The sport truck movement was one of the biggest car culture hallmarks of the 1990s. From factory hot rods like the Chevy 454 SS, Ford Lightning, and GMC Syclone to countless custom builds by enthusiasts across America, the concept of high-performance pickup trucks spread like wildfire. These builds featured more powerful engines, lowered suspensions, custom paint, and sleek, aggressive styling. One of the pioneers of the sport truck movement was California-based hot rod builder Boyd Coddington. In the following video from Jay Leno's Garage, Leno and Coddington's son Chris take a closer look at the 1989 GMC that's credited with starting it all.
Boyd Coddington's Chopped 1989 GMC
The first thing you'll notice about this truck is its color scheme, composed of light and dark silver with bright pink stripes and finer yellow outlines. As Leno points out, these colors might sound crazy on paper, but seeing the complete truck, they fit it perfectly. Still, they're definitely a product of that time period when neon colors were all the rage.
While the paint scheme and billet wheels were sure to turn heads, the underlying metalwork had quite a bit of subtlety. "That's the sign of a good customizer," Leno remarked. "It doesn't look like they did much, but actually they did quite a bit." Notable mods included a 3-inch chopped top, shaved fuel door with filler neck hidden in the wheel well, custom aluminum tonneau cover, custom rear roll pan, flush tail lights, deleted front side markers, and recessed front bumper.
Unsurprisingly, the truck rides on 16-inch Boyds billet wheels wrapped in Goodyear tires. This style of wheel would become extremely popular throughout the '90s, but larger-diameter 18- and 20-inch wheels wouldn't appear until later on.
The truck also has a lowering kit, likely a 4/6-inch drop kit. Kits such as these would become standard fare for sport trucks in the '90s, and air suspension kits would also become popular as time went on.
While this GMC's interior and 350ci V8 engine remain almost completely stock, this was a byproduct of the practical nature of this build — it was intended to be a custom tow vehicle for pulling trailers. Many sport trucks over the next decade would continue the theme with built motors, superchargers, custom upholstery, wild stereo systems, and much more.
Check out the full Jay Leno's Garage episode below to learn more about this '89 GMC:
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