Goodguys 2024 Goolsby Customs Next Generation Winner!
Congratulations to Nate Collard for winning the Goodguys 2024 Goolsby Customs Next Generation title with your 1998 Chevy C1500! We’ll see you and your vehicle in Scottsdale, Arizona November 22-24, 2024 at the 27th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals!
Nate Collard wasn’t even born yet when OBS trucks were having their sport truck heyday back in the 1990s. Through the course of his 24-year life, though, Nate has developed a soft spot for the trends and styles of that decade, so when he picked up a ’98 Chevy Silverado as his high school daily driver back in 2017, it didn’t take him long to start daydreaming about a ’90s-style custom makeover.
Those dreams remained the background as Nate focused on another project – a custom Tangelo Pearl ’69 Chevy C10 pickup he built with the help of his father, Wayne, and grandfather, Randy Warner. Nate gives a lot of credit to his grandfather, who owns the Nitro Garage hot rod shop in Lake Elsinore, California, with providing him a hands-on education on vintage vehicles. “He’s really been the one to show me everything,” Nate says. “He and my dad both have always been a huge help.”
Nate won a Next Generation award at the 2022 Spring Nationals with that ’69 Chevy C10. By then he had graduated high school, started work at Boeing, and retired his OBS from daily driver status. Engine problems had sidelined the ’98 and forced Nate to buy a new daily driver. So, in true hot rod fashion, after pulling the engine for a rebuild, Nate decided he might as well dive into the custom makeover he’d always envisioned for the truck. “It just spiraled from there,” he says.
Over the next few years, Nate spent much of his spare time on the OBS, wrenching on it in the RV garage at his parents’ house in Arizona, as well as in the back of his grandfather’s shop in California. In addition to the rebuilt Vortec 350c.i. small-block engine and fresh 4L60e transmission, he installed a Stone Fab coil-over front suspension with tubular upper and lower control arms. Around back, lowered leaf springs, hangers, and shackles from Western Chassis helped deliver the desired static drop, along with a notched frame for clearance.
Nate knew that if he wanted to capture an authentic ’90s look, he had to get the wheels right. Modern 20-inch or larger rollers wouldn’t cut it. So, he searched for some vintage billet wheels and finally scored a set of 17-inch Budnik Switchblades, which required hours of cutting and polishing to bring back to a like-new shine.
Like the wheels, Nate wanted the body mods to reflect a bygone era, too. He scored a set of vintage aftermarket side mirrors online and was able to buy the billet grille new. He shaved the antenna and third brake light, modified the brackets to tuck the front bumper tighter, installed a rolled rear pan, and moved the latch handle to the inside of the tailgate. He also removed the wipers, smoothed the cowl area, filled the seams in the cab, shaved the drip rails, and installed Suburban rear door handles (which have no key holes). When all the mods were complete, Nate applied the fresh House of Kolor paint (a modified version of Passion Pearl) himself, with supervision from his grandfather.
The inside of the cab required its share of attention, too, starting with finding a nicer dashboard. (“It looked like someone tried to service the radio from the top of the dash,” Nate says with a laugh.) Billet vents from Spare Time Fab helped update the dash, as did a new steering wheel from All American Billet. There’s a custom console between the bucket seats, and Nate built a speaker box for the back of the cab to house four Diamond Audio 8-inch subwoofers. Dominic Dominguez gets credit for the brown leather and perforated suede upholstery with purple accents.
“My goal for the truck was to make it look like a truck that was built in the ’90s,” Nate says, “a throwback to that era that nobody really does anymore.” We think he nailed it. Many others do, too – Nate frequently gets asked if it’s an old build that’s been stashed away in a garage for 25 years. “That, to me, is the greatest compliment,” he says.
Congratulations to Nate for becoming the Goodguys 2024 Goolsby Customs Next Generation winner! With enthusiasts like him building cool rides like this ’98 Chevy, we know the future of the hobby is in good hands.
Photos by Terry Lysak
