Scott and Kim Crews didn’t set out to build a showstopper. The plan was simple: find an old pickup, fix it up, and cruise it around with Scott’s dad, James. But like most good hot rod stories, this one spiraled in the best possible way. That sight-unseen eBay special? It turned out to be a rust-riddled mess. So they pivoted—hard. Before long, a No Limit Engineering chassis, an LS3, and a pile of parts big enough to fill a trailer started stacking up. That’s when Scott called in Ryan Korek of Korek Designs to bring it all home.

The result is James, a wickedly clean 1967 GMC that stole the spotlight in the Bowler Performance Transmissions booth. Under the hood, the LS3 wears a Wegner front drive and breathes through BBK headers and a custom stainless exhaust, all dressed in maroon to match the leather inside. It’s backed by a Bowler-built 4L60E and sits on Fox coil-overs, 14-inch Wilwoods, and 20-inch Schott wheels wrapped in Michelins—because looking cool doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t drive right.

But it’s the details that take this build to another level. Korek’s crew massaged the sheetmetal with subtle touches: a functional cowl hood, tucked bumpers, one-piece door glass, custom firewall, and a ’58 Impala dash that somehow looks like it was born there. The BASF “not-quite-silver” paint with satin black accents seals the deal. Inside, John Miller of Hide Originals stitched maroon leather over a Wise Guys bench seat, flanked by a custom console, Lokar shifter, Ididit tilt column, Vintage Air, and Dakota Digital gauges.

When Scott’s father passed in 2019, the project took on new meaning. Finishing the truck became a tribute—and naming it James felt like the only choice. Ryan even had custom badges made. It’s clean, it’s classy, and it’s personal. Just the way it should be.