One of the coolest projects to hit the airwaves and webwaves over the last couple of years is Randy Grubb’s creation known as the Pissed Off Pete. This is a 1960 Peterbilt truck modified in the spirit of a Fuel Altered/street rod/we don’t even know what. The truck is totally bad ass and amazing to see in person.
Click here to see the photo gallery and captions describing the Piss’d Off Pete.
Randy had the truck at the 2009 SEMA show and we ran into him when we stopped to look at the beast up close. He answered our incessant questions and provided a lot of insight into the project.
Grubb is first and foremost an artist. Before building his amazing run of vehicles, his business was creating glass artwork. He has always been a gearhead. He was wrenching on old junk as soon as he was old enough to hold tools.
To some degree it would take an artist to create the vehicles that he has over the years, from Leno’s “Tank Car” to the amazing swoopy “B-702“. These creations are so massive and so well crafted, someone with a lesser understanding of proportions, scales, and the way people look at stuff would fail extremely. Randy’s skills as a craftsman cannot be denied, either. B-702 can, to this point, be considered his finest artistic metalworking, but the Pete has some great examples of his ability as well.
The cab, being naked, leaves no question as to the quality of the work. There’s no filler or paint hiding ugliness under the surface. What you see is what you get and what you see is someone who’s taken a Peterbilt and made it downright zooty looking. The “slanted eyebrow” split windshield is where the Piss’d Off part of the Peterbilt’s name came from and it is from there that the entire attitude of the project exudes.
All of Grubb’s creations are centered around massive engines. This one happens to be a 12v-71 Detroit Diesel, a two-stroke V-12. It is the visual centerpiece of the vehicle and now sports a full exhaust system rather than the zoomie headers that were on it when it made its public debut. We didn’t hear it run but we were dying to hear what those stacks sound like under full-throttle blasts.
Randy sold the truck at SEMA. This is a good thing because it means the next project can begin and he did confirm that there is a next project. The truck is also rumored to be running the 2010 Hot Rod Power Tour, which would be cool. The guy who brought the truck is publicity-phobic, and frankly, the only thing we know about him is that his first name is Michael. He’s probably annoyed that we know that much.
Click here to learn more in the BangShift.com photo gallery. You can also see more of Randy’s creations at his site, Blastolene.com.
This YouTube video describes the Pete as Jay Leno’s, though that it not correct. But it does show the Pete making noise!
This hot rod Peterbilt is owned by Gary Reis of Stagecoach Trucking in Vermillion, MN. I saw this hotrod parked on a side street in Prescott, WI where I’m told he keeps it stored.