The sentiment we hear most often from our featured truck owners is a burning desire to be different. Their goal is to influence, inspire, and impress. They seek recognition, respect, and, well, regardless of what they say, getting chicks is always a motivating factor.
Gary Tokarz started out in the Lowrider scene and after seeing how everybody looked down on each other, he realized the scene was a petty, competitive, un-nurturing environment and not the place for him. That’s when he started going to truck shows. This is where he found his nirvana. Shortly after immersing himself in the mini-truck waters, Gary decided it was time to show everyone how to do an S-10 his way. Because Gary lives in Illinois, where it rains and snows a lot, it became obvious to him that the best way to make his S-10 different was to turn it into a convertible. Some of the other mods that Gary did to make his S-10 steal the spotlight are the shaved door handles, tailgate handle, taillights, and antenna. If you stand back and take a close look, you’ll also notice that the bodyline ends with a unique bullet shape. Gary slapped on a cowl hood, some ’92 Toyota sideview mirrors, a Phantom grille, and an AIM roll pan and Bow Tie. John Wargo at The Custom Shop helped Gary turn all the spectacular graphic visions in his head into a hard jagged edge reality that stretches from the hood all the way over to the tonneau cover and tailgate.
Gary lowered his topless S-10 6 inches up front with Belltech 2-inch drop spindles and Firestone airbags. He dropped it 8 inches out back with an Altered Images Super C-notch, ladder bars, and Firestone airbags. It has tubed A-arms and Doetsch shocks all the way around, while cruising on 17-inch Billet Specialties rims up front and 18s in the rear.
When it’s not raining out, Gary cruises in his Fiero bucket seats, covered in gray and blue tweed. He added a custom console and Billet Specialties Switchblade steering wheel. If you don’t see him coming you’ll sure as hell hear him with the Eclipse head unit and a Bazooka sub, amps, and speakers located in the bed under the tonneau. Putting together the interior was his favorite part and it’s on constant display without a roof.
Gary says that hopping up the 2.8L was the most difficult part of building his S-10 because of all the emissions BS and the fact that finding parts for a V-6 is a little more challenging than a V-8. Gary did his best by boring it 0.030 over and adding an Edelbrock high-rise intake, a Holley two-barrel, a K&N air cleaner with a Billet Specialties oval, MSD 6A ignition, and Headman headers attached to Flowmaster 2 ½-inch exhaust. The tranny was also spruced up with a shift kit. He says that he can keep up with the Camaros on the low end, but that the top end sucks due to stock gearing. All in all, we’re impressed with Gary’s attitude and hands-on enthusiasm.