Your Favorite Cars and Stories from 2022
With 2022 now almost completely in the rearview mirror, we're looking back at your favorite cars and stories that were featured here on the Toolbox this year.
1957 Corvette Factory Race Car Survivor
Man, this thing is just so cool. We did our best to tell the wild story of this amazing, significant Corvette. The sort version? Imagine a one-of-three factory race car that was used to dial in the immortal Rochester Fuelie, touched by immortals like Zora Arkus-Duntov and Smokey Yunick, then sold on a used car lot and lost to time under a gold flake paint job in a suburban Chicago garage.
There's so much more to tell. We strongly recommend that you check it out while it's on display at the Museum of American Speed.
1968 C10 Truck Project
This year we started the long process of transforming an abandoned '68 C10 carcass into something that we wouldn't be embarrassed to drive around town. After breaking through a half century's worth of rusted fasteners and gnarly sheet metal, we hit the chassis first, outfitting it with a trick rear suspension setup and some neat bolt-ons in the front to bring the altitude down and make it handle way better than an old truck ought to. We capped it off with a cam-swapped 5.3 LS that made bonkers power considering how little work we actually did to it.
Our rolling chassis hit the big time at the 2022 SEMA show. Next year we'll hammer the twisted and rusty old sheet metal back into shape and hopefully hit the road in our freshly finished hot rod pickup.
Customer Feature: Charlie's '39 Ford Pickup
We sincerely love seeing what our customers are up to. Charlie shared this wild '39 Ford pickup with us and we were blown away by the clever tricks and fab work. This is a hot rod pickup built with outside the box thinking and a skillset to actually back up the wacky ideas. We loved it, and so did you.
The Gotham Garage Lincoln Zephyr
We did a big thing in 2022. We threw some parts to the twisted minds at Gotham Garage, who also happen to star in the show Car Masters: Rust to Riches. What they came up with was beyond anything we could have imagined. This wacky, big block powered Lincoln Zephyr sedan delivery is the result of our partnership. It's a cool story, and we strongly encourage you to check it out on Netflix.
Customer Feature: Chris's Willys Gasser
Here's another customer car, and this one is a knockout. A bad, black, Willys coupe with a blown Hemi is a timeless formula for drag strip dominance and for getting people to stop in their tracks. Chris has owned a few of these cars over the years, and this one is his magnum opus. This thing is just plain evil, and we love it.
It's hard to believe that our 70th anniversary year has come and gone. As we look forward to the year ahead, we can't wait to bring you more cars, stories, and tech. But for now, let us say "thanks" for following along with our adventures as well as sharing your stories with us. Here's to a great year in the rearview and many more up ahead!