Modern heavy-duty trucks aren’t lacking in capability or creature comforts. You can now get a Ford Super Duty chassis cab in luxury Platinum trim, after all. But when it comes to swagger, they’ve got nothing on the trucks of decades past.
Nothing on the market today compares to this Hot Shot Hauler, which will cross the block at an upcoming Mecum auction in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 23. It’s based on a 1988 Chevrolet 3500 dually and was professionally converted into what is essentially a mini semi truck with a fifth wheel and expanded second-row seating area that doubles as a sleeper. And it looks totally rad.
The truck is bedecked in period-appropriate stripes and a forest of antennas. The modified cab curls up in the back like a giant ducktail spoiler, and is topped with air horns. Massive chrome mirrors ensure good visibility while pulling a trailer and an utter inability to negotiate drive-thrus. Contrasting the color exterior, the interior is mostly different shades of brown (but that’s also not unusual for a truck of this vintage), and that includes the privacy curtains for the rear of the cab.
The Hot Shot gets its hauling ability from a 454-cubic-inch (7.4-liter) gasoline V8 that makes an estimated 230 horsepower and 385 pound-feet of torque. It’s connected to a three-speed automatic transmission, and fed by three fuel tanks to maximize range. This was also one of the first squarebody Chevy pickups with throttle-body fuel injection instead of carburetors, GM having made that switch in 1987. A previous owner also installed modern Garmin navigation and an aftermarket radio with satellite reception, so this truck should be a road trip beast.
Squarebody Chevy and GMC trucks are pretty common—GM made them for almost 20 years—but inevitable attrition means really clean ones are starting to get expensive. Mecum didn’t publish a pre-auction estimate for this truck, so it’ll be interesting to see whether its unusual spec works in its favor or against it. A fifth-wheel-haulin’ truck certainly stands out in an auction catalog mostly populated with muscle cars, but that might mean this rig escapes the notice of the right kind of buyer for it.
Whatever the hammer price is, hopefully the new owner doesn’t stash it away so that we can all bask in its glory.