Let me start with the fact that you have probably seen this truck before, unless you live under a rock. This iconic build has been featured all over the internet and in many of the remaining print magazines still available on news stands.
This is a truck that was destined for scrap.
In November 2018, a fire called Camp Fire or also, now more commonly known as Paradise Fire due to it unfortunately hitting the town of Paradise on its rampage, burned though someone’s field of dreams. Originally a ranch truck, this 1959 Chevy Apache 3100 was parked in a field near Paradise California along with a large collection of other trucks and cars. After the fire, the previous owner returned to the field to find that everything had been burned to the ground and he turned to Craigslist to sell off what he could of what was left.
Shortly after that Jason Fonte, was visiting a friend and mentioned to him that he was looking to build a truck for his next project. It just so happened that this friend had picked up that truck and parked it on his driveway with a tarp over it, unsure of whether he would actually tackle such a daunting project.
When Jason pulled back the tarp on this truck, his initial reaction was that of any smart individual. What lay before him was a twisted pile of burnt, melted, rusty metal. No way was this a logical start to a project. Anyone who works with metal knows that too much heat can permanently distort a panels shape. Too much heat can come from something as simple as grinding or even sanding for too long on a panel. Now imagine what those panels would look like when thrown into a raging fire.
What gets many of us enthusiasts though is the story behind a vehicle. The better the story the cooler the build. And this story is what hooked Jason, sink or swim, this truck was going to rise from the ashes.
Fonte, having done this a few times before took the time to plan and meticulously design the build prior to starting on it collecting all of the OE and NOS parts he could find as well as spec’ing the entire chassis and putting in his orders before he reached out to Jeff Davey, owner of Devious Customs and told him it was time to resurrect the Apache.
It all starts with a top of the line Roadster Shop Slammed Series Chassis and that pairs beautifully with an LQ9 6.0L V-8 out of late 2000’s Escalade with a 4L80 transmission from SoCo Auto Salon in Costa Mesa, California but more on the engine later. The Roadster Shop chassis comes complete with power rack and pinion steering, front sway bar, dual frame mounted batteries, toe board panel, billet swivel steering column mount, motor mount kit, polyurethane transmission mount kit, a 20 gallon stainless steel fuel tank with a Coyote fuel management system, and skid plate.
The front rides on Roadster Shop control arms, upper and lower, with airbags by Fox, Wilwood pro spindles, and QA1 adjustable shocks. The rear sits on a four link rear suspension setup with airbags by Fox as well, and has a billet Watts link to keep the narrowed Ford 9” rear end upgraded with 31 spline axles, 4.11 gears, and a Pro Iron case with Tru Trac post traction, centered on the frame. The rear end also runs QA1 adjustable shocks.
Air management is delivered through Accuair eLevel and includes custom billet mounted dual Viair 485 Black Widow compressors, two 5 gallon Flo Air tanks also mounted via custom billet aluminum.
To match the rest of the truck the entire chassis was left to flash over with rust before it was powder coated with a matte clear powder. The chassis is something to be proud of and as such, a portion of the bed was intentionally left out to show off the goodies. Something else you might notice is that everything that can be run with hardlines, has been and done so with copper or copper colored lines to go with the theme of the truck. The entire chassis rolls on 20x9 (front) and 20x13 (rear) Billet wheels by Colorado Customs and finished in a custom antiqued bronze color and mounted with Lexani LX Twenty rubber. 245/35ZR20 in the front, and 345/25ZR20 in the rear.
The entire truck comes to a stop on a set of Wilwood slotted and cross drilled big brakes with 6 piston calipers up front and 4 piston out back completed with a tandem master cylinder and an 8” brake booster also from Wilwood.
The engine, as stated before, is an LQ9 6.0L with a 4L80 transmission that was freshly rebuilt in 2021 with honed intake ports and a stage 3 BTR camshaft. Fuel is delivered by Fast EV1 48lb injectors through a Holley intake manifold, controlled by a Holley Terminator X. The engine also includes Holley mid mount serpentine kit, two piece painted valve covers, Holley oil pan, a Melling oil pump, and MSD Ignition. The package is cooled with an aluminum radiator and 16” fan and shroud. The engine was painted with a heavy flaked gold color as throw back to traditional hot rodding with satin black accessories and accents and framed with a custom firewall with matching patina. Westech Performance dyno tuned the truck to be fast, loud, and reliable.
