Seems like every time you put something cool together, somebody else thinks it's cool enough to steal. Luckily, Chuck Kresge didn't let one bad experience shatter his dreams of a fast and clean '88 Chevy ½-ton. When Chuck got his poor stripped and battered Chevy back after it was stolen, he was determined to finish what he started. With support from his wife Dena, son Ryan, and his friends Dick, Skip, and Jason, Chuck was able to transform a pillaged pile of truck into a fire-breathing, smooth, sexy cruiser.
Chuck gave his '88 a lower stance with a set of Belltech drop spindles and front springs along with a Belltech C-notch out back. The performance-style wheels are 17-inch Center Line Trigons wrapped in Goodyear RSA 255/55R17 rubber. The front end and rear end don't match!
That's right. The original '88 front end is adorned with a Phantom Grille from Summit, a grille shell from a '95 Suburban, a Belltech front bumper, and sideview mirrors. The front air dam is from Truck Master Design, and the headlights are out of a '92 Chevy. The rear, however, has been replaced with a '94 Chevy bed, a Summit roll pan, and a special set of sport taillight covers. All of the molding and trim were removed for a clean look. Then a coating of '96 Corvette Blue paint was laid for the finishing touch. Because Chuck has a gnarly engine, he made sure to cover it with an equally intimidating Harwood cowl-induction hood.
To learn just how gnarly and mean Chuck's blown 383 stroker is, make sure you check out the sidebar.
The interior is awesome. When you open the doors, the first thing you'll notice is the custom leather flaming door panels. The Steelhorse split-leather bench also has flames embroidered into the headrests. The custom console built directly into the seat is from Steelhorse, along with the bed kit underneath the Tekstyle Quick Latch tonneau cover. The billet aluminum accessories are all from Summit, Weld Wheels supplied the Flame steering wheel, and the tach, boost, and fuel gauges are Ultra Light Auto Meter. The sound system screams almost as loud as the engine, with the remote-controlled Pioneer CD player, two 10-inch Power Acoustic subs, two 5-¼-inch woofers, two 1-½-inch tweeters, MTX sub boxes, and a Power Acoustics Splash neon amp hiding under the passenger seat.
Altogether, this package holds 800 watts of pure blasting bliss.
The interior is super sweet,...
The interior is super sweet, with leather, flaming door panels, 800 watts of power, and a slick Weld Flame steering wheel.
The 17-inch Center Lines with...
The 17-inch Center Lines with Goodyear rubber look good with the Phantom billet grille and Truck Master Design air dam. The headlights are from a '92 Chevy, and the grille shell is from a '95 Suburban.