EDIT SEARCH - YEAR MAKE MODEL
One of the things I like best about prowling through a classic truck parts catalog or website is that it isn’t all about me. As the proud owner of a somewhat rusty 1965 GMC Stepside, I naturally have a great interest in looking through all the wonderful additions that I’d love to put on my truck. It’s amazing to see all the great new parts and fabulous concepts that are being introduced at a constant rate. Yet my fascination doesn’t end there.
If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time
It’s also fun to take a trip through time and look at all the different models and the evolutionary changes that take place from one year to the next. It’s like hopping into a little truck time machine that shows you how ideas blossom and die, only to be replaced by new and (sometimes) better ideas. For me in particular, I’ve always loved the old floor starters from a bygone and more trusting era. How about the pop-up cowl-based ventilation systems? Don’t get me started on wind wings. The world really started to go to hell when they stopped making them in favor of air conditioning.
The Past and the Future Are One
Just because I love the past doesn’t mean that I don’t simultaneously respect the future. Much as I cherish my traditional small block Chevy, I have to admit that there is no easier way to find incredible amounts of horsepower than by swapping in even a mildly-built LS. Not even the strongest, most lovingly-built small block can possibly compete, much as it gags me to say it.
Americans Build Better Mousetraps
It’s good that aftermarket providers have tackled the nuts-and-bolts challenges of mating 21st century motors to Elvis Presley differentials. The nightmare shrinks to just an everyday exercise in timeless garage cursing, thanks to the men who pioneered these things and shared their knowledge with the rest of us.
You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down
If you are one of those guys spending his weekends and nights figuring out how to mate up a Rolls Royce Merlin out of a P-51 Mustang to an 8-speed automatic out of a wrecked LeSabre, don’t be shy. Let the rest of us know what you are doing and how it’s going. We might just have a little insight of our own to offer. That makes all of us better off.