In the custom auto world, there is never enough that can be done to set your ride apart from the rest. Wild paint jobs with almost endless graphics, as well as a ground hugging stance, will always catch the eyes of show spectators and judges alike. To achieve such a task can be daunting with many twists in a road that can lead to the best of show and/or an opportunity to be featured on the cover of a magazine. Such an opportunity has come to the proud owners, Scott and Kathy Powers, of this very extreme 1939 Studebaker pickup. After a 4½ year build up costing approximately 320 Ben Franklins (that would be $32,000 in layman terms) and a hell-of-a lot of patience, Scott sculpted one “XXXESSIVE” beast that is the very essence of extreme in the street rodding arena.

To start off the build up, Scott started with a Chevrolet S-10 chassis and installed a complete Air Ride dynamic suspension setup complete with a Thompson air compressor and Blow Jax gauges. Pro Shocks were mounted all the way around and a monster c-notch was added in the rear, so when the switches were flipped, mother earth would be up close and personal!

With the frame laying flat as a pancake, Scott moved onto the powerhouse that would enable this “stud” to travel at a high velocity down the interstate. Staying in line with an “XXXESSIVE” theme, Scott opted to go with a 600 horsepower, blown, small block LT1 engine. All 600 ponies under the hood are kept in line with a 700 R4 transmission.

With the powerhouse and tranny built and good-to-go, it was time to install the fiberglass body from Master Street Rods. The body was shaved clean of all bumpers and door handles and the top was chopped. The body was sanded smooth and then fitted to the frame. With the body on the frame, Scott installed the engine and transmission.

Next, Scott decided to purchase a set of wheels to help in the appearance department. Keeping in line with the “street rod” look, a set of American Racing 15x8 Torq Thrust wheels were mounted under the nose and 15x10s were mounted in the rear.

Next came the interior install. After the install of one type of interior, Scott mid-way decided to go with a more contemporary “street rod” appearance. To do so, Scott opted to go with a fiberglass dash which was molded after a 1990's Pontiac Grand AM complete with Cyberdyne digital gauges. In Scott’s words, “Installing the new dash was anything but fun... definitely not for the faint-hearted.” Since the dash was NOT made for an S-10 originally, there were no provisions for defroster vents, brackets, a/c, as well as a laundry list of other things. The only convenient thing, was that the dash just happened to be the right width. After a few trial and error tests, the dash was finally successfully installed.

The next items on the interior hit list consisted of: seating, door handles, door panels, shifter, steering wheel, headliner, and audio. To keep the interior sporty looking, Scott installed a set of 2001 Sunfire bucket seats on seat tracks from a Chevy Blazer. The seats, headliner, and custom made door panels were covered in black tweed and an overhead console from a Chrysler product was installed as well. The final items consisted of billet aluminum handles in the shape of lightning bolts to give Scott an easy exit strategy, a Billet Specialties steering wheel, a JVC MP3 CD head unit with a 12 disc JVC CD changer, and a B & M Bandit transmission shifter.

After finishing off the interior, Scott turned his attention to the inside of the pick up box. Scott decided to keep a classic look by installing a full wood grain floor with all of the custom chrome trimming. The final step to complete this wicked “stud” was a stop at the paint booth where PPG orange with classic blue flames were sprayed upon the skin.

Scott Powers has over 30 years of custom auto building under his belt and has produced some of the hottest street rods around! In Scott Power's words: "Life is too short to drive an ugly truck!" The operative word in Scott's statement, he so proudly has stickered on his back window, is the word "drive". While this truck is more of a show piece, it was originally built for fun and believe it or not, Scott actually drives his truck to Wal-Mart as well as other hazardous grocery cart filled parking lots! Now, that is what I call "XXXESSIVE"!

Shout Out: Look for major changes this winter... going from wild to truly an "XXXESSIVE" ride!!! -Scott Powers