1972 Chevy 1500 – Fred P.

My grandpa bought the truck new in ’72. He used it as a daily driver and on the weekend, he would haul my dad’s race car to the local track. That went on till the late 70’s. After that, he always kept that truck up. Drove it back and forth to work until he retired then it was his truck. He drove it everywhere he went.

My High School best friend and I took auto body in school and after we graduated, we painted some cars on the side. My grandpa’s truck was one of them. This was about 1988. It looked brand new again and he was always proud of his old truck. And always told me that he wanted me to have that truck if anything ever happened to him. Which I never wanted to get it that way, because it would mean he was gone. Told him I wasn’t in any hurry to get that old truck.
Well, by my surprise in 1996 he called me up. Told me to come get that old truck. I asked him way. He said he got him a newer truck. Again I asked why, there wasn’t anything wrong with that old truck. He said he knew that, but he wanted another truck and wanted me to have that one. Truth be known, my S-10 wasn’t running at the time and I had to borrow my dad’s truck, so that’s why he got him another truck so he could go ahead and give me that one.
So I ended up driving that one for years and in 1999, he passed away. So I knew I would never get rid of that truck. So about 10 years later, that old truck was ready for a makeover. The years had took its toll on her. I used it to haul go- karts to the track for my son to race and anything else I needed to haul. It was took care of, but used.
In 2009, my dad asked me if I wanted to redo that truck. I said sure, so we pulled it in his shop and began to take it apart piece by piece. After we got it completely tore apart, we started cleaning it and painted every single nut, bolt and part of that truck. My best friend that I talked about earlier had a body shop by this time and I took the body parts to him and he painted them piece by piece and we would put it back together little at a time. Upgrading it as we went. It took 3 years, but turned out beautiful. I take it to local shows and been fortunate to win a lot of trophies with it.
My dad passed away April 15 2024 and the time we spent working on that truck is something I will always cherish. If it wasn’t for him asking me if I wanted to redo that truck. Not sure if it would look as good as it does now. Thanks to everyone who helped with restoring and making it what it is today. LMC Truck for the new parts we used and all the great people..
My dad Fred Phillips Sr. My friend Kory Stelling for helping us tear it apart. My best friend Craig Osteen for getting the body painted. And all the guys at his shop who all had a hand in getting it ready to paint and putting a beautiful paint job on it..

And most of all, my grandpa (Robert Phillips) for trusting me to take care of his pride and joy when he was gone. Thank you.