Everything Old is New Again

With the recent resurgence of old-school-styled trucks, everyone is enjoying the nostalgia of the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. And for those youngins who weren’t around or just don’t remember, those times were groovy, rad, and dope, respectively. Wild paint schemes were the norm throughout these decades, each with their own flair, plenty of bold colors, and airbrushed details throughout.  

The beginning of custom trucks as we know them today saw the emergence of the scene as a significant part of pop culture. As a continuation of the hot rod and custom car culture of the previous decades, custom trucks began to gain traction, and enthusiasts began modifying their trucks by lowering the suspensions, installing unique body kits, and applying eye-catching paint jobs. This era witnessed the rise of iconic truck customization trends such as the “California Look” and “Street Freak” style.

Truck customization in the ’90s reached new heights with the introduction and advancement of unique suspension systems, intricate tribal airbrushed graphics (a.k.a. the “Kal Koncepts Look”), and custom fabrication. Customized trucks became symbols of personal style, individuality, and automotive creativity, and the wild trends that were created trickled down to other sub-genres of the automotive world, such as hod rods and imports. The ’90s were the heyday of high tech, bitchin’ billet wheels, and accessories, and although these things may have started with hot rods, it was the custom truck scene that really made them popular and brought billet to the masses.

SPIRIT OF THE ’90s

Yancey Busby is a product of all the aforementioned decades, but it’s the ’90s that really had an effect on his love for custom vehicles. As a member of Relaxed Atmosphere, a club that was born from this golden era of custom trucks, he eventually decided that he wanted a ride that encapsulated the soul of a ’90s sport truck build with some proper, tasteful updates thrown into the mix for good measure.

Having owned an OBS in his late teens during the ’90s, Yancey figured that getting another one would be the perfect way to reminisce about days past. After picking up a super clean ’97 C1500, he scheduled some time with Eli and Justin Griffin at Twin States Rod Shop in Meridian, Mississippi, to come up with a game plan for the truck. What you see on these pages is the result of that discussion, and we don’t think it could get any more perfect.

MODERN FLAIR

The crew at Twin States soon got busy on the Chevy, installing a complete air-ride suspension before turning their attention to the body. The original taillight openings were welded up, and ’94-’99 Cadillac De Ville taillight buckets were grafted into place for an iconic look. More popular changes, such as the tailgate handle flip/shave, a molded roll pan, a customized front bumper, and a shaved third brake light and stake pocket holes were also incorporated into the design to complete the must-have body mods of a late ’90s-themed truck.

Once the sparks had settled and the truck was in fresh primer, Eli doused the truck in its factory color, GM Olympic White, including the GMC grille and billet inserts before handing the truck off to Pat Maxwell of Maxwell Auto Designs for some of his world famous custom graphics. Max got down with some blue, pink, and orange hues to really make the truck pop and added copious amounts of airbrushed shadowing and pinstriping to bring his handiwork into a new dimension. He even painted the name of the truck, “Grass Money,” on it, as Yancey owns Xtreme Lawn Care.

BILLET AND NEON

The final crowning touch to Yancey’s OBS was a customized interior, done at Twin States. The blue plaid and leather textile work gives a nod to days past while still looking fresh, and plenty of billet aluminum accessories were affixed to brighten things up a bit. A custom stereo system consisting of an Alpine head unit/ and Rockford-Fosgate amps and speakers dressed up with neon lighting add plenty of high-fidelity sound to an already amazing build.

Yancey tells us that he still has a few changes in mind for the truck, such as swapping out the wheels and redoing the suspension a bit, but in the meantime he’s been busy hitting as many shows as possible in between lawn gigs. Hey, gotta pay for that next round of rad mods!

Truck Specs

Owner 

Yancey Busby

Elberta, AL
1997 Chevy C1500
Relaxed Atmosphere

Chassis & Suspension

Work performed by Twin States Rod Shop
Frame notched for axle clearance
Ekstensive Metal Works 4-link
Custom air-ride suspension
16-inch Wilwood brakes front and rear

Wheels & Tires

20×8 and 22×10 Schott Galaxy 5 wheels
255/35R20 and 285/30R22 Diamond Back Blueline tires

Engine & Drivetrain

Original 5.7L engine
Original 4L60E automatic transmission

Body & Paint

Work performed by Twin States Rod Shop and Maxwell Auto Designs
Shaved stake pocket holes
Shaved factory taillights
Shaved third brake light
Cadillac De Ville taillights
Custom roll pan
GMC grille
Customized front bumper
Trenz billet inserts in grille and bumper
Repainted GM Olympic White
Custom graphics using blue, pink, and orange

Interior & Stereo

Work performed by Twin States Rod Shop
Snowden bench seat
Blue plaid and leather upholstery
Billet steering wheel
Billet accessories throughout interior and door jambs
Classic Instruments gauges
Alpine head unit
Rockford-Fosgate amplifiers
Rockford-Fosgate component speakers
Rockford-Fosgate 12-inch subwoofers
Custom speaker enclosures
Custom amp rack with neon light accents