Photo: Metalworks Speed Shop (edited by autoevolution)
Let us ask you something. What really makes a classic restomod genuinely valuable? Is there a combination of a specific model, model year, and engine swap guaranteed to bring home the big bucks at auction? What about the story behind the vehicle? That surely has to play a role in it somehow. Whatever the case, this 1954 Chevy truck checks all the boxes for a great model, solid model year, the appropriate hardware under the hood, and a great story to tell.
We've covered quite a few classic Chevy 3100 half-ton pickups before. Though not quite as recognizable as the equivalent Ford trucks built around the same time, it's hard to say these Chevy trucks don't lend well to the odd bit of wrenching. But even by pro-touring and restomod standards, what the Metalworks Speed Shop based out of Eugene, Oregon, managed to come up with is a cut above the rest. Like a lot of all-time great restomods, this Chevy 3100 truck started out in life as just a pile of metal parts sprawled across a cold garage floor.
Time evidently hadn't been too kind to the body panels of this old Truck. A blurry mish-mash of red, white, and blue paint and primer spotted each body panel like a teenager's face before a Proactiv treatment. By all accounts, this build started off as little more than a pile of scrap. But with the help of a world-class Art Morrison GT Sport chassis, these wayward truck body panels finally had a sturdy foundation on which to lay out further modifications. We're talking about a 376-cubic inch (6.2 L) GM LSx V8 crate motor with a Holley intake manifold, Ultimate headers, and a custom 2.5-inch dual exhaust.
Even under the most bare-bones configuration, an LSx can easily jet in the ballpark of 475 horsepower at the crank. But with the added performance hardware and free-flowing exhaust work, chances are good this motor's pushing it into the lower 500s the way it sits now. Power is fed to a beefed-up 4L80E four-speed automatic gearbox from TCI and a nine-inch rear axle at the back of the car. Add on a triangulated quad-link suspension with Strange coilovers and Wilwood disk brakes at all four corners, and there are modern sports cars built last week that aren't as stacked in the parts department as this truck.
It'd be one thing if the spec sheet about this truck was the whole story and the rest of it was kept in rags. But with a wicked matte grey paint job flanking my color-matched leather interior from Jon Lind Interiors of Springfield, Oregon, we have ourselves a six-figure show truck every day of the week. The $330,000 sales price at Barret Jackson last year is a testament to this.
Time evidently hadn't been too kind to the body panels of this old Truck. A blurry mish-mash of red, white, and blue paint and primer spotted each body panel like a teenager's face before a Proactiv treatment. By all accounts, this build started off as little more than a pile of scrap. But with the help of a world-class Art Morrison GT Sport chassis, these wayward truck body panels finally had a sturdy foundation on which to lay out further modifications. We're talking about a 376-cubic inch (6.2 L) GM LSx V8 crate motor with a Holley intake manifold, Ultimate headers, and a custom 2.5-inch dual exhaust.
Even under the most bare-bones configuration, an LSx can easily jet in the ballpark of 475 horsepower at the crank. But with the added performance hardware and free-flowing exhaust work, chances are good this motor's pushing it into the lower 500s the way it sits now. Power is fed to a beefed-up 4L80E four-speed automatic gearbox from TCI and a nine-inch rear axle at the back of the car. Add on a triangulated quad-link suspension with Strange coilovers and Wilwood disk brakes at all four corners, and there are modern sports cars built last week that aren't as stacked in the parts department as this truck.
It'd be one thing if the spec sheet about this truck was the whole story and the rest of it was kept in rags. But with a wicked matte grey paint job flanking my color-matched leather interior from Jon Lind Interiors of Springfield, Oregon, we have ourselves a six-figure show truck every day of the week. The $330,000 sales price at Barret Jackson last year is a testament to this.
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