Every now and then things just turn out right. Although not too often, there are times when everything goes together easily, without much of a hitch. And when something like this happens in the process of personalizing a truck, you just know it’s a good thing. That’s how it happened when Jonathan Cook of Orlando, Florida, set out to re-create his ’98 Isuzu Hombre.
When he explained the story behind his truck to us, Jonathan said, “I had the extra time, the extra cash, and the extra help…so I thought I’d make my dream truck a reality.” Spare time, extra dough, a circle of helpful friends—hey, why not build the ideal mini? When things get this easy—we all know it rarely happens—what else is a truck lover to do?
Jonathan’s little Hombre quickly took shape from its stock condition without complication, because he knew exactly what he wanted. The first stock element to go was a drab coating of white paint, and no time was wasted in replacing it with the glowing House of Kolor Sunset Pearl Orange. This fresh dreamcoat was applied in one blast by Paul Magin, also of Orlando. Since Jonathan purchased his truck as a bare-boned base model, plenty of room was left for customization. But this basic condition also proved advantageous when he wanted to personalize the rear of the body. There was no rear bumper to remove and not many extras to get around, so he just had to shave the rubber pads to create his own color-matched roll pan. While still working on the back, Jonathan fabbed a cut through the bed for his stereo, and then he covered the bed with white Rhino Lining. Clear taillight lenses finished things off in the rear.
One area where he wouldn’t spare modification was the suspension. He wanted the frame to kiss the dirt, and he wanted a pleasant ride. Naturally, he turned to the airbag option and called on his friends at Master Image Customs (M.I.C.) to make it happen. M.I.C.’s airbag kit made his ground-scraping dream come true.