Vehicle feature brought to you by Race-Dezert x Jason Stilgebouer.
What do you do with an old rusty work truck that you retired from a family business? Some would send their truck to auction; some would sell it and buy a new one. Or if you are Chris List, you might see an opportunity to give the old truck a new life as a prerunner – and that’s exactly what he did while paying homage to the old rusty patina it once had.
This C10 Prerunner started its life out as a 1982 Chevy C10 2500 long-bed truck for Chris’s family business. It was complete with a ladder rack and a bench seat, nothing more than a company vehicle. Chris and his family were avid off road enthusiasts, and when it came time to retire the truck and sell it, they decided to give it a new chance on life. They sent it off BTF Fabrication in Upland, California, to begin what would start out as building a mild play truck which would turn into a six-year build of race capable 101 equipped 1450 truck.
Specs
Chassis: BTF Fabrication built 1982 Chevy C10 2500
Weight: 5000lbs
Engine: Carbureted Chevy 400 small block
Cooling: Rear-mounted radiators and cooling fans
Wheels: Method Race Wheels 101
Exhaust: Black Widow
Transmission: Turbo 400
Tires: 40×13.5r17 Toyo
Front Suspension: BTF Fabrication Center-mount 26″
Rear Suspension: BTF Fabrication Triangulated 4-link 28″
Axle: Camburg full float 9-inch
Shocks: King Race Series 3.0 Coil-overs and Shocks
Lights: HID
Navigation: Lowrance GPS
Communication: PCI Race Radios
Seats: PRP Seats
Safety: BTF Custom Cage
Once BTF got the truck, they took immediate action by cutting off everything and leaving only the cab, doors, and 12 inches of the frame. Everything else was hand-built and fabricated by them. This truck would become one of their flagship projects as a one-off build while simultaneously manufacturing long travel kits for customers. The result of their project is absolutely incredible.
Chris wanted a truck that could go race if he ever decided to down the line, so while retaining full steel doors, the truck has a custom aluminum interior set up for racing. Race radios, aluminum dash, GPS, PRP Race Seats, and vice grips as window cranks are all a part of the incredible details of this truck.
When looking at this truck, there is a major detail that never goes unnoticed, and that is the patina. When it came down to finally painting or wrapping the truck, Chris wanted to do something different and pay homage to the old life the truck once lived as a shop truck and leave the patina. For obvious reasons, fiberglass doesn’t rust, so he had the original patina look airbrushed onto the rest of the truck. This detail has developed into its own design language throughout the truck as a raw and industrial look. It is a detail that reminds us of where this truck had started its life out as.
It is always refreshing to see incredible builds executed in a way that sparks creativity and innovation; that is exactly what BTF Fabrication did for Chris and his old shop truck. We know he isn’t racing it anytime soon, but he will be out in the desert enjoying it until then.
