Sammy. Uttering that name immediately conjures up both visual and audio memories, the first of which permeating my cranial cavity is Hagar’s song “Red”! And indeed the Mr. Cabo Wabo is the moniker in which Hill’s Hot Rods referenced when naming Bob Ward’s (GMC-grilled) 1996 Chevy, as Jason Hill himself recalls.
“We [Hill’s Hot Rods] built this CK1500 to bring back some old memories to a rather famous Squarebody from back in the past, ‘Red Rocker;’ a passing of the torch in a way. It has been 20 years since that truck was built and it was time to see an OBS version done. Cutting our teeth on CK truck builds over 30 years ago made this build a lot of fun for the Hill’s crew,” Hill says.
That rather famous truck Hill alluded to is none other than ex-Truckin’ feature editor Travis Noack’s 1985 Squarebody—done in 2004 back when I was editorially trying to convince the powers that were that first-gen Squarebody C10s belonged in Primedia’s sister publication Classic Trucks magazine (I was right, but would’ve built my Spanish Gold 1975 Cheyenne regardless!). Almost exactly 30 years later, Hill’s Hot Rods teamed up with JD Glassworks (also in Lubbock, Texas) for the four-wheeled rocker reunion, aka Sammy!
Bob’s CK1500 transition started out with a full-custom ACME Chassis Factory 1988-98 airbagged foundation featuring CNC-bent/laser-cut ’rails, in-house fabbed suspension components and crossmembers/mounts, as well as (on their Stage IV option, as used) Wilwood Pro spindles and 14-inch discs and Slam Specialties ’bags at all four corners. Between the fabricated framerails lies a Whipple-supercharged LS3 controlled by a Holley Terminator XMAX feeding a built 4L80E overdrive with a Moser-equipped, narrowed 10-bolt out back. Staggered and powdercoated 22-/24-inch Intros wearing Pirelli P Zero Z-rated rubber round out the chassis package.
On top of adding the incognito grin (the grille/frontal fascia with a billet insert), Hill’s smoothed and gapped every square inch of the Chevy, pinched and tucked the front bumper, handmade a rear roll pan, and crafted a custom, raised bed floor with a hinged centersection. As an homage to its four-wheeled predecessor, Hill coated the exterior generously in PPG Flame Red topped with white-to-yellow flames tipped in blue by Pat Maxwell of Maxwell Auto Designs.
Lastly, after wiring and installing a full Kicker Audio system (obviously it has to have ample—heavy on the “amp”—output for the tunes!), JD Glassworks did their thing with yards of Moore & Giles hazelnut leather, from the dash to the Snowden bucket seats to the door panels and custom center console, all with complementing brown UltraSuede and medium brown Ultra square-weave carpet below. In the interior process, Dakota Digital HDX Silver Alloy gauges, painted/wrapped Billet Specialties steering wheel, and Vintage Air Gen 5 climate control were all added.
To solidify the 2024 “reunion tour,” both Sammy and the Red Rocker were on display side by side at Dino’s Git-Down in Arizona this past November!
Check out this story in our digital edition here.
