A tall-in-the-saddle 1969 Chevy 4×4 will stand out in any crowd, but one particular ’69 Chevy pickup stood out because of the reason behind its existence: one car guy honoring the memory of another car guy who was also his good friend.
1969 Chevy trucks are a very popular choice in the car hobby because they are retro cool in a big way.
Jim Sutherland
Tomas Knecht is the proud owner of a ’69 Chevy 4×4 pickup resto mod with an array of stickers on it, including one that says “Built fer Paul”.
Paul was a good buddy of Tomas and shared his enthusiasm for retro rides, including Chevy trucks from a bygone era. The two car guys concentrated their efforts on late 60s-era Chevy trucks for a project and assembled a small fleet of donor pickups so they could build one solid truck.
Tomas told MyStarCollectorCar that he and his late buddy Paul “tinkered with it (the project)” before Paul’s death in a motorcycle accident. Paul was a larger-than-life character who left a big impression on people when they met him.
Paul’s untimely death was a game-changer for Tomas because of his friendship with him so he decided to dive into the deep end of the 1969 Chevy truck project and complete it in honor of his late friend. A highly motivated Tomas was able to bring the ’69 Chevy truck back on the road in a matter of weeks instead of years.
The truck was a very complicated build, despite the short period of time, but Tomas wanted to upgrade the Chevy and chose a 1978 Chevy Blazer frame as the new foundation for his retro pickup. He added a 383 stroker small block to beef up the truck’s performance and mated it to a 4-speed manual transmission.
The net result is a beast of a truck that Tomas jokingly described as “big, loud and obnoxious-just like Paul”. The ’69 Chevy has also been lifted to great heights and prompted one older woman to ask Tomas how he was able to get in and out of the truck. His answer was “very carefully”.
The truck is very thirsty according to Tomas and he believes it only gets about 4.5 miles per gallon on the road, but Tomas built it to have fun in honor of his late car guy buddy. As a result, the two jerry cans in the back of the Chevy are filled with gas in case Tomas is too far from a gas station when he is having too much fun.
Tomas told MyStarCollectorCar that he is not “scared to drive it or get it muddy”, a nod to the fact he is willing to hit a dirt trail or highway behind the wheel of his vintage Chevy 4×4. He is comfortable in either situation with his ’69 Chevy and totally believes it is meant to be driven and not trailered, despite its poor MPG numbers.
For Tomas, the truck’s main purpose was always to honor a friend and that included driving it. Mission accomplished in our opinion here at MyStarCollectorCar.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
- CLICK HERE to Sign Up for the Newsletter
- CLICK HERE to Like us on Facebook
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Twitter
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Pinterest
