the story behind my username

[48chebbie]

alot of folks have commented on my username 48chebbie. here is the story.........
i have loved my mopars since i was a little kid,and,like alot of people,i have most always kept more than a few in my driveway,but that driveway has also been home to alot of other brands and variations.
anywho,we have a nice,big,world renowned,streetrod show,right across the ohio river,in evansville,ind. called the frog follies. every year,since i was 14,i have went,not to look at the rods,but to spend hours and hours pillfering through the swap meet area,usually both saturday and sunday. they always have lots of stuff for sale,actually,only about half of the stuff is streetrod related!!
so,in all my wheeling and dealing,about 5 years ago,i came into an 48 chevy truck/rod that,at the price,absolutely could not be passed up. it was a nice,solid truck body,sitting on a 73 pontiac grand prix frame,powered by a nasty,.060 over 455 poncho/turbo 400 and a 3.42 posi 12 bolt.
the stinkin truck weighed about 3100 pounds,and would scream!!! big cam,big holley,big stall converter,2" primary hooker headers,3" exhaust,and 40 series 2-chamber flowmasters,exiting out big 4" cannon tips.while this thing was pretty fast,it sounded like it would suck up a top-fuel funny car,and spit it out!!!LOL.
so,the name, i got all the problems with the truck worked out,some wiring,some primer work,mounting bumpers,roll pan,wheels/tires,some glass,etc. and managed to get the truck ready to cruise,the thursday night,before the frog follies started on friday.
at the time,my favorite little buddy in the world,my nephew(i don't have any kids of my own) was 4,about to turn 5 in november,and,i drove up to his mom and dads,to say hi,and drive the truck a little,anyway,my nephew walked out to the curb,and walked around the truck several times. on the front,right corner of the splash apron,i had one of those billet,upright license plate holders,and had a plastic,fake state vanity plate on it that said, 48 CHEVY, my nephew looked at the plate,looked at me,looked at the plate,and back at me,with a puzzled look,and i asked him if he could read it and he said yes,
so, i said,what does it say, and he said,with a big,accomplishing smile........48 CHEBBIE. the name stuck.
i had a new vanity plate made,that had the new name on it,and i put it on the truck.
a week after the frog follies,i sold the truck,but kept the plate. 2 weeks later,the guy i sold the truck to,(a dear friend,rest his soul) was turning on a city street here,someone shouted "fire it up",well he did,truck got sideways,shifted to 2nd gear,and darted straight into a 18" light pole,he died,2 hours after the crash,the truck was destroyed,and both rest in peace. thats the story
the name,is in the humor,of a 4 year old little boy,and the memory,of 2,long passed friends.

[4402tuff4u]

Intresting story (not about the death but the name), thanks for sharing.   I used to have a 1964 GMC 4x4 pickup, with a 6 cyl. 292, teal color, it was a real head turner - fully restored, oak lined bed from factory, but the ride was tuff! It was a one ton truck with very low gears.

[kab69440]

Dang, Cheb... that is truly sad news on both counts. Just goes to show, with great "power" comes great responsibility. RIP.

[tan top]

damn that was tragic chebbie 

[41husk]

Bummer

[Charger_Fan]

Long live the memories.

[PocketThunder]

Hey i was reading the classifieds at clubhotrod.com and there on page one is a 48 chebbie!

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25924