James and His 1938 Chevrolet Pickup Truck

There is a good chance the residents of Apex, North Carolina have seen the first Carsolina BST of Show Award winner driving his 1938 Chevrolet pickup truck around town. James built his 1938 Chevrolet pickup with some help from his son-in-law Peanut at home in the garage to drive and that is just what he does every day of the week.

Although James just recently purchased and completed the truck, he’d seen it riding around Apex most of his adult life.  In the early ‘60s a nearby Chevrolet dealership purchased the truck from southeastern North Carolina. The dealership eventually sold the pickup to a local sign painter who drove it around Apex for the better part of twenty years.  When the sign painter passed away, the truck disappeared for a while.

James met up with an old friend who had lived outside the country for several years.  Their conversation turned to old cars as his friend mentioned he had acquired an old Chevy truck.  As James inquired about the truck he discovered that he not only knew the previous owner, but he also knew the truck. James learned that the previous owner disassembled the truck in hopes of restoring it but didn’t get any further.  The owner then made a financial decision to part with the pickup.

James casually told his friend, “If you ever get ready to sell it, if you ever want to sell it, let me know.”

Two weeks later he received a call from his friend who said, “Come and give me a price.”

James described the condition of the pickup when he went to get it.

“The cab had been removed from the chassis and was sitting on the ground. The doors were off the cab and were laid out in the woods.  The fenders and running boards were lying in the bed under a foot of pine straw and leaves.”

“I was like, I don’t know if I need this truck or not, when I seen it,” James recalls.  “A lot of the parts and stuff I needed to put it back together I didn’t get, they were lost in the woods.  I had to actually make some of the pieces that you can’t find at swap meets and stuff.”

Fabricating a few parts is second nature to James.

“Me and my brother tractor pulled a little bit back in the ’70s and ’80s and early ’90′s, and when we got finished doing that we got old and tired.” James chuckled.  “I’ve raced something most of my life. We’ve never been famous but the tractor got pretty famous, we won a NHRA National Tractor Pull Association Championship with it in 1992,” admitted James.  “We run the 7000 Modified Class with four engines on the tractor.  So I’ve been messing around with engines and mechanics all my life.”

“We had a big farm here at one time,” James reflects. “We tended over seven hundred acres and we done all our own mechanic work, all the welding, and maintenance and everything. So I’ve kind of been a shade tree mechanic all my life.”

When asked if the truck was destined to be a daily driver from the outset, James emphatically replied, “Yes, absolutely.”

“That’s something I’ve been doing most or all of my life,” James explained.  “I drove old stuff all my life and I like old stuff.  My Daddy told my long time ago, he said, ‘You can drive old equipment, used cars and trucks for the interest that it takes to buy a new one.’ And that’s pretty much what I’ve done,” James continued.  “Of course I’ve owned new cars along the way, and new pickups, but I seem to like the old stuff.  I just wanted to build the truck to drive around and that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s a hit with the kids in the car pool lane at the school when I go to pickup my grandson, Will.”

James enjoys sitting behind the wheel of his pickup as he feels it fits him pretty well.

“My personality is the truck. You know that’s my personality, I’m not fancy. I’m just rough around the edges so that’s why I wanted to build the truck, that’s my personality.  I’ve had a lot of the guys I hang out with tell me the truck fits me better than anything I own,” he shares laughing.

Cruising the truck everyday is just as much if not more fun as attending a car show for James.

“I get a lot of thumbs-up on the road and all and people actually sometimes stop at the lights and talk to me about it.  Stuff like that is a lot of fun, but the fun is driving it,” he states.  “There are two reasons I go to car shows and that’s to drive the cars and talk to the people.  I enjoy meeting people and talking about their cars because each car out there has a story of some sort behind it, and most of them are unique when you get to talking with the owner.”

James expounds, “There’s a few out there that got a deep pocket and they just buy whatever they want and just do it.  It’s a childhood dream come true for them. But I’ve been doing this all my life,” James affirms.  “The car that I drove in high school was a 1940 model Ford sedan I still got.  I bought it when I was fourteen year old and I still have it.  It’s been sitting back here in the back and everybody tells me I need to restore that.  I still got most of them that I’ve ever owned.”

Carsolina is honored to award to James and his 1938 Chevrolet Pickup the 1st Carsolina BST of Show Award Trophy. James and his is the delineation of what Carsolina hopes to recognize with each presentation.

The first BST of Show Trophy was awarded to an individual for a classic vehicle that had never received an award and that might never get another. That is all right with James. He didn’t build it for a trophy.

In addition to the 383 power plant, the chrome steelies, and the floor shifter, there is also a booster seat that keeps four year-old Will safe and legal when he rides with Grandpa. Will rode shotgun in the ’38 to the show and has filed claim to Grandpa’s Truck and spent the day with his parents and grandparents at the show.

The truck is the right ride for hauling gear. A canopy, lawn chairs, cooler and other items were packed in the bed. The big plastic bugs on the grill and a few chips on the front fenders from road rash collected during the Monday through Friday use is proof this truck is a driver.

While this stuff may account for a deduction on the “open-hood and trunk” inspector’s score card, this is the sort of character traits that will add points in the BST of Show Award computation.

This is all evidence of a daily driver that sees the road during the week and then on the weekend introduces the next generation to classic cars and trucks while the family spends time together at a car show.

James and his son-in-law Peanut built this truck to spend a day at a classic car show with Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa. It is a day that starts and ends with a ride in Grandpa’s truck and is filled with grandfather sharing his life long passion of classic cars with his four year old grandson. James and Peanut built this truck so a father-in-law and son-in-law could work on something together. This truck was built by the owner and for the owner. Ultimately, this truck was built to drive.

James built his Chevrolet for several reasons but a trophy wasn’t one of them. Memories are the real trophy and are treasured for a lifetime in the mind and in the heart. Here’s to your memory collection James. Keep cruising.

“There was a young couple parked beside of us in what we call rat rods now. Their finances are not capable of building fancy, so they build what they can afford and it looks good and they enjoy it. They had their little five year old boy with them and they enjoyed the day just as much as I did. That’s what it’s all about.” – James