By Rob Fortier – Photography by John Jackson
In a hobby consumed by amazing Squarebody C10 pickups and Blazers, what does it take to be different yet not too over the top? The answer: The collaboration between Ricky Holly and Robert Mesa, Chris Pate, and Jose Pena … aka Lolita.
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When asked the proverbial “why?” Ricky told us: “The inspiration behind the Unibody was that we had never seen a Unibody Squarebody before. With the thousands of C10s today it’s almost impossible to do something different, so we decided, why not try it?! I’d say the hardest part was finding a solid donor truck that was in decent shape and not too overpriced to cut up. Ultimately, I had to buy a [’79] Blazer and an [’85 Fleetside] truck to pull the Unibody off.”
As mentioned, the SEMA 2022 debut build was a team effort, headed up by Mesa’s team at Alamo Customs in Alvin, Texas, where all the major cosmetic and structural surgery occurred. From the aesthetically perfect blending of pickup and Blazer—with a not-too-stubby wheelbase courtesy of the custom, Air Lift–equipped and Supercharged LT4-powered Acme chassis foundation by Pena’s DRU Custom Builds—to the handful of appropriately unique custom touches—such as the one-off grille to the beautifully paint-finished/retractable Mar-K bed wood. Alamo finished the Unibody in a very tasteful mix of PPG metallic maroon and light tan, with non-chrome accents, like the bumpers, trim and, Ricky’s signature touch, the 22-/24-inch Raceline Newport wheels. The third member of that winning Texas team, Chris Pate’s Mobile Toys, finished off Lolita in showstopping style with a full Apex leather-covered custom interior featuring woodgrain-painted inserts, one-off Dakota Digital gauges, a full Sony/Gladen/Mosconi sound system, and a matched Raceline steering wheel atop an ididit column.
“I think the most rewarding experience that I had with the truck was winning the Truck of the Year award at the Triple Crown of Rodding. With the amazing amount of quality cars, I think that was the highlight of the year for me.” Ricky adds, “And now that all the dust has finally settled, for my next build I think we are going to do a ‘64-66 Suburban. In the meantime, I would like to thank my wife for always being patient with me will in the process of building these trucks and supporting me at every show, and I’d like to thank builders Robert Mesa at Alamo Customs, Chris Pate at Mobile Toys, and Jose Pena at DRU Custom Builds.”
Until the next one!
