1948 Chevy Pickup - Winning Attitude

You tend to learn a thing or two about winning and losing when you live in Las Vegas. Perhaps the most important lesson is that winning is about more than just luck--there are always ways to stack the odds in your favor. That's a tip that can be applied to all areas of life, not just gambling.

Steve Sandlin's Vegas-based '48 Chevy is the perfect example of what we're talking about. The pickup represents Steve's first foray into the world of classic trucks and he has already won big with it by earning the Goodguys Truck of the Year-Early title at the Lone Star Nationals. Winning the honor took more than beginner's luck, though. It's obvious that Steve did his best to stack the odds in his favor before attending the show.

For starters, Steve had a good game plan that began with a solid foundation. Purchased from Joe Bubel at carsofthetimes.com, the Chevy pickup was already hot rodded with a boxed frame, Mustang II IFS, 350/700-R4 power combo, and a host of other custom work. Heck, it even had a chopped top and a decent paint job. By all accounts it was a nice truck. And while the buy-in was higher than if Steve had purchased a beat-up, rusty hulk, the Chevy was a perfect platform to build upon. You've got to play big to win big, right?

Surrounding yourself with good people is another sure-fire method for winning. Steve wasted no time handing over the reigns of the project to someone he was sure could take it to the next level--Tommy White at Aloha Automotive in Port Washington, Wisconsin. A talented car builder and restorer, Tommy and his crew began upping the ante on the Chevy by installing a fully polished independent rear suspension from Kugel Komponents. The engine was also treated to an assortment of brightwork, along with an ultra-trick, one-off, handcrafted air cleaner with three-dimensional flames. Even the radiator was fitted with a custom flamed cover.

Another area to receive a significant upgrade was the '90 stepside bed, which was completely smoothed out with a custom floor and lift-up tonneau cover. The inside of the bed was painted to match the outside of the truck--a two-tone combination of PPG's Vanilla Shake and Rosewood--and a "Dragonheart" mural was added to the floor. A distinctive set of flames helps divide the exterior colors, while a set of Budnik Trilogy wheels adds a little accent between the body and the road.

A winning attitude comes from the inside, and the interior of this Chevy is no exception. It sports a smooth dash, Dolphin gauges, and the seats, console, and shifter are from an '89 Grand Am. A Budnik wheel tops the tilt column, and there are a host of other features like power windows, air conditioning, and a Sony stereo.

What does it take to be a winner? Well, it helps to have a good game plan and the assistance of talented people. But most of all it takes a winning attitude, something that both Steve and his truck have in abundance.