I visited a guy selling his truck on Craigslist in my state. I told him I just wanted to see, up close, what a really nice truck looked like and maybe take a short test drive. He was a retiree and had a local restoration/classic/rod shop build his truck for him. They searched and found a 1953 out West in no rust condition. Brought it home and everything was rebuilt. Converted to open drive with S10 rear axle. 235 engine. The chassis was new when completed. New leaf springs with liners. Added modern under-dash A/C and heating. Modern aluminum rims and radial tires. Oak bed. Interior and exterior in dark blue. Upholstery in leather the color similar to a baseball glove. Sound proofing and insulation. He showed me his picture album of beginning to end and he kept all the receipts that went into building the truck. I think this was 10 years ago. He showed me what he had in parts alone. $45,000. He said I was nickeled and dimed to death by small parts but I was determined to have it all done right.
I asked him why he was selling it, he hung his head and said that he and his wife drove it to a car show. They won first place in it's category. Coming home his wife told him she didn't like riding in it.
The moral of the story is, you only need a good driving truck that is okay to look at. Leave the wife at home and take the dog instead. JUST KIDDING, but it does show how important it is to include your soul mate in the decision making process.
