The fact that Holley has always been on the cutting edge when it comes to high performance is a given-as is the fact that these guys are all true hot rodders at heart. That said the Holley crew is constantly striving to broaden their product line by a perfect melding of engineering and real-world trial and error. One way they go about their winning ways of product development is by building project vehicles as testbeds. Though they have, and are, assembling a cadre of test vehicles of every description, their latest is the one that really caught our classic truck eye-a shop truck-styled '67 Chevy C-10.
To me there's nothing cooler than a bitchin shop truck as a tip of the hat to the commercial lineage of the iconic American pickup truck, and Holley's new baby is one fine example!
The Holley Shop Truck concept serves a few important interests. First, it gives the company a perfect workhorse for developing even more generalized performance products. It allows them to work on a bunch of new classic truck-specific items, and it also gave 'em an excuse to build a way-cool shop truck they'd be able to have a ball with. Who could argue with a theory like that? Well, not us that's for sure! Holley has enlisted the aid of the professional fabricators and builders at So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona, California, to aid in the truck's assembly, and lucky for us we were able to stick our head in the door at So-Cal every now and again to check out its progress so we could share some of the Holley Shop Truck's details with you. We'll also treat you to a full-color feature in our next issue!
The folks at Holley started their project with an amazingly solid foundation. The '67 C-10 was a near flawless older restoration that made its "rodstoration" a straightforward endeavor.
Holley began the process with the discovery and purchase of a really clean and totally stock '67 C-10. Visually the truck would be destined to have a real vintage shop truck look, featuring a factory-style paintjob treated with a hand-lettered early style Holley logo on its doors, a killer hot rod stance, and a set of one-off vintage wheels. And since the guys at Holley plan on driving this baby-and driving it hard-it was updated with a slew of new, performance-oriented suspension, brakes, and drivetrain.
The original 230 was as stout as the truck itself was solid-but a real hot rod truck needs a bit more in the horsepower department and who better to accomplish that than the folks at Holley and the craftsmen at So-Cal Speed Shop.
So without further adieu, let's take a peek behind the scenes at So-Cal and show you some teaser shots as the Holley Shop Truck came together. And remember to stay tuned for the full-color feature next month for the full scoop!
