LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | Living the Life and Printing the Passion

Wow, it’s already the November issue! With the end of the year fast approaching, all that says to me is SEMA crunch time. As of the time of me writing this (mid-September), I am waist-deep in #projectSTOCKISH, a ’23 Sierra 1500 that I am building not only for Street Trucks, but also for the Dropstars Wheels booth at this year’s SEMA show. That means I must have it wrapped up and ready to go with time to drive it from North Carolina to Las Vegas at the end of October.

Currently, the truck is at Ultimate Audio in Lexington, South Carolina, where the interior has been completely gutted to upgrade it with custom work and a totally revamped audio system. The entire front clip has been removed as well. Several other parts are also off and are either getting modified or painted to make the entire truck flow like I envisioned. It’s crazy how far you must tear apart a truck just to change how it looks.

For some, the thought of completely deconstructing a brand-new vehicle is absurd, but for us gearheads, it’s just a normal Tuesday. I say every year that I won’t build another SEMA truck due to the stress, delayed parts, and time crunch—but here we are, doing it again. This year, I planned ahead and actually had about 90% of the parts needed to build the truck in hand before the truck ever showed up, so I was ahead of the game.

In multiple articles over the next several months showing the build process of this truck, including the suspension article on page 98, you guys can see what’s involved in turning a stock truck into a “stockish” daily driver that still fits the SEMA build mold. Speaking of which, if you’re at SEMA this year, swing by the Motortopia/Engaged Media booth #22697 in Central Hall and check out the Sergeant Square charity build for Mission 22 that will be in our booth.

Now, get to flipping through this issue and check out some of the best trucks, shows, and tech around. I’m sure you’ve already noticed how hot the cover is—yes, pun intended—thanks to the talented Johnny O who shot this month’s cover truck in his studio, but the full layout is just as insane. We also have revealing features on a couple late model Silverado’s with different styles, a super clean Apache, and a military tribute truck. You’ll find a few QR codes mixed in to scan and watch the videos on our YouTube channel, so make sure you check them out.

So, until next month, keep building those trucks and sharing them with us. We are always looking for feature-worthy vehicles to run in our pages.

Brandon Burrell
bburrell@engaged.media