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From bumper to tailgate, this hauler flows. Jeff shaved the grille lettering, windshield wipers, drip rails, and door handles, plus reshaped the fenders, filled the cowl vents, and smoothed the running boards. It all adds up to a staggering streamlined appearance that’s worthy of a double take.

When the Matauch family decided to make the 3100 a show truck, they left no part unpolished! “We shined up the carbs and that opened the flood gates. We’d polish another part, and another, and so on, and so on,” Jeff said. They ended up with a ZZ502 powerplant that looks like it was entirely dipped in chrome.

Keep your eyes peeled when gazing into this stunning interior because there’s an alligator lurking close by! Well sort of. Jeff accented the silky smooth almond leather seats and door panels with a 16-foot skin he scored from a genuine gator hunter.

Jeff spent months building the perfect color for the 3100, so adding some custom pinstriping was a bit stressful. “I felt like I was getting a tattoo,” Jeff said. But the first design turned out so well that Jeff had Jeremy Seanor from Lucky Strike Design add several more graphics throughout the truck.

Tucked under the golden shell is a secluded silver lining! All of the frame and chassis components were painted with PPG Envirobase metallic gray, coated with Glamour clear, completely flat sanded, and then fully polished to a mirror finish.

This show-stopping Chevy only hauls the finest lumber—oak planks clear coated twelve times, flat sanded on both sides, and polished to a shine. Mirror-finished stainless steel bed strips keep the planks in place.

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When the Matauch family finished this stunning 1954 Chevrolet 3100, they did what most families would do—snap a photo.

Not only to remember the moment, but to compare it with one they captured nine years earlier on the day the project began. “My son Jacob got much taller and the trees in the yard grew bigger…man, it’s crazy how the years pass by,” Jeff Matauch said.

In almost a decade’s time, Jeff and Jacob transformed a heap of rusted American iron into a golden, award-winning street rod. “I remember when we brought that truck home; I was nine years old,” Jacob said. “I’d watch dad work on it all the time. Then, I started to help him. I learned a lot about how to build a hot rod, and we’d spend hours bouncing ideas off each other.”

On day one of the build, Jeff never thought the project would go this far. “I’d see something cool at a car show and wonder, could I do that? I bet I could,” Jeff said. “Then, Jacob and I would go over our build ideas and talk about how it would look when it was done.”

In those moments, their project list would grow and grow.

With Jeff’s can-do attitude, he bought his very first welder. He slowly learned how to lay a good bead and then began to tackle the larger tasks, like boxing the bed rails and running board brackets for a streamlined appearance. Jeff recruited some help to have a custom frame built for the 3100. When it was complete, he took the time to grind and smooth every weld and fabricate custom covers for all the access holes. Jacob was always by his side watching, learning, and ready to lend a hand.

After the metalworking was wrapped up, Jeff set out to do what he does best.

“My day job is bodywork and paint, so I knew I had to do something amazing with this truck,” Jeff said.

He shaved the door handles, drip rails, and windshield wipers, then he reshaped the fenders to perfectly match the curvature of the hood. He even gapped all of the seams to exactly 3/16 inches. With the body as straight as an arrow, Jeff searched for the perfect paint to top it off.

“Gold hot rods have always caught my eye. So I decided to try and build my own blend. It needed to be crisp, clean, and almost glowing,” Jeff said.

For months, Jeff, Jacob, and fellow paint pro, Bryan Gunn, meticulously crafted the truck’s final color. “We went through over 20 different paint combinations before finding it…countless test sprays, it was tough!” Jeff said. But it was well worth the effort! The end result looks just like what Jeff named it, Liquid Gold.

Next, Jeff set out to create an interior as custom and eye catching as the 3100’s exterior.

“I was going to use ostrich for the upholstery, but I went with something a bit more unique,” Jeff said. He decided to accent the silky smooth, light almond leather with genuine alligator. That’s right, real gator skin! “It’s a funny story. I painted a hunter’s motorcycle and he gave me a full 16-foot alligator skin in return. I still have three-quarters of it left,” Jeff said.

At this point in the project, Jeff and Jacob knew they were on the verge of building something great. So after years of elbow grease, they decided to kick things up a notch and see where it’d take them.

They dropped in a brand new ZZ502 crate engine with a GM 700-R4 transmission, added a fully customized exhaust system with classic Flowmaster Super 44 mufflers, and tricked out the suspension with RideTech ShockWave air shocks. They finished things off with an oak bed floor and added plenty of dress-up parts throughout the truck for that show-quality shine.

“I spent my summer and winter breaks, plus my birthday, polishing every part of the truck,” Jacob said. “And it was worth every second. It was fun!”

The attention to detail didn’t go unnoticed by others either. The Matauch family took home several awards from the 2012 Detroit Autorama, including first place in the Full Custom Truck category, Best Truck in Show, and Outstanding Display. They also won Truck of the Year at the 2012 Columbus Goodguys and the 3100 was recognized as a Rad Ride by the Troy Builder’s Choice Awards at the 2012 Indianapolis Goodguys.

So what’s next for the Matauch family? Jacob is already working hard on his very own project—a 1966 Mustang. As we all know, once you catch the hot rod bug, you’ll always have a wrench in hand.