Bad in Black | 1963 Chevy C10

Following trends is generally a pretty easy and quick way to buy your way into coolness. I mean, the social media influencers, celebrities, and marketing agencies do all the work, and we just have to spend our hard-earned dollars and watch the accolades fly! 

In all seriousness, though, it takes a lot of courage to go against the grain these days, which is what Karl Borman has done with his ’63 Chevy C-10. In a wonderful time when there are so many readymade options for our trucks, Karl wore his own path through the unknown, creating a truck that is definitely cool, yet at the same time very different! 

It took Karl five long years to get the truck to where he was happy with it, turning it from a boring stock truck into what you see here. Karl enlisted the help of buddy Craig Smith to help with some of the major modifications, such as the suspension. The low stance was achieved with the addition of a ’69 Oldsmobile Cutlass front clip with RideTech Shockwaves, while the rear frame section was Z’d four inches and fitted with Firestone airbags and shocks from RideTech. The rear end is a Curry-built Ford 9-inch that was built for 800 horsepower, and uses a Detroit Truetrac to keep both drive wheels moving at a blip of the throttle. 

Karl used more parts from the ’69 Cutlass that donated its front clip, such as the original 15-inch wheels. He even split and widened the rears to 10 inches to fit a fat set of Mickey Thompsons for an awesome Pro Street look with a twist! When’s the last time you saw widened Oldsmobile wheels?

Karl was digging the race truck theme that was starting to take shape, so he upped the ante with a tilt front end. The one-piece fiberglass front slides forward 10 inches, and was built for easy access to the Dyers-blown ’69 Olds 455 engine. Built by Wayne Hyrowich at CMS Racing Engines, the block features an Eagle crank, Diamond 8:1 pistons, and a custom ground Crane camshaft, with the top end consisting of aluminum Edelbrock heads, a modified Offy intake manifold, and that Dyers 8-71 supercharger. Luckily, the matching ’69 Olds Turbo 400 transmission was rebuilt to handle the additional stress!  

Once Karl moved back to working on the truck’s appearance, the body was treated to a host of other body mods, with the shaved door handles being the most obvious at first glance. But, there’s a lot more to list! A front bumper from an ’88 Chevy adorns the front, the door’s vent windows were deleted, and the doors now swing in reverse thanks to the suicide hinges. Craig then applied both gloss and matte black paints to the truck using Imron single-stage bases. 

Karl tackled the interior himself, infusing an eclectic combination of tweed, vinyl, and carbon fiber. He used ’56 Buick seats, Auto Meter gauges, and a Kenwood stereo for comfort and utility, as well as a custom center console to house the shifter. 

Although Karl has considered his truck “done” for a while now, he recently decided to play around with the idea of swapping in a built 4L80E to make the truck a bit more highway-friendly. One thing we know is that Karl’s truck is like no other!