A real Bob Evans hot rod – down on the farm grain truck becomes most unexpected hot rod

Over the weekend, I took in the Rumblers sixth annual Rumble in the Country down in Terryville, Connecticut, both because I needed to restock on hot rod profiles for Hemmings Motor News and because I’d always heard good things about the show, but never been. I did find a couple rods to profile, but seeing this Chevrolet pickup truck made the whole trip worthwhile. The giant two-ton-truck wheels (single in back instead of dual) tucked up into the wheelwells, along with the modest chop, give the truck a huge Tonka toy look, while the dechromed body and flat off-white/white paint scheme appeal to the less-is-more aesthetic.

I never got a name of, or even talked to, the guy who built this truck, but he did leave some build photos out, which confirmed exactly my suspicions: He started with an old grain truck and whacked about 10 feet from the wheelbase to shorten it to the length of a regular light-duty pickup. But to really pull the truck together, he Z’d the frame and undertook a host of body modifications. For instance, he had to extend the fenders on the bed downward to meet the running board. It also looked like he had to widen the cab slightly to match the width of the bed.

As for the chassis, it appears to still rest on its farm truck springs and axles, and the 22.5-inch wheels run 10-ply Dunlops. The owner never had the hood open to reveal the motivation for this beast, but I’m guessing it’s a Chevrolet small-block V-8 of some sort. Though a huge 302-cubic-inch Jimmy six would have been incredibly awesome.

And inside, it’s almost as bare-bones as one could stand, with only a Mexican blanket to cover the bench seat, a trucker knob on the steering wheel and a glass shifter knob with some sort of bug encased within. He also cleverly hid a CD stereo head unit in the glove box, though I bet the ride offered by the two-ton springs offers not much to hear above the sound of your head walloping the roof.

Still, I’m in love. I think I need to start trawling Nebraska for project material now.

BTW, sorry about the photos. The truck was parked back in a shady area, and without speaking with the owner, I couldn’t have it relocated to a place with better lighting.