GREEN DAY: CUSTOM CLASSIC TRUCKS MAGAZINE

jueves, 5 de julio de 2012

CUSTOM CLASSIC TRUCKS MAGAZINE

CUSTOM CLASSIC TRUCKS MAGAZINE | Greenday.com Skip to main content area HomeNewsMusicPicsVidsTourIdiot ClubStore Subnav ExtrasRingtonesVoteInternationalRock BandFoxboro Hot TubsRusty Wired Series FleeceHoven Vision SunglassesAmerican Idiot BILLIE'S TWITTER E-MAILRSSITUNESTWITTERFACEBOOKMYSPACEYOUTUBE Sign up for Green Day's Mailing List CUSTOM CLASSIC TRUCKS MAGAZINE

Making a living traveling the world, playing in front of hundreds of thousands of people in one of the biggest rock ’n’ roll bands on the planet sounds like a dream job to every teenager who’s ever picked up a guitar; hell, I still dream about living that lifestyle! But Mike Dirnt, bass player of the seminal punk band Green Day, has actually gone from dreaming about it to making it his lifelong career. Together with his band mates, Billy Joe Armstrong and Tre Cool, they’ve forged a steady path of rock destruction since forming some twenty-five years ago in Northern California’s East Bay. And while many things have changed over the years as the band went from playing three dollar shows at Gilman Street to sell-out stadium shows around the world, one thing has remained; Mike’s ’56 Ford Panel truck.

“In 1994 I had been searching for a used panel truck, because I love utility vehicles; form and function. For a musician, this is a must. I had searched a number of swap meets and what I had found was either too polished, too big a project, or just wasn’t speaking to me for some reason.

“One weekend I headed to the Turlock Swap Meet. I didn’t find anything of interest on site, but having been to my fair share of car shows, decided to check out the parking lot outside the swap meet. Once there, I spotted what looked like a panel truck roof about 70 yards off. I ran over to it and there was the toughest looking panel I’ve ever seen and it was for sale! It was a 1956 Ford with a 460ci engine and a C6 tranny, Volare front end, and was rough enough around the edges that it was a piece of art as-is! Like that perfectly worn pair of Chuck Taylors.”

Mike called the number listed on the For Sale sign and met up with the owner later that day. With an asking price of $6,500, it was two grand more than Mike was carrying in his pocket. Bartering down to $5,000, the lowest the owner’s wife would let him go, Mike borrowed an extra $500 from his buddy and a deal was struck.

“I knew if I didn’t drive it home that day, his wife might not let him sell it to me.”

Over a decade later and many thousands of miles clocked on the odometer (not to mention countless gigs!), and the truck was starting to get tired. It was time for an overhaul, but being a busy musician traveling the world doesn’t leave much time to spend in the garage. So, Mike turned to his good friend Jed Arian who agreed to oversee the build as it went together at American Classics in Petaluma, California.

Greg Mills takes over the story, “We received this tired old panel and as we tore it down, we evaluated which way to go. We started with a new Total Cost Involved chassis which included a cleaner IFS instead of the Volare front clip. On the rear end we went with a four-link setup because we knew we were going to be giving it some horsepower.”

Full article: HERE

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