From now until June 1, Bring a Trailer is hosting an online sale where you can win what might be the ultimate farm truck. It has been working on an unusual track weapon for ten years, and it was the first truck to race at the Targa Newfoundland. This beast can reach speeds of 180 mph, which is faster than any long-bed truck. Picture yourself on a race day in your Ferrari, living the high life. As the turns come up, the chassis settles down, the sun shines like it’s afternoon on the Mediterranean, and as the revs rise, some of Maranello’s best work sings an aria of combustion. Then, a shadow showed up. A big shadow. A cloud that stands out. Madonna! Is that a farm car that’s gone over? One of these is a 1971 GMC C1500 pickup truck that has been turned into a real racer. There is no doubt that it is a long bed. Yes, it is a guide. In fact, it will beat them up and take their lunch money. You can have it. A normal start to the story of this beast: a father and son work on a project together to give them a goal and keep a teen out of trouble. The father of the current owner, Mark Bovey, got the rusty GMC for a nice $100. It needs to be fixed up. In their Ontario home garage, Bovey Jr. (14 years old at the time) and his father worked on the truck for eight years, hand-patching the floors and painting the outside. It was equipped with a 427-cubic-inch V-8 engine and a T56 six-speed manual transmission. With its big tires and dropped suspension, it was a street-rod truck with attitude. A long-time friend of Bovey’s challenged him to participate in a neighborhood autocross. Many people’s eyes lit up when a long-bed GMC pulled up. Their eyes lit up even more when Bovey’s run times began to surpass those of Subaru STIs and other similar vehicles. The 24:1 reduction was achieved by hand, and the brakes were drum brakes. Bovey finally upgraded to a steering box like those used in NASCAR, along with good brakes and several other high-performance parts. People in the community accept it, but only just. It’s now a regular at autocross and track events. Still, the Ferrari owner must have felt bad that he didn’t buy the ’71 GMC. The organizing committee for Targa Newfoundland said on social media that they had never had a truck participate. Bovey replied, “I can scratch that itch.” The Targa Newfoundland is a paved rally that takes place every year in Newfoundland and Labrador. It has stages that are between 1,100 and 1,800 kilometers long and are very challenging. People who live in the area call it “The Rock,” and some cars have been broken in this dangerous area. People in Ontario raised a significant amount of money for the 2014 Targa Truck effort through crowdsourcing, and the GMC received the safety features and upgrades it needed to be strong and reliable. As always, there were a few quiet laughs when the long-bed GMC showed up for inspection. The jokes stopped when the truck started smashing stages and blaring out fast elapsed times. Soon after, people started cheering because, really, who doesn’t like seeing something that wasn’t made to carry mail? Martin, Bovey’s dad, saw the last few steps, saw the truck in action, and even helped fix something on the side of the road. The GMC beat a Corvette and a Porsche 911 to come in second place in the antique class. When the truck drove the Targa for 200,000 miles, it made people think of what happened. When Bovey got home, he started taking everything apart again because he wanted to use what he had learned to make the GMC go faster. The ultimate plan was to take it to the Mount Washington hill climb in New Hampshire. This event has been ongoing for 120 years, which is longer than both the Pikes Peak and Indianapolis 500 races. Competing with a GMC pickup in a tarmac rally is impossible without attracting the attention of racing fans. Since the Targa eleven years ago, Bovey has worked with professional drifter Pat Cyr, rally legends Frank and Dan Sprongl of Four Star Motorsports, and IMSA teams Mantella Racing and AWA Racing. The truck was completely overhauled; it was made lighter, disassembled, and then reassembled using welding. To follow Mount Washington rules, the engine had to be relocated, and a roll cage had to be constructed. The main numbers are 3611 pounds vs. 573 horsepower at 6100 rpm and 530 pound-feet of torque at 5000 rpm, but there are so many changes that it’s like reading a book. The M0TeC computer on board this GMC can be configured to perform more than just traction control, depending on its next task. For the same reasons, this 1971 GMC, which a father and son built, needs to be scrapped. A lot of the car has been re-engineered, but there are still some hand-patched areas that are fingerprints from the 37 years of ownership. Bovey’s life is pretty busy now that she has three kids, including very young twin boys. As a result, he has decided to sell his long-term project at auction. Since the license plate light and all the running lights are wired, it might be possible to drive on the street. You would have to be funny to own such a motorbike, show it off at races, deal with a few early laughs, and then watch people’s jaws drop. But imagine it. You want to get a red Ferrari. The V-8 engine produces a significant amount of noise. It would be a lovely life. The sale ends on June 1, which is a Sunday.
