CTP Feature
InTheGarageMedia.com
In the Beginning… title
In the Beginning… title
Hub City Fab’s Virgin Build: Jared Pharr’s ’58 Chevy
BY Rob FortierPHOTOGRAPHY BY John Jackson
B

ack in 1962, Jared Pharr’s grandfather, Jackie Moore, purchased a then 4-year-old ’58 Chevy Stepside. He drove it daily for years before relegating it to farm truck duties, that is until the day it quit running. From that day and for many, many to follow, the ol’ farm truck sat beneath a tree on the family’s property.

Even at an early age, young Jared dreamed of owning that truck and had many conversations with his grandpa about bringing the Chevy back to life one day. Before his death in 2003, Jackie promised his grandson that he could do just that—bring the truck back to life—and with the blessing of his grandmother, Shirley, the ’58 was brought out of its extended retirement and transported to Jared’s home. That transformation, however, would not begin for another 11 years.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Jared’s brother-in-law, Alex Huggins, saw the ’58 Chevy as the perfect opportunity to branch out on his own and open his own restoration/hot rod shop, Hub City Fab, in Idalou, Texas, just northeast of Jared’s hometown of Lubbock.

red '58 Chevy
dashboard and steering in a '58 Chevy
bed of a '58 Chevy
black leather seats in a '58 Chevy
speakers in a '58 Chevy
'58 Chevy
collage of images of a truck
rear of red '58 Chevy
Huggins embarked upon “Build Number 1,” as he put it, by tearing the truck down to the bare frame, which he then updated with a Porterbuilt IFS and a Ridetech four-link (each equipped with Ridetech/Fox coilovers). Of course the old drivetrain was set aside and in its place went a stout Don Hardy–built 6.2L LS with a 4L65E feeding its 550 hp to a Currie 9-inch rear. Wilwood 14- and 13-inch brakes are concealed behind a quartet of 20-inch Detroit Steel Wheels solid steelies (wrapped in Diamond Back Classics redline radials).

Rather than simply freshening up the Apache and reuniting with the chassis, Huggins performed a multitude of modifications: shaved and tucked the bumpers (the front is flipped as well), shaved the driprails, frenched in the grille, flush-mounted the taillights, reverse-mounted the hood, and added handmade vents. Once that was all said and done, with the help of Kris and Ryan Aastrup, the exterior was massaged and coated (by Kris) with that eye-catching, satin-finished Sherwin-Williams Viper Red.

engine in a '58 Chevy
'58 Chevy
To finish off his virgin custom build, Huggins commissioned Recovery Room’s Tracy Weaver in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, to fashion up a custom interior, which was done in black suede and perforated leather (the seats were also custom built by Recovery Room). Final details include Dakota Digital VHX instrumentation (wired with a Painless Performance Products harness by Jimmy Davis/JD Glassworks), custom sound system by Bryan Moon at Audio EFX, three-spoke FS steering wheel, and plenty of satin black accessory accents.

It’s probably a pretty safe bet to say this old Apache is in the Pharr family to stay!