By Rob Fortier – Images by Wes Allison
As a magazine editor, you get to see lots of cool, behind-the-scenes stuff—like, a lot! And over the last 30-plus years, I’ve been fortunate enough to not only see but be part of so much hot rod history. But can you imagine being a teenager in the early 1960s and having the opportunity to work for THE hot rod shop in Southern California, Bell Auto Parts? That’s exactly what Rick Van Unen found himself doing in 1963—that, and a whole lot more.
Working the parts counter alongside Bell Auto’s founder, Roy Richter, and manager, Kenny Parks (brother of NHRA founder Wally Parks), Rick must’ve surely felt like a kid in a candy store—a high-performance goodies candy store! “Because Bell Auto was the originator of Bell Helmets as well as Cragar Industries, it offered an atmosphere that a kid could learn a lot from, especially from the designer of the Cragar S/S wheel, Jot Horne,” Rick recalls.
After serving a tour of duty in Vietnam, Rick returned home to continue his career in the aftermarket parts industry, eventually finding himself in the 1980s becoming the president of 4×4 and off-road vehicle parts giant Dick Cepek Tires, credited as one of the first ORV enterprises of its kind (established the same year Rick went to work for Bell!). Of course, over the years, he’s owned quite a few hot rod–inspired vehicles as well—from 1970s Camaros and Chevelles to a few fullsize Pontiacs, including a ’66 Catalina 2+2 built by Goolsby Customs.
In 2016, Rick, now a NorCal resident, got the bug to “build a very nice and fast Pro Touring–style C10 for cross-country classic tours,” so he sought out and eventually acquired a very nice restoration from a private collection in Nebraska. Rick enlisted the help of Rob Wersch, Jim Guerero, and Dan Crisp, and two years later, his LSA-powered, Scott’s Hotrods–suspended/Wilwood-braked/Budnik-wheeled, hot rod red–upholstered (by none other than our old friend, Wanda’s Custom Interiors in SoCal!) Restomod was munching the interstate miles.
In 2017, Rick purchased a running/driving 1966 Suburban out of Arizona and again enlisted Jim Guerero along with East Bay Muscle Cars to retransform the Chevy to his cross-country driving needs in 2019. That resulted in a fresh Lokar LS Classic Series retro’d LS3 (reminiscent of a carbureted SBC), scratch-built stainless exhaust, a new Ridetech torque arm rear suspension to complement the existing Wilwood brakes and TCI front suspension now sporting 18-inch Delrays (color-matched to the Toyota Bronze Metallic that further complements the tan 2017 Tahoe interior updated with Dakota Digital’s RTX series and Vintage Air, just like the C10) with OE caps.
At the time our now-retired ace lensman Wes Allison shot these, Rick had racked up thousands of miles on both odometers—and we’re confident those numbers will continue to climb!
Check out this story in our digital edition here.
