There are a few things you need to know about Sonny Wells. First, Sonny, who is a cabinetmaker in Clearwater, Florida, owns an Elkhart Blue 1967 Corvette with a black stinger hood. Actually, his wife, Jill, lets him share the Corvette with her. Second, Sonny has always had a hankering for an old truck. Third, Jill was tired of sharing the Corvette with Sonny and having to listen to him constantly complain that he wanted an old truck. With that in mind, Sonny began his quest for an old pickup.

His search for an old truck took a couple of years until he finally scored this 1940 1/2-ton Chevrolet Master stepside pickup. Sonny found his stepside on eBay. The Chevy had seen duty in Wyoming until the original owner died and his widow stuffed it in a barn, where it sat for 25 years. A painter got it on a trade with the widow, and the Chevy passed hands several more times until it ended up in the Florida Panhandle four years ago, and then on eBay. Thanks to the dry climates it resided in most of its life, the Chevy was in remarkably good shape and was all there, including the original 215-cubic-inch Stovebolt Six. The body was painted dark blue with black fenders over the original light blue with black. The beige interior sported a blue cloth seat. For the most part the truck was unmolested and came with extra parts.

Sonny was the highest bidder, winning the Chevy for just $5,800. He hooked up a trailer to bring the Chevy home. The sight of that 1940 grille in my rearview mirror, Sonny said, for the 10-hour trip home is an image I will never forget. Even though the Chevy was an excellent driver, Sonny had other plans in mind. With the help of his friend Ray Minnow Robichaud, the teardown (or The Tailgate Party as Sonny called it) began.

At first, Sonny wanted to slide a small block in place of the tired six banger, but Vern Carmack, owner of Chevy Service Center in Largo, Florida, who is well respected by the local Corvette community and had done all the work on Jill’s Corvette, nixed that idea. He wanted Sonny’s truck to be different.  It’s a six banger or nothing! Vern insisted. Anyone can install a small block. It didn’t take them long to turn up a 1962 235-cubic-inch Chevy straight six. I was going to have to figure out how to drag as much power out of that old 235, Sonny laughed.

Sonny soon found out how much power Vern could extract from that little six banger. Vern chose a Howard’s 3/4 mild solid-lifter cam with .420-inch lift with 12/46 intake and 46/12 exhaust. The block was bored .040-inch over, and a polished Wayne aluminum rocker and side cover set was installed. Mounted on a Clifford intake manifold is a 1404 Edelbrock 500cfm four-barrel carburetor with electronic choke. A Mallory electronic distributor and high-output coil ensure more than adequate spark at high rpm. Vintage Fenton headers dump out to dual exhaust. The music from the dual pipes and turbo mufflers is a sweet, mellow tune, said Sonny.

Nothing sounds like a Six in heat it is so smooth! A 1957 Saginaw four-speed transmission was chosen for gear selection and completely rebuilt. Vern also chose a 1955 Chevy truck rear, but discarded the 3.55 cogs for a set of 3.38:1 Posi gears. Since Sonny liked the ride and handling of the stock 1940 suspension, the original factory setup was retained. He did dress up the appearance with a set of polished American Eagle 16×8-inch aluminum wheels on Goodyear P225/60R16 Regatta 2 tires.

In keeping with the dare to be different theme, Sonny rejected notions of painting the body a wild shade of red or yellow. Instead, he decided to pick up on the colors of their 67 Corvette. Sonny, who did the painting himself (I learned from finishing cabinets), sprayed a perfect coat of Elkhart Blue on the body with black fenders that reflect like dark mirrors. Once the paint was dry, he installed a crank-out windshield, Vintage Air climate controls, electric wipers, green-tint Solex glass and a rare set of factory bumper guards. Sonny refinished the bed floor with new wood and moldings. All the chrome was in good shape and required only replating.

To match the exterior, the original brown interior paint was replaced with Elkhart Blue and the bench seat was restitched in black leather. The brown gauge faces were redone in black by a local printer, who used the original gauge faces for a pattern. Carpeting was installed and Sonny handcrafted the new wooden floor trim.

Now that it’s done, Sonny has taken the 40 to local shows, where it’s snagged plenty of Best Truck and Best Paint awards. What’s even cooler than the trophies are the comments onlookers make when they see there’s a six banger rather than a small block under the hood. “All they tell me is,” Sonny smiled, “Hey, man, that’s different!”