How One Truck Kept its Owner Battling

We’ve all had someone in our lives who was touched by cancer. It’s a hell of a disease that can attack your body in ways that no one wants to imagine. It’s scary, complex and difficult to understand. If you become its next target, you start to question everything—even trucks.

Mark Whiteskunk was halfway through the build on his project when he was diagnosed with colon cancer and given a 50/50 chance of survival. What do you do when everything looks so bleak? You focus on the good things in your life, and what you want to do before you die. For Mark, that was his truck. he had to get it done, no matter what.

It was this ’68 C-10, a truck that at one point sat on the side of the road as a parts vehicle offered for sale. Mark’s former boss originally picked it up, took every part he needed, and then sold what was left to Mark—the cab and frame—for $100. Mark had to buy a few donor vehicles to get a complete truck, but after picking up doors from one friend and a wiper cowl off another (then sourcing the rest new), he had something he could work with. When the diagnosis hit, he was on the path to greatness with the truck, but he still had a long way to go.

For the next few years, Mark battled with cancer. After an extensive surgery, he was told that he came out clean. Then came the chemo treatments, notorious for sapping your energy and taking all of the drive out of your system, but he fought through it, keeping his truck in the forefront of his mind. He had to get through this, because he needed to get his truck done.

Eventually, Mark did finish the truck (and his chemo treatments), and it was featured in the August 2011 issue of Street Trucks. Titled Survivor, it was blue back then, but it still had all of the classic hallmarks that make it so pretty today: mild body drop to lay, big wheels, clean paint and shaved bodywork. The truck won trophies and garnered the respect of his peers, particularly those who knew of Mark’s struggles. It was perfect for him, and his plan was to live out his cancer-free days enjoying the truck for what it was. But, as usual, something else conspired to block his path.

Mark’s ability  to keepa positive attitude  has allowed him to build  a spectacular C-10…

Seven years after the cancer diagnosis, he was faced with another personal challenge. Forced to begin a new chapter in his life, Mark turned once again to the truck that had gotten him through the last trauma, and started building it anew. In a very short window of time—around two weeks, give or take—the entire vehicle was blown apart, painted black and white, and then put back together. Now, with new wheels and a fresh finish, Mark’s truck was everything he wanted it to be. It was that new beginning that he needed, but with an old friend that he still loved.

It’s easy to find yourself feeling down about things, and unsure where your life’s path is going to take you, but in the face of ridiculous adversity, Mark’s ability to keep a positive attitude has allowed him to build a spectacular C-10 that’s worthy of admiration—not once but twice.

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BUILD SPECS

OWNER

MARK WHITESKUNK
1968 C-10
Sayre, OK
Subculture

ENGINE

• Performed by owner at Skunkwerx, Sayre, OK
• 1994 Chevrolet LT-1 V-8 painted Daytona Blue
• 1994 Chevrolet Caprice radiator and cooling fans
• Street & Performance Indian head air cleaner
• Painted valve covers
• MSD distributor and wires
• Painted engine covers with pinstriping
• Borla mid-length headers with silver ceramic coating, mufflers and dumped exhaust
• 1994 Chevrolet Caprice gas tank with custom cover
• 4L60E automatic transmission
• 1972 rearend with 3.73:1 rear gears

SUSPENSION & CHASSIS

• Performed by owner at Skunkwerx, Sayre, OK
• Early Classic 2.5-inch drop spindles
• Custom upper control arms
• Firestone 2,600-pound airbags front
• 2.5-inch frame Z
• Three steering joints for custom steering rod
• Triangulated 4-link
• Firestone 9000 sleeve ’bags rear
• 1980 Chevrolet rear shocks
• 1-inch body drop
• Frame smoothed and painted Daytona Blue
• Two chrome Viair 444 compressors
• Specialty Suspension seamless air tank
• Kleinn air horns
• 70s master cylinder
• Chrome brake booster

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8 and 22×10 Raceline Scoundrels polished with satin silver centers
• 255/35 20 and 265/35 22 Nexen

BODY & PAINT

• Performed by Kyle Davis and Mark Whiteskunk at Skunkwerx, Sayre, OK
• Axalta black and white paint
• Pinstriping by KA Cars and Stripes
• LMC cowl induction hood, and billet grille inserts
• PB Fab hood hinges
• Brothers Trucks one-piece windows
• Smooth Top Banana front bumper
• 1967 Camaro bumper with LED taillights frenched in
• Shaved turn signals molded to front grille
• Shaved door handles, fuel door, mirrors, drop rails, stake pockets, wiper cowl, firewall, cab seams, rear tailgate/roll pan combo skin
• Custom wheel tubs
• Hinged wood bed floor
• Harley-Davidson motorcycle headlights
• One-piece front end
• Mar-K side trim

INTERIOR

• Performed by Linda Henry and Mark Whiteskunk at Skunkwerx
• White ultra leather and stock hound’s-tooth upholstery
• 1988 Chevrolet truck seat
• Satin black headliner
• LMC carpet and seat belts
• 1955 arm rests
• Smoothed dashboard painted gloss white
• 1955 Dakota Digital gauges
• Billet Specialties Spider steering wheel covered in hound’s-tooth
• Toggle switches
• Clarion VZ-401 foldout DVD player
• Kicker SS 6.5-inch component set, two 12-inch L5 subwoofers and 1000.5 IQ amplifier

Special Thanks: “Kyle Davis (employee and friend) for anything I needed help with; Nicole New (my girlfriend) for taping and sanding; Linda Henry for upholstery; my kids, Maya and Mason for allowing me the time to work on the truck and always being the best kids they can be, and Kyle Ambrose for pinstriping the truck.

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