



“I may not have understood what was under the hood when I was a little kid, but I knew what I liked—the cars. I always had an interest in them,” Danielle Rigos states when talking about her lifelong love affair with hot rods, muscle cars, and trucks. “It was all around me when I was growing up. My brother is 10 years older than me and always had some sort of hot rod around. At that age I knew I wanted to be part of that scene.”

Things got interesting when Danielle bought a car with a warped head. “I took matters into my own hands and bought the Chilton repair manual for it. I was so determined to fix it myself. I did the best I could. It was the first time I took on a big engine repair.” The flame was ignited.
After seeing that episode it still took Danielle years before she made the move. “I woke up one morning in 2019 and literally said ‘screw it. I’m buying a truck’ … and that’s when the search officially began.”


“We took a ride out to Jersey and checked out a ’56 Chevy 3100. It had some issues, like a bad five-speed trans and a poor stance.” After driving the truck Danielle knew it had potential and suddenly all of her hard negotiating skills went right out the window. “I then dropped a deposit down and went back the next week to get it.” Danielle finally got the opportunity she had waited her whole life to have.
Interestingly enough, the truck started its life out west. “Its history begins in Alaska, of all places, and then spent some time in Seattle before being claimed by the last owner. I love knowing the history; it’s pretty cool being aware of where it’s been.”


The truck was already built into a hot rod by the previous owner. “It had a good black metallic paintjob with some flake in it that was nice, so we kept it and moved on.” The heart of “Misfit” is a Chevy 350ci 0.030-over powerplant built with TRW forged pistons, forged crank, and a full roller valvetrain. “We gave the engine a face-lift by powdercoating and Cerakoting the engine’s accessories to the truck’s chosen color theme.” An Edelbrock Performer intake and Edelbrock 650-cfm carb feed this small-block and an MSD billet distributor, 6A ignition, and blaster coil tie it all together.
A TCI Street Rodder 700-R4 transmission was installed to get the truck through the gears. It feeds a 12-bolt rear taken from a C10 that was rebuilt with an Auburn posi unit and stuffed with 3.42 Richmond gears. A TCI four-link now sits out back. It was converted to Ridetech single-adjustable coilovers both front and rear. Up front, 2-inch drop spindles get the truck down where Danielle wants it. A TCI Mustang II front end with tubular A-arms and power rack help keep this truck pointed in the right direction.

To fit the big rear meats that she wanted, Danielle, along with friend Eric Woodin, installed 4-inch tubs out back. Wheels are Ridler 606s, 20×8.5 up front with big 20×10.5s in the rear. The rims are shod in Continental tires, 245/45-20 and 275/40-20 respectively. They are mounted with 1-inch spacers. For stopping power, the owner went with Wilwood brakes all around. Massive 14-inch drilled-and-vented rotors with Superlite six-piston calipers are up front and 12-inch drilled-and-vented rotors sit with four-piston calipers under the quarters. A frame-mounted Wilwood master helps pinch the quad-disc setup.
As the truck’s build progressed, the interior needed some attention, so Danielle carried the satin black, gloss, and gunmetal theme into the cab, which helped the ostrich-covered bucket seats the truck came with pop even more. The previous owner had installed a Grant steering wheel that was pulled and replaced with a ’56 stock piece now mounted to a Flaming River column. A Dakota Digital dash keeps track of the vitals and a Lokar shifter gets it through the gears. Tunes are important to the owner so a Sony XM-GS6DSP amp was installed along with a Bluetooth direct-to-amp receiver. Morel Virtus Nano Carbon Integra speakers push out the decibels to her liking.


Thanks go out to several very important people and businesses. “I want to thank Broken Silence Custom Audio, Prodigy Performance Coatings, Mamaroneck Auto Body, Motorwerks, and De Dona Enterprises for their products and hard work. A special shout-out goes to Uncle John, Anthony G., and others who gave their support, time, and effort.”
On a final note, we must ask: Why was the truck christened Misfit? Danielle explains it this way: “One, because people don’t expect a female to be driving it. They always assume it’s Greg’s. Two, there were so many things that were giving me a hard time when we first got the truck that it reminded me of the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. That’s why I have the elephant with the pink dots hanging from the mirror. Third, I love the band the Misfits. And fourth … it just fit.”
