.
Staff Reports
When Homer Schultz III sets about to clean and polish his truck for a show, his process looks way different than most Pride & Polish competitors in the Working Truck class.
While others might quickly wipe down the deckplate and polish the rear bumper, Schultz is hanging over the rigging of his tow truck's boom using a toothbrush and rag to make sure the pulleys and hydraulic cylinders ...
- May 11, 2012
By James Jaillet
Sanger, Calif., resident and single-truck owner Stephen Ashburn’s 2005 Peterbilt 379, pictured here under the lights on the north side of the Las Vegas strip, presented an ideal starting point for his truck-showing career.
The car hauler “was wanting to build my own truck, but just didn’t know where to start, to be honest,” he says, and when he saw the truck for sale online in 2007, “It was everything I loved.” The truck didn’t have many miles on ...
- May 10, 2012
By Bruce W. Smith
It’s a beautiful spring morning as Robert “Bobby” Mulvihill Jr. rolls up to his shop in the New Jersey countryside, drops the air suspension so his truck is sitting bad low, and blips the throttle a couple times. The rumble from the 550-hp 502 Chevy Big Block is just as sweet as the classic ‘72 Chevy C-10 it powers.
What’s even sweeter a few steps away in a shop filled with cool rides is another classic truck Mulvihill ...
- May 09, 2012
A New England dump combo with the looks to kill
By Bruce W. Smith
A new association can join the ranks of more morbid widow makers, albeit for another reason: it’s a custom rig with killer looks.
At least that’s how Todd and Beth Roccapriore see their newest creation in the Clean Slate Environmental fleet – their aptly named 2004 Peterbilt 379 EXHD, Widow Maker.
“The whole name and design of the truck came from the shape of the windshield glass, which is angled ...
- May 05, 2012
When the company Robert Ewing works for, Hi-Plains Leasing, bought a ’97 Mack previously owned by the United States Post Office, turning the truck into a show rig was one use he hadn’t envisioned for the box-bodied, snub-nosed “Gone Postal.
- May 04, 2012
Here's the full list of winners from the April 27-29 Wildwood, Fla.-based 75 Chrome Shop Pride & Polish show. The large slideshow above features photos of the four Best of Show trucks, and the thumbnail gallery has Spencer J. Fisher's photos from the event's evening-held light show.
Best of Show Limited Mileage Bobtail
Arnold Frankie, Jr., 1993 Kenworth W900L named “Smooth Move”
Best of Show Working Bobtail
Ronald Huey, 2010 International Prostar
Best of Show Limited Mileage Combination
Randy Stroup, 2005 Peterbilt ...
- May 04, 2012
A game of one-inch-upsmanship between two longtime friends results in one rocking work-in-progress
By Todd Dills
Truck names come from a host of different origins – the occupation of the owner-operator, remembrance of a loved one, a favorite color, a movie hero or any number of other reasons. Two very custom rigs on the circuit take a different tack, getting their moniker from the wheelbase: Project 350 and Project 351. The latter takes its name from something of a challenge.
After Richie Acosta ...
