Photo: Barrett-Jackson
There are several old car and truck platforms in this world we will never have enough of. And neither does the custom industry, which keeps on rolling incredible builds based on vehicles that have long bit the production dust.
The Chevrolet 3100 is one of these never-dying goodies. Born in the Advance Design family of pickups the bowtie carmaker produced between 1947 and 1955, and then again as part of the Task Force made from 1955 to 1959, it remains one of the pillars of the custom scene. And at times it comes to light in such incredible shapes that it's hard to overlook them.
Back in 2018, during that year's SEMA show, an Arizona-based crew called Premier Street Rod brought to Vegas a malicious-looking 3100 from 1956. It was (and still is) called Sinister 56, and for good reason.
The trucks of 3100 lineage from 1956 are generally cutesy-looking. That's right, I called a Chevy truck icon cutesy, because that's the feeling I always get when looking at the thing's front end, a face that tries to look angry, but doesn't quite make it.
This one however looks downright vicious on account of everything that's been done to it, from the color chosen for the body (Porsche Slate Gray, if you were wondering), to the truck being dropped on RideTech air shocks run by an AccuAir management system.
The body of the truck, with its lifted bed and rear fenders and chrome work replaced by a brushed-nickel finish, wraps around a chassis made by GSI Machine & Fabrication. It is held upright by Billet Specialties wheels from the Concave series, sized 20 inches on all four corners and shod in Michelin Pilot Sport tires.
The interior of the truck, the work of a shop known as Ron Mangus Hotrod Interiors, is all custom and leather, with the dashboard showing Dakota Digital gauges and a sound system made by Autosound and running Kicker speakers and amplifier.
I saved the best, the engine, for last, as there are a few things to discuss here. You see, when the truck was originally made it used to have a GM 356 LX crate engine under the hood, controlled by means of a GM 4L80E transmission.
The reason we're talking about the Sinister 56 now is that we found it on the lot of vehicles auction house Barrett-Jackson will be sending under the hammer in January 2024, at the huge event it will hold in Scottsdale.
The auction house says the engine the truck comes with now is a 427ci that's running a Tremec T56 6-speed manual transmission. We have no info on when the drivetrain was swapped, or why, but we are informed the new one is rated at an impossible-to-imagine power level of 1,200 hp at the wheels.
The truck is going with no reserve during the auction, but the way it was made, together with the fact that it is the winner of the SEMA Chevrolet Design Award, might help drive the price up to a comfortable level for its current owner. Oh, and the fact it comes with a built-in beer cooler should help with that as well.
Back in 2018, during that year's SEMA show, an Arizona-based crew called Premier Street Rod brought to Vegas a malicious-looking 3100 from 1956. It was (and still is) called Sinister 56, and for good reason.
The trucks of 3100 lineage from 1956 are generally cutesy-looking. That's right, I called a Chevy truck icon cutesy, because that's the feeling I always get when looking at the thing's front end, a face that tries to look angry, but doesn't quite make it.
This one however looks downright vicious on account of everything that's been done to it, from the color chosen for the body (Porsche Slate Gray, if you were wondering), to the truck being dropped on RideTech air shocks run by an AccuAir management system.
The body of the truck, with its lifted bed and rear fenders and chrome work replaced by a brushed-nickel finish, wraps around a chassis made by GSI Machine & Fabrication. It is held upright by Billet Specialties wheels from the Concave series, sized 20 inches on all four corners and shod in Michelin Pilot Sport tires.
The interior of the truck, the work of a shop known as Ron Mangus Hotrod Interiors, is all custom and leather, with the dashboard showing Dakota Digital gauges and a sound system made by Autosound and running Kicker speakers and amplifier.
I saved the best, the engine, for last, as there are a few things to discuss here. You see, when the truck was originally made it used to have a GM 356 LX crate engine under the hood, controlled by means of a GM 4L80E transmission.
The reason we're talking about the Sinister 56 now is that we found it on the lot of vehicles auction house Barrett-Jackson will be sending under the hammer in January 2024, at the huge event it will hold in Scottsdale.
The auction house says the engine the truck comes with now is a 427ci that's running a Tremec T56 6-speed manual transmission. We have no info on when the drivetrain was swapped, or why, but we are informed the new one is rated at an impossible-to-imagine power level of 1,200 hp at the wheels.
The truck is going with no reserve during the auction, but the way it was made, together with the fact that it is the winner of the SEMA Chevrolet Design Award, might help drive the price up to a comfortable level for its current owner. Oh, and the fact it comes with a built-in beer cooler should help with that as well.
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