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Take your top off…

Where to start on this one, well first off I’m now sounding like the old man at the car show dreaming of days past. Wild paint jobs, tons of chrome and billet, tweed interiors, neons are all indicative of the late 90s - 2000s trends that you would see on a weekly basis at car shows around the country. Then it stopped…all of it. Sanitary monochromatic paint jobs, mudered out with the same spoked rims and stock-ish interiors replaced the high end metal and paint rolling canvases. It got boring, but the retro style is coming back. With the OBS market now as hot as ever these once frowned upon trucks are making a huge comeback along with the classic style of the time these ruled the car scene. Like a time capsule from the era Brian “Ham” Cunningham’s 1991 GMC is the embodiment of this era and was built to, “piss people off.”

Its not built for your approval its built in the embodiment that is Ham, a legend in the area who has taken the style from when 35-45 yr olds were in high school and put it on the road. He’s known around the Pittsburgh area as the guy with the, “no roof truck and the naked chicks on the back,” and his reputation precedes itself. A plumber by trade, he has touched every part of this truck and has created it in the image of himself. The two are synonymous and if the truck was ever sold the Pittsburgh car scene would have an empty hole.

A little history on these trucks before we get started and to prove the point that OBS trucks in stock-ish condition is not worth $20K…I’m talking to you internet boys! C/K is a series of trucks that was manufactured by GM from the 1960 to 2002 model years. Marketed by both the Chevy and GMC divisions, the C/K series encompassed a wide range of vehicles. While most commonly associated with pick-up trucks, the model line also included chassis-cab trucks and medium-duty trucks and served as the basis for GM full-size SUVs. With thousands upon thousands of these being made, outside of the 454SS trucks none of the variants are particularly rare. This is great because parts are plenty and can still be found in junk yards around the country.

Ham’s is a 1991 GMC that started off its life as a short bed, single cab, step side, 4.3L, 5 speed manual, that’s right this thing is a stick! Ham got his start years ago with his father being a total gear head. His first attempt at chopping the top off of a truck was a 1977 C10 however his father nixed that quickly. With Ham out of his fathers house he wanted to take another truck to the max. He purchased this OBS about 15 years ago for $1500 which you can’t touch for this price any longer. The truck was sitting in an alley way where Ham was installing a furnace in a house and, “needed my love.” After speaking with the owner it was her sons truck who was out of the country. About a year later Ham gets a call and unfortunately the son had passed away and offered the truck for purchase. When Ham arrived the truck was on jack stands with a messed up rear axle, typical rust on the cab corners and rockers but overall the truck was optioned how Ham wanted it.

Immediately Ham knew what he wanted to do with the car and amassed all of the parts needed to create the retro cruiser he dreamed of. If you were around back then you know that Stylin’ Concepts was the parts magazine you had to order from to get any of the cool parts for these trucks. Ham reports that he ordered just about everything you could get out of this magazine including the billet components, nerf bars, sport mirrors, Caddy taillights, Caddy front end and anything small dress up component you could think of. It started with the Cadillac front end which was a staple of the late 90s truck scene. Ham is now on the 3rd bumper with the truck and thinks now he has found the right mix of Caddy front end with the 2005 GMC bumper.

Let’s get to the elephant in the room, the chopped roof that turns this into a total custom vehicle and as Ham says, “who doesn’t like a convertible?” The question he always gets asked, “what do you do if it rains?” his answer, “you just drive faster!” There is no possibility of a roof and as Ham reports, “I get caught in a rainstorm every. single. roadtrip, it never fails.” The number one thing that Ham always has to ride with is sunscreen when cruising with the top off all day. The inspiration for the top off was the movie Jason’s Lyric where the main character had a removable top S10 (see below). Instead of a removable top which always looked unfinished when the roof was off, Ham decided to cut it and cap off all of the ends to make it look like a finished product. There was no template and the only thing that Ham wanted to keep was the sun visors and the bottom structural seam. The caps are all welded shut and all of the seams have been finished in wind lace to give it a professional look.

The original 113K mile 4.3L motor is essentially stock except for headers. These notoriously reliable motors are a great starting point for a low and slow cruiser that you can get in and drive anywhere. Ham has upgraded to an engine drive compressor to allow him to air up the system as quick as possible. Ham reports that he can get up to 200psi with in 30-40 secs which allows him to dance it without waiting on the electric compressors to air up the system. Ham runs no fender wheels covers under the hood and says that he has no issue with rock chips and mud. Like Ham, I have always liked the look of the tires being tucked under the fenders and able to see them when opening the hood. The fenders also double as his air stops when he’s laying all the way on the ground. And talk about travel, this thing can go from slammed to the ground to monster truck in no time flat with over 12” of adjustment. The suspension is essentially a bolt on kit with the pocked springs cut out to fit the air bags. Out back is a 6 link to ensure the rear end is not dancing all over the place at any ride height. If you didn’t have 20” rims back in the day of the sport truck scene, you were a nobody so of course Ham has a set of 20” American Racing chrome rims. The retro wheel fits the period perfectly and really matches the time period perfectly and sets the tone for the build.

The interior keeps it pretty stock with some great accessories from the period. Neons everywhere were something that you needed if you were going to be a heavy hitter back in the day. The Moon Eyes steering wheel is probably the most custom piece on the interior that fits right in with the completely blue interior. The airbrushed silhouette of a woman ties in the interior with the crazy tailgate. This is where we come to the most controversial piece on the truck and either you love it or hate it, the tailgate.

In the 80’s and 90’s it was traditional in the van and low rider community to have a woman painted on your car. Detailed airbrushed murals were a must if you wanted to show out at the local meet. Ham coming from this era knew that he had to do a mural of a female, or females on the truck somewhere. Enter in the custom painted tailgate with two sexy women laying on each other. Controversial in this day in age due to the correctness of society Ham had a 2nd tailgate made just so he didn’t have to explain that the two women were “looking for their contacts,” instead of a sexual scene cruising around town. This also doubled because the truck is always for sale! Ham reports that prospective buyers loved the truck but knew their wife or girlfriend would not approve of the tailgate. To me its art, and a really nice piece, and is a tip of the cap to the era where this was pretty normal. The paint on the truck was the only piece that Ham did not do himself and features not only the airbrushed women but realistic flames on the front fenders.

The bed is where the party really starts. Filled with speakers and a custom canvas top the truck comes alive with the Hawaiian themed print. The frenched Cadillac taillights again where something that you needed if you had one of the OBS custom cruisers. The smooth roll pan replaced the big bulky rear bumper and the billet step sides match the wheels that tuck under the large rear quarters. Ham states that at some point he wants to install a stripper pole in the bed to further piss people off and make this an even more controversial truck.

The truck has been built on a very tame budget. The full build maybe has $15-$20K which is more than reasonable for showing up to a meet and having a completely unique truck. Doing most of the work himself he has controlled the budget to make a great street cruiser. Ham says the drives the truck everywhere including some of the hottest cruising spots in Pittsburgh. He turns all of the heads and states that during car shows kids absolutely love the truck!

I cannot thank Ham enough for showing me the truck and sharing some great stories from our youth. You can find Ham on instagram @caddylolo or on Facebook at Brian Cunningham or all over the EVIL car clubs page. We need more people like this in the car community, guys that do not care about being trendy but rather inventive and unique. Build a car for yourself and no one else is what Ham is all about.