The exhaust is pushed through 1 7/8” Ultimate stainless steel headers into a full 3” stainless steel system with dual Borla Sportsman racing mufflers and exits the bedsides with style in a tear dop shape surrounded by steel rings with copper rivets.
On the exterior, Jason had this to say. “The process for what you see is that I diluted CLR with water & scrubbed the entire truck down with red scotchbrite pads. Once the metal was mostly smooth I then shot 3 coats of matte clear on the entire truck, inside of the bed as well. The badges are all OE, but not from this truck obviously. Devious scuffed the badges up then patina’d them to match. The exterior mirrors were painted in satin black to match the interior. This particular truck was optioned with reverse lights & amazingly the bezels survived the fire to a degree, along with the turn signal bezels. The colors that are in these bezels are shades of oxidized, green, copper, gold & brown. These bezels are what I based the whole build & color pallet on. The windows tie in the oxidized green & so on. The truck was purposefully designed well in advance to the actual build. Honestly I am still amazed it worked out. The bed was designed to look old & weathered & show off the center sections. The bed wood was distressed, beat up & stained multiple times to achieve the finished result. The bed strips are also distressed to match the patina look. The bed floor is also raised a bit to house the compressors & let the massive exhaust slide by. The wheel tubs are OE except for the 5” strips to widen them. I have yet to clear them or even hide the weld seam. I want people to see the patina & how much wider we went. They continue to rust.”
The interior continues the theme with a Snowden low profile seat finished with black leather and black suede inserts, matching suede door panels, and headliner. “The entire cab was heavily layered in dynomat & padding. High end black carpeting fills the floor & rear wall. Devious then shot the entire cab in satin black except for the dash top. I intentionally left the dash raw with no clear. I wanted the patina to be softer inside. I scrubbed the dash with water & red scotchbrite pads & the result is this crazy suede like appearance. If ya look at or touch it you would swear its crushed suede. I went with power windows & used a set of oe handles & window cranks to finish it off. They were painted to match the patina. The entirety of the cab is either satin black or patina.” Jason adds. The rest of the interior includes Classic Industries Task Force gauge cluster, power windows, RestoMod TruMOD AC unit with custom patina’d grills for the hidden vents in place of the factory ash trays, Ididit tilt column, and a Lokar column shift linkage. The steering wheel is a one off with black, rust, and antique bronze to match the theme of the truck.
No interior is complete without a killer audio system, and Audio Concepts in Simi Valley California made sure that it was outfitted to do so. It includes a custom built fiberglass box that houses two pro series JL Flat 10’s, JL HD900/5 amp, Focal Flex Evo separates in custom kick panels, and a Stealth Bluetooth head unit.
The team behind the build was able to put the entire truck together in just 11 months from the day Jeff Davey from Devious Customs picked up the truck and all the parts. The truck was debuted at SEMA in 2021.
Jason thanks “My wife Dina. Roadster Shop, Devious Customs, Colorado Customs, Audio Concepts, PrrDiem Fab, Creep Works, Eddie Franco from Accuair, Accuair, Detail Firm, Jason Mulligan from Auto Revolution, Johnny O, Grinder TV, AutotopiaLA, The Quarantine Cruise Team & my club ///Relaxed Atmosphere.”
The truck by the way is named “Project Fired” and was built to show everyone who doubted it could be done, that it was possible and is now quite possibly the best known Apache on the planet.
“This design & build was insane point blank with unmatched provenance. Having watched it do what it did in the scene, on social media, the shows, the vendor booths, etc felt great. It allowed me to meet a whole set of people that were in some way or another effected by the Fire. I got to hear stories of loss & hope over the years with this truck & I am honored to have made those friends. This truck allowed those connections to happen & I will be forever grateful.” Says Jason.
Find Jason on Instagram as @roccosdad where he is already on to the next projects including a 1973 Squarebody he calls “Mr. Simpson” and a 1964 Chevy C10 big window short bed.
Words by Brian Holzli & Photos by Dominic Candelaria
