The picture itself personifies cool.
The nose of a primered gray 1956 GMC 100 pickup poking curiously out of the shadows of its garage.
It’s that classic era of truck that so many of us now desire. It’s not finished, and it’s not perfect. But it wasn’t supposed to be. Not yet, at least.
Its body wears primer that will serve as the foundation of its new color (Cobalt Blue Pearl, according to Rick Hendrickson, its owner). Its chrome is clean, but not yet polished. Its aftermarket headlights are, perhaps, its least blemished asset, serving as a bridge between the 60-year old truck’s past and its very near future.
It’s those qualities, we suppose, that drew so many on social media to Hendrickson’s 1956 GMC 100.
The truck is far from a finished project, but it’s almost perfect as it sits – a beautiful blank canvas that allows the car guy in all of us to imagine how we’d finish that very same truck if it were sitting in our garage.
The GMC has only been sitting in Hendrickson’s garage for the past four years. Previously, it spent its time under a Texas carport.
“I found it outside of Boyd, TX sitting under a carport as a forgotten project,” Hendrickson said.
The rest is history.
Under Hendrickson’s care, the truck now features a litany of go-fast goodies, including a Chevy 350 engine .30 over, Comp Cams 590 solid roller cam and lifters, Air Gap intake, Quick Fuel DP 750 carburetor, TCI 350 with 3,500 stall, Heidts 4-link, narrowed 9-inch rear-end, and 4.56 Posi. The GMC rides on 33×15 Mickey Thompson SR’s “stuffed in the fenders.”
And Rick literally means “stuffed.”
“Too big to get out so I hinged the bed, installed Bilbo air rams and it tilts,” Hendrickson said. “I use the 178 db train horn compressor to operate air rams.”
Hendrickson also outfitted the original GMC panels with custom Auto Meter gauges.
“I restore the ’55-’59 GMC gauge panels for builders & individuals across the country & overseas. The set pictured above is a recent one completed. The ones I’m using are Auto Meters bought from Summit & adapted to fit the stock panels.
“Most everything I bought through Summit. Thanks for awesome prices and FAST shipping!”
How close is Hendrickson to finishing the truck?
“Close,” he said. “I’ve only got 50 miles on it. Gotta get it dialed in and then it’s off to paint.”
It didn’t need to get that far to catch your eye. Our readers and Summit Racing’s Facebook, Instagram and Google+ followers voted Hendrickson’s 1956 GMC the Top Fan Ride for September 2016. Not bad bragging rights, considering the 12 September finalists combined to receive nearly 30,000 votes.
Enjoy more pictures of Rick’s 1956 GMC in the slideshow below:
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