I’m all but convinced that I’ve seen this 1987 GMC S-15 in a magazine as a feature story in one of the hundreds of magazines I flipped through years ago. I couldn’t tell you if it was a sport truck rag or if it was in Lowrider magazine, but when you’ve sank at least three times the value of the truck into the paintwork, someone had to have paid enough attention to write up a story on it. It certainly isn’t subtle, that’s for sure. It started life as an extended-cab S-15, a plebeian workhorse, and then…well, the list of modifications is pretty intense. The back of the cab was cut out, the floor was extended into the bed, and a bed canopy was used to seal off the truck, making it into a kind of Frankenstein’d Jimmy. The truck sports hydraulics with an eight-switch setup, which allows it to dance around a little. The wire wheels have new rubber, and the paint, by House of Kolor and reportedly costing ten thousand dollars when applied, still shines and grabs your attention…for better or worse. But a look inside shows that time hasn’t been kind to the GMC. The custom dashboard remains, but what we’d bet was a monitor and aftermarket CD deck are now AWOL, and a bundle of switches are hanging in the passenger footwell. The B&M shifter looks like it’s missing a few pieces as well,  and the door panels look like hell. Go underhood, and the “chromed 350” really means that there are chrome dress-up pieces on a 350 block. While you’re under the hood, take note of the sweet bungee cord holding down the battery.

The paint is killer, but the truck looks like it’s seen some things since it’s early 1990s heyday. Could it be a neat project? Of course it could. For the sake of “period correct” changing up the paint wouldn’t be recommended, but a restored interior and a cleaned up underhood area would go a long ways in bringing some of the good old days back to this GMC. Now I’m going to go dig through a mountain of magazines to find the article on this truck…

eBay Find: 1987 GMC S-15 extended-cab lowrider