Built by Tre5 Customs and painted by IKandy Paintworks—located next door to one another in Peoria, Arizona—Aaron Read’s Fleetside was first spotted at the Dino’s Git Down Mixer, and literally the first words out of my mouth were: “Those colors shouldn’t work together—but dammit if they do … and in such a riveting, impactful manner!” And the gentleman within earshot of my remarks was none other than the individual responsible for making that brave design element decision, Aaron Read. (To be honest, he may not have been expecting my words to come out the way in which they did, as I’m not known as the most complimentary person!)

Unlike many a gaudy show truck build (which, ironically, this was initially intended to be built for Aaron’s employer in their SEMA booth until they pulled promotional funding), the lavish colors indeed go the extra length to draw the attention of onlookers. But beneath the watermelon-esque hues lies the utmost in performance trucks—like, as good as it gets. “I wanted to build a truck—more specifically, a 1967 C10—with the reliability of modern components but the styling of a vintage truck,” Aaron tells us. “I wanted an autocross truck that could be competitive; something I could take to car shows but also something I could throw the kids in and enjoy driving. In hindsight, these are three completely different trucks!” Thanks to Tre5 and all involved, those three completely different trucks have successfully been transferred into one—this one!

With a good amount of time rally/road racing under his restraint belt, Aaron’s intent from the get-go was to make this truck go—on the track as well as the street. With that in mind, he and Tre5’s Jeremy Rice agreed on going with a Roadster Shop Fast Track chassis. Performance-proven with C6-based independent suspensions front and rear, a competitive 14-inch/six-piston Baer brake package, and Roadster Shop’s high-performance power rack steering system. A Holley EFI-equipped Don Hardy LS418 with a T56 Magnum rightfully put ample power to the IRS’s Currie third-member and on out to 20-inch American Racing “many-spokes,” aka Fastlanes.

Speaking of the wheels, if you’ll notice, the centers of the complex-concave Americans have been treated to a creamy tan color, while surrounding trim work and the Ringbrothers exterior accessories, such as the handles and mirrors, are a light gray. Once again, the artist in me would question the dual accent colors—but once again, in this case they work!

Furthering on with the non-discriminatory color conversation, let’s get down to the guts of the watermelon, so to speak. A collaboration of sorts between Elevated Design and Empire Custom Upholstery, the bright red innards of Aaron’s C10 are based on a pair of TMI bucket seats, however, the sculpted door panels and remainder of the creature comforts are custom made. The accessory complementing gauge bezel is another Ringbrothers item that has been fitted with a Dakota Digital HDX command center module (aka gauge cluster); the steering wheel is a MOMO unit topping an ididit column.

All this talk about color choices and whatnot aside, simply put, Aaron Read’s C10 is one of the most stunning purpose-built trucks I’ve seen to date—and I’m not a fan of green or the taste of watermelons, so there you go!