By Rob Fortier – Images by Brett Macadam
Back in the late ’80s, I attended graphic art school in Phoenix, and one of the things I was good at from the get-go was color composition. Beyond matching socks and coordinating outfits from an early age, I’ve always had a knack for putting the right color combinations together … except when it came to “greens”! (Mom knew better than to buy me any green outfits, as I simply wouldn’t wear that color!)
Now, while the personal attire regimen has remained green-free to this day, the one area where that mantra does not apply is when it comes to vehicle paint and interior schemes (motorcycles, well, not so much!). That said, I’ve been watching via the socials the build of Donny Klassen’s “Avocado Truck”—his 1976 Squarebody that he and his brother Michael from Cornerstone Auto Fab (both out of Ontario, Canada) put together over the last year and a half, give or take a few months. With its digital rendering and obvious name derived from the one-year-only color combo, I knew what to expect … but boy, I was super impressed when I saw the finished product at SEMA.
But it wasn’t until Dino’s Git-Down the following weekend that I not only got to appreciate the Avocado Truck more intimately in person, I got to meet its owner, Donny, and see how enthusiastic he was about how well the Chevy turned out, and you can probably see why. The colors work so well together—so much so, you wonder why Chevrolet only used them together on the Squarebody for one production year (that I’m aware of), and combined with the matched Apex leather interior, the Chevy orange engine, and those brand-spanking-new U.S. Mags Prescotts, well … four-wheeled feng shui, just as the title implies!
After initially acquiring a seemingly creampuff YE9 (top model option for the “Rounded Line” C/K in 1976) Medium Lime Metallic Silverado in the summer of 2024, Cornerstone Auto Fab kicked things off in August of that year—got the Avocado in the ripening stages, as it were—by appropriately updating the stock chassis. Out back, after Z’ing the frame, a Watts link-assisted parallel four-link was incorporated with the factory (4-inch narrowed) 12-bolt that’s now fitted with 13-inch Baer SS4+ brakes and Air Lift Performance bags. Up front, the stock control arms have been modified for ALP bags and now use 2-inch dropped spindles mounting Baer’s 14-inch Pro+ brakes with KYB shocks dampening the ride and Air Lift 3H/FloAIR control system managing the profile. Replacing the old 5.7 SBC 350 is a new 6.0L LS outfitted with Holley EFI and Terminator xMax ECU, cast-iron exhaust manifolds (feeding a stainless Lyell’s/Flowmaster FLO FX exhaust), and Holley’s mid-mount front drive. AMD’s repop Chevrolet script valve covers were mounted using Delmo Speed billet adapters. U.S. Mags’ recently released Prescott two-piece billets in 22×9 and 22×12 (wearing cast gray-coated centers) wear Lionheart 30-series radials, giving the Silverado a perfect modern-retro look.
As for the exterior, Cornerstone performed a handful of custom mods, from raising the bed floor, shaving and tucking the bumpers, fabbing new firewall and engine panels, and adding a pair of Slosh Tubz and NV Machine Works hood braces before redoing that OG paint scheme in modern PPG flare. Michael even painted the smoothed bumpers in their natural white, while the grille and stainless side trim were supplied by Auto Metal Direct.
Avocado Truck was wrapped up, literally, without leaving Michael’s shop with the perfectly color-matched Apex Leather interior with complementing ACC carpeting. In the process, a Custom Autosound/Kicker stereo, Vintage Air A/C, and Dakota Digital’s VHX gauges—all that just-right modern-retro manner.
Hat’s off to Donny and Michael Klassen—Avocado Truck is, once again, very impressive four-wheeled feng shui!
Check out this story in our digital edition here.
