Thanks To The Owner's Vision (And A Little Sweet Talk), This Trokita's Days As A Junkyard Prowler Have Come To An End.
Most of you readers will recognize this story because it's happened to someone you know or it may have even happened to you at some point. We're talking about buying a so-called junky truck so that you can haul stuff without the worry of scratching or dinging it up because it's junky, right? Wrong!
Rudy Gonzalez of Fontana, California, is one of those people. Finding an old truck to be used to clean out the backyard and the occasional trip to the local city dump was the mission. Rudy has an eye for style and class so he couldn't help it when he spotted this rare '60 Chevy Apache pickup. It looked cool and was priced right, so he bought it and drove it home.
Once home, Rudy's amazed wife asked the ultimate question, "What are you going to do with that?" Rudy explained that he needed a work truck to use around the house and to clean up the backyard. It may have been followed by, honey, darling, sweetie, mi amour, or something like that; we don't really know what sweet talk Rudy used on his wife, but it worked and she said, just don't let it get out of hand.
Now don't get us wrong, Rudy's wife, Claudia, is into cars big-time. Her current ride is a black Dodge Magnum on 20s, and she too has had plenty of custom vehicles, but she's married to an auto body dude and you know what that means.
Rudy loves customizing, but he's in Oldies Car Club and his heart is still old school. It took just a little more than a week of having the truck and Rudy was already sanding and prepping it for paint. His wife said, don't get too carried away, but at the same time, she started saving money to have the parts chromed. It was too late to stop the customizing frenzy.
Claudia was so excited with the truck as it came together that she started to drive it when she could. One day, while on the way to the grocery store, an old Chevy enthusiast commented on what a great '63 Chevy truck she was driving. Claudia said thanks, but it's a '60. The man then said that it's got the wrong hood. After some research, Rudy found out that his '60 did indeed have the wrong hood. So the search was on. Rudy's wife again stepped up to the plate, and lo and behold, she found a hood, which Rudy inspected for correctness and damage.
With the new hood in place and painted to perfection, it was time to hit the shows. The truck did great; it even placed at an LRM Tour show. After six years of just wanting an old truck to haul trash in, the little trokita is a bona-fide show truck. It still gets driven daily, but not so much to the dump anymore. Rudy's once-skeptical wife still cruises the truck with their son Anthony, and Rudy tells LRM that he couldn't have completed "Cat Eyes" without her supporting his vision of what the vehicle could be.