With all the recent spotlights and features we’ve posted involving pickup trucks, we’ve received some feedback that you guys quite like seeing these haulers posted on Speedhunters. So I thought I’d go ahead and shine a light on another radical build, this time an American-made pickup that I happened to find in Japan.
This square body GMC C10 truck belongs to Hiroyuki Mitamura of Team Free’s – a Kanto area drift crew that features some of the most radically-styled street cars anywhere in Japan. But when Mitamura-san is not out there drifting his S13 Silvia, he can be found rolling around Tokyo in his GMC daily driver.
While many of the vintage American vehicles you find in Japan are in spotless condition, that definitely wasn’t the case with the GMC when Hiroyuki picked it up a couple years ago. Rust featured in many areas of the pickup, but rather than attempting a restoration he decided to do something a little different.
There are plenty of slammed C10s out there in the world, but to get his truck riding low Mitamura-san fabbed up a trick suspension setup that’s completely static. That’s right, no airbags.
Next up, he massaged the body, widening the front and rear fenders in a way that accommodates fatter wheels without detracting from the GMC’s factory lines.
Then he filled up the fenders with a set of 15×12-inch stock car steelies from Bart Wheels and stretched a set of 225/60R15 Falken ZE912 tires around them. The look is something that brings to mind Japanese kyusha and drift cars more than American pickups, which often feature large billet wheels.
Because the truck is used as a daily driver, reliability and simplicity were key. Under the hood sits a lightly-modified 350ci Chevy V8, known in Japan as the san go maru.
Inside the cab you’ll find a stock bench seat, a Mooneyes steering wheel and gas pedal, and a Budweiser tap shift handle for the automatic transmission.
And in addition to serving as his daily transportation around Tokyo, the old GMC also comes in quite handy as a support and service vehicle at drift events, which is one of a few different places I ran into Mitamura-san at.
As I get started on my own Dodge Dart project car, the Team Free’s GMC pickup is another vehicle I’ll be looking to for inspiration for its cool blend of American roots and unconventional modifications.
Not bad at all for a daily beater, eh?
Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia_media
mike@speedhunters.com
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Yes!!!!!! I had seen a pic of this truck and loved it. Thanks for featuring it!!!!!
Man those wheels are cool.
Are my eyes deceiving me or are they a very dark purple?
They have a purple stripe along the while lip. I think they are black thou
@mikegarrett Looks like its a 340 Chrysler motor
I really need to get a pickup.
deepsgarage It does "look" like one but, it does look a lot more like a Chevy 350.
Although, personally a Mopar engine would be cool in there >:)
Thanks for the spotlight on this truck! I've seen it pop up a couple of times here and I'm glad it finally got a post dedicated to it. I just dropped mine, though it's a little more reserved than this one!
Does the paint happen to have a name? Maybe it's just the cars carefully curated for this site but it seems that the Japanese really have some great shades of light blue
Looks like the stock gmc blue from the 80s.
Okay people, I got the sacrificial cone, I got the besom brooms, and I got the special bucket! Let's go drifting!
Too cool
NYporkdept Looks like a lighter shade of BMW Laguna Seca Blue
Nice ride, always had a place for this body style chevy/gmc
Very nice and clean
Just noticed I have the same valve covers!
""Rust featured in many areas of the pickup, but rather than attempting a
restoration he decided to .... just paint over the rust.... LOL!!
For a moment I thought the 2 brooms out back are halloween costume props. Hahaha!
Love it. Ild have that for a daily work ute anyday.
My father picked up one and rebuilt the engine. He told me he would give it to me, or put the sales towards a car of my own. Not being a truck guy, I declined. Seeing this, I kind of regret my decision.
See more of hiro's truck here>>
http://gripshiftslide.com/2015/05/27/hiros-big-8-chevrolet-pickup/
Slappy_Pistons I'm down
IRONWOLF RD You dun' goofed there dude.
REKT_Disco IRONWOLF RD I funkin' dun' goofed hard.
IRONWOLF RD You make me sad.
My buddy had an 86 C10 in a similar colour a few years back. Ended up selling it as he had to relocate for work.
We both reminisce about it pretty often. I'd like to build a square body like this at some point, or an earlier 67-72.
Gripshiftslide Great shots!
HLB I'd love to have a short bed square body like this one - pre smog of course!
Chri5 Duncan True beater status!
jay8393 It's the right time of year for it!
kphillips9936 Same here!
Dill Pickle Nice truck!
Ice Age Don't we all?
Reuben Rodriguez Glad you liked it!
Gripshiftslide I knew I had seen this someplace else! Couldn't remember where.
I'd like to
See more trucks ... I have a 1999 Dodge Dakota RT 5.9 .. The build includes viper brakes , full Hotchkis Suspension .. Kenny Brown Xbrace , Qa1 double adjustable shocks , a custom track bar.. Detroit Locker .. I'm doing a forged internal R3 block. With a Intercooled Turbo.
GSS shots are rad!
the car was very good
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