Third Time’s the Charm With This ‘72 Chevy C10

Dustin Reed’s 1972 Chevy C10 Proves Love Is Sweeter The Third Time Around

As we move through different seasons of life, our priorities, our tastes, and even the people we hold dear change. As much as we are encouraged to embrace the new and put the past behind us, a rare few can persevere through these changes and come out on the far side with relationships and identity intact, making the conscious choice to build on what we have instead of casting it aside to chase something shiny and new. 

Such build on what we have instead of casting it aside to chase something shiny and new “I got it just after I dropped out of college in 2000, and it was a piece of junk that I picked up as a project,” Dustin explains. Built on a budget, and subject to the prevailing winds of automotive culture, the first two iterations weren’t quite as timeless and understated as what you see now. 

“We did silly stuff, like super-slammed and air-bagged out, the kind of thing that was popular at the time, where you could lay frame,” he admits. “You get older, and you get smarter, and I wanted something I could actually track, and that’s what it is built for now. You know things change over the years, funding changes, and this is actually my third attempt at a build. I like it better now.”

As a successful general contractor today, Reed finally has the resources to do justice to his Chevy’s potential. The most striking thing about this truck isn’t the modern, cammed-up LS3 under the hood, or the C4 Corvette front suspension, or Corvette brakes and coilovers on all four corners – it’s the way this Chevy has been turned into a true mid-engine layout, with the firewall extensively relieved to make room for the engine’s radical relocation.

“The craziest part of the whole thing is how the engine is set back 10 inches into the cab,” Reed says. “I was trying to achieve a 50/50 weight distribution, and sure enough, when we scaled it, it was dead on. There’s no truck that’s like that.” Reed’s goal is to maximize grip and turn some heads with the way his C10 turns. His chosen venue? “Autocross at first, and I am relying on Curt [Hill, of Hill’s Rod and Custom in Pleasant Hill, CA] to help me out, but I eventually want to run at Thunderhill and places like that.”

For street duty, Reed’s Chevy rolls on 20-inch 5 spoke wheels shod in 255/45ZR20 Milestar MS932 XP+ ultra-high-performance tires. These feature an asymmetric tread design with large outside shoulder blocks to provide consistent grip under heavy cornering loads, and 3D siping on the inside shoulder blocks combined with angled radial grooves and broad circumferential channels to direct water away from the tread face in bad weather.

While Dustin’s relationship with his Chevy has run hot and cold through the years, he’s glad he stuck with it, even though there are some things he might do differently if he could start from scratch. “I would do a full custom chassis rather than modify it the way I did,” he admits. ”It’s all one fell swoop that way, rather than messing with all that stock stuff, boxing the frame rails, and grafting all the components. I’d rather just roll in a ‘done’ chassis and drop the body on it. I did it the long, expensive way.”

Regardless, he’s happy with where they are today and finds that he’s getting back as much as he put in. “The way I look at it, this is something I really do need,” he explains. “Everybody needs an outlet. It’s almost like a way to meditate. It’s counseling. It’s therapy. It’s my out.”

Mysterious Stranger: 1956 Chevrolet 3100

For every marquee Ring Brothers or Foose build you’ve ever seen cross the auction block at Mecum or Barrett-Jackson, there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of hot rods and customs built in small shops you’ve never heard of that trade hands every day. Some are rough, some are so-so, and some are as perfect and polished as the best iron you’ll see on the show floor at SEMA.

Eric Samuels of High-Line Motorsports in Brea, California, is in the business of sorting the sheep from the goats – working with his father who founded High-Line more than 40 years ago, it’s his job to identify quality classic cars, customs, and hot rods with just a limited inspection and often no information on a vehicle’s history.

Such is the case with this 1956 Chevrolet 3100 pickup; per Samuels, “We took it in trade. We got it from somebody who bought it already done, so we weren’t able to find out who built it originally.” Even so, the quality of the work shines through, from the paint to the interior to the driveline. Under the hood of the 3100 sits a small block Chevy V8 of unknown specification, which by itself is a rarity for a modern hot rod.

“Everything done nowadays has an LS engine in it, and for this to even have dual carbs was a little strange,” Samuels admits. Those twin Demons hint at more than 350 cubes, but without disassembly, it’s impossible to know the engine’s exact specifications. “Unless we open things up to find out, it’s hard to know for sure, and between time and money it’s something we usually don’t do.”

Regardless of exact spec, that SBC backed by a 700R4 overdrive transmission and a reasonable final drive ratio (Samuels guesses the 10-bolt is running 3.11 gears) makes it a comfortable cruiser. The air suspension with an onboard compressor and in-cab controls let the driver go from stanced to road-ready at the touch of a button, and every amenity is in place for a daily driver.

Part of that nuanced ride comes thanks to the Milestar MS932 Sport tires wrapping the Billet Specialties wheels. The right rubber makes a huge difference in performance and comfort, especially in low profile applications like this pickup. It’s easy to end up with a buckboard ride quality with the wrong short-sidewall performance tires, but these 225/55R17 front and 255/55R18 rear tires are engineered to give an outstanding balance of traction, treadwear, and road manners to match the refinement of the rest of the package.

“It has all the late model comforts – you have leather, a tilt column, power windows, power disc brakes and power steering, Vintage Air – it’s basically a late model car with an old-school body,” Samuels explains. “Being around stuff a while, you know ‘this is done right, this is rough, this will sell, this won’t.’ Don’t get me wrong. There have been times when we’ve bought a car at auction that was a lot worse than we thought, but you take the good with the bad, and hopefully it’s more good.”

Though this Chevy 3100’s origins will forever be shrouded in mystery, it’s definitely one of the good ones. The bottom line for Samuels? “This one was so nice that it pretty much sold itself.”