For many of us, mid 2020 may not end up being a point in time we remember favorably; for Central California’s Shannon Hartley, in June of that year he acquired what many of us would consider a “dream truck” … a museum-quality (literally) creampuff 1965 SWB/big-window Chevy C10 with a whopping 13 miles on the odometer!
The Fleetside, previously owned by John Staluppi, the man behind Cars of Dreams Museum in Palm Beach, Florida (where the C10 had been on display in the back corner for the last 10 years before Shannon purchased it), is absolutely what classic truck dreams are made of. That said, for many of us, those dreams have happier endings than a completely stock C10 can provide, and, as such, Shannon had plans for this ’65.
In May 2021, Shannon’s plans began to unfold as he delivered the truck to Tre5 Customs in Glendale, California, for what he called a “21st century creature comfort makeover.”
With the intention NOT to disrupt any of Chevrolet’s originality on the exterior (remember, this truck had 13 miles on the clock!), the first order of business was to swap out the stock chassis for a full AccuAir e-Level–equipped GSI Machine and Fabrication 1963-66 C10 air-ride chassis (fabricated IFS, four-bar with Watts link, Ridetech/Fox shocks, the whole package). Additionally, Tre5 added Baer Pro+ 14-inch brakes and 22-inch Schott Volcan EXL wheels at each corner, a 376ci Don Hardy–built LS3 with an in-house fabbed stainless exhaust using Ultimate headers and Borla mufflers, Lokar-shifted 6L80E GM overdrive, 3.70-geared Currie 9-inch rearend. (With that repurposing, there was one OE exterior item admittedly altered—the bed floor, which was raised with custom wheeltubs using a Mar-K custom-fit, raised bed floor articulated via LS Fabrication hinges and Dakota Digital actuators.) Underhood, Hart Fab wheeltubs were integrated and color-matched along with the modified firewall by iKandy Paintworks.
The interior, suffice it to say, did not retain its original glory (not a bad thing at all), as Tre5 enlisted their go-to upholstery specialist, Elevated Design, to swap out the stock bench for a set of TMI Products classic bucket seats and construct a custom center console (dual wrapped with matching leather and blue flannel wool carpet) housing the Restomod A/C controls and Electronic Sport Shifter (a custom lower dash valence houses the billet vents). The interior confines were further creature-comforted out with a RetroSound/Morel/JL Audio sound system, Dakota Digital gauges, and an Ididit tilt column with a Split-Grip Budnik Tungsten steering wheel.
Nearly a year to the day, Tre5 delivered Shannon’s 21st Century Classic C10, and it goes without saying—that original mileage has definitely multiplied in the last three years!
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