The 20th anniversary issue of Sport Truck got me thinking about the past and how much my view of what is cool and what isn't has changed. I was looking at old photos today, and I was cringing. The embarrassing clothes I had on in the photos weren't the problem-it was some of the mods I'd done to my trucks over the years that had me thinking, "Wow, I hope no one saw that." I've done things to my trucks that today make me think I'd committed vehicular suicide. If you've ever played "The Violation Game" with your friends, then you know how sobering it can be to have someone else criticize your ride. Friends can be downright brutal when their comments are all "just for fun."
I'm not immune to the game either, so I thought I'd include a few photos of stuff I wish I could take back. Feel free to fire off an email with your thoughts on the things that I'm truly embarrassed of, and feel free to show me your less-than-stellar moments. I might include them in the magazine and allow the staff here to take some cheap shots at your truck if it's truly heinous.
Case File #1
I don't know which is more offensive to my sensibilities right now: the utter uselessness of having a truck with no bed floor as my daily driver, the fact that I left the side molding on the doors because I refused to waste my time shaving the holes on my Tundra, or the sheer lameness of unpainted fiberglass fenders. At least the fenders sort of matched the stock paint. If I could do it all over again, that truck would have come out so differently.
Case File #2
My '97 Toyota Tacoma is the only truck I've actually finished building, and during my young and impressionable years as a mini-trucker, I thought having the most outlandish truck possible was truly cool. I won't ever regret the turbocharged four-banger or the 72-color paintjob, but that skull in the center console really makes me wonder what the hell I was thinking back in 2000. These days, function is every bit as important as form to me. Looking back on the interior of my truck, I now realize that skull wasn't useful as an armrest and I smacked my funny bone into it at least a hundred times when speed-shifting into Second gear. Oh well, you're only young once, right?
That ought to be enough material to get you started on playing The Violation Game at my expense. Feel free to send me photos of your trucks or visit the forums at www.sporttruck.com to play the game. I'd love to see the violations you've come up with and fire off a few embarrassing emails. See ya next month.