HOT-ROD TEXAS PETE
San Antonio big rig customizer’s 651st build, Project One, is one wild custom ride you can see at the 2010 Great American Trucking Show
It began as just a rough color pencil sketch and a short list of specifications/ideas scribbled on a notepad. Two years later San Antonio-based Texas Chrome Shop rolled its tricked-out, multi-hued hot-rod Peterbilt, Project 1, onto the carpet. A dream turned into a rolling work of big-rig art.
The interior of Texas Chrome Shop's new creation is completely custom made with a totally customed sound system.
But the full-on custom ‘98 Pete 379 sitting proudly on display in Booth 12047 isn’t their first rodeo: Project 1 is actually the 651st build handled by the custom side of Triple R Diesel.
“This is the first custom truck our family has built for ourselves,” said Raul Mendez Jr.
Cab section was completely re-worked from ceiling to floor.
“My brother Roland came up with the idea in 2007. But it wasn’t until February this year that we pulled the truck into our shop and began the transformation. We worked 18-hour days the past three weeks to get it finished for the show.”
The 750hp Caterpillar-powered custom rig was torn down to the bare frame and rebuilt inside and out.
“We should have named it Spare Time,” joked Roland. “It seems we spent every bit of our spare time making this dream come to life.”
“This is our dream truck - and probably a dream truck for a lot of others,” said Raul. “The design is radical, and it’s our shop’s way of letting the country know what we can do out of a little shop down in San Antonio, Texas. We bring trucker’s dreams to life.”
- Click here to see Triple R Diesel’s video diary of the build: Project One Video Diary video management, video solution, video streaming
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