Special Dark

The Art of Vintage Truck Indulgence.

- John Mata Jr.

"GROWING UP AS A KID WAS TOUGH BECAUSE I CAME FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS,” CHRIS BURGESS, OWNER OF THIS SLICK ’52 GMC PICKUP, TOLD US. “I basically had nothing, and I learned at an early age that to get anywhere in life, you have to work hard. So I did.” This isn’t some kind of lead up to a story about a guy who has had the same vision of the same truck stuck in his head since childhood. Chris has never owned a custom anything until this point in his life (he’s currently 43), but he’s always appreciated the look of older customized pickups.

After being discharged from the military, Chris drove a truck for a living. He wasn’t a stranger to putting in a full day’s work, and he has since done very well for himself riding the roads between coasts. The idea of buying or building a truck hadn’t been in the stars for him in the past because he was away from home a lot. He never really had a burning desire to chase a build until the day arrived that ended up taking his life in a different direction. “I was hauling a load through Kansas, and I spotted a Model A two-door sedan with faded ugly brown paint and black wheels and fenders. I instantly fell in love with the vision of this look on an old pickup. I’d never owned a custom vehicle before, but at that point, I was able to imagine myself driving a truck that could look like that.”