Your high school years produce some of the best memories you’ll ever have because life was simple and less complicated.
That’s why so many car guys miss their old high school ride and end up in a search—usually with no results.
That wasn’t the case with this 1972 GMC Super Custom 1500.
Jerry Sutherland
Doug Lowen drove this truck to high school in the early 1980s, and he enjoyed having a very cool way to get there. These trucks have been popular since the day they rolled off the factory floor, but to Doug, it was his primary mode of transportation.
Not only that, but he was also raised on a farm, so occasionally Doug had to pick up bales of hay or feed bags as part of his day. Farm trucks are working trucks—that’s a fact of life.
Doug moved on in life, so the truck was retired on the farm for thirty years—but not before a much younger Doug attempted to restore it. The results were predictable because lack of experience and ambition ran out long before the truck hit the road again.
He did add a slapstick in high school and that add-on remains to this day. Doug had to map out the rest of the project, and it was a simple plan—make the truck better than it was as his high school truck. He admitted his auto tech son pushed him on the GMC’s comeback and Doug was happy to do it so his son would get some experience on a big project.
That meant retaining the look of his truck from 45 years ago but focusing on the details. One of them was the engine because the stock 350 wasn’t in the game plan for Doug’s vision of a new and improved 1972 GMC.
Doug found a donor 350 and built it into a 383 stroker because that’s a bulletproof format for upping the game in a stock Chevy small block. The result was a dependable, proven engine with a wealth of aftermarket parts.
He had another requirement for the truck—it had to have air conditioning because an older and wiser Doug likes a more comfortable experience than he did in high school.
The truck bed was another factor, so Doug took that on and brought it back to better-than- factory condition. The seats were also correct factory upholstery recovered so Doug’s GMC was far nicer than the truck he drove in high school. The paint is exactly like the one this GMC had in high school.
Doug describes the truck’s handling as “better than it was in high school” because no stone was left unturned in this project. That focus included a complete rebuild of everything under the truck including brakes and suspension.
He wishes he’d stored his truck better than it was, but Doug was happy to resurrect his high school dream truck. He summed it up this way: “It’s better going down the road than sinking down in the ground”.
Not many guys can say that about their high school classic.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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