You just can’t stop some people from doing, or building, things their own way. That’s very much the case with Charlie Pitcher, an expert metal worker out of Pennsylvania who crafts the only first-gen Cummins pickups that could possibly be worth $100,000. He’s done something different this time around by putting years of expertise and more than 100 hours of labor into the finest aluminum truck bed topper I’ve ever seen.
I don’t get any kind of kickback for saying that, either. It’s the simple truth, and once you see what it took to put it together, I’m confident you’ll agree. This isn’t some dime-a-dozen Leer camper top, and it’s a step above even the more premium aluminum offerings you’ll find for sale by specialized companies. “I don’t feel like buying one of those because they’re all kind of crap,” Pitcher explains. “They’re flimsy, wood-frame. I’m just going to make my own.”
Pitcher started his build completely from scratch with four pieces of 2-inch angle iron that’s 1/8-inch-thick, two pieces of 1.5-inch C-channel, two pieces of 2- by 3-inch angle iron that’s 1/4-inch-thick, a piece of bar stock, and a scrap plate. These materials make up the framing, which Pitcher bent and shaped himself after determining the exact form he wanted it to take. The plan is to run it on his 1969 Dodge D200 Camper Special with a big block, though it’ll also fit his first-gen Cummins. Since both trucks have a slight arch to their roofs, he made the bed cap with a pitched top that raises a foot or two behind the cab.
With the frame in place, Pitcher installed a set of three-pane, crank-out VW Bus windows he bought off Facebook Marketplace. He got them for less than half the price of a new set—score!—and they measure out to 16 by 43 inches. They look like they were always intended for this bed cap.
Everything started taking shape from here as the crossbars were prepped for cover. Pitcher shaped the outer shell by measuring and cutting from 8-foot sheets of aluminum, and he used domed-head rivets to pull off the look. This process is much easier said than done, and he documents it all in the video below. It’s a cathartic 20-minute clip that shows the entire build from start to finish, and with so many shots of Pitcher and his three-person crew running back and forth between machines, you start to appreciate how much time this took.
The end result is a one-off product that’s sharper than anything on sale. The finishing is top-tier with those stellar barn doors and hand-cut Lexan windows out back, plus the OEM Dodge running lights mounted just above them. It feels right to call it “vintage,” but it’s not—it’s brand new, made with old-school metal fab techniques. It’s a real beaut that cost Pitcher $1,200 in materials… plus all the equipment and time necessary to make it happen.
Now, the big-block Dodge is ready for its first overnight in the woods. Pitcher plans on carrying a canoe that his dad built on top, just as God intended.
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