The year 2020 has brought us a host of challenges on a global scale. With COVID19 on the loose, we have faced adversity with the economy, working remotely, homeschooling, and the cancellation of trade shows. Also, in this glorious year, GM decided to pull the plug on single cab short bed pickups due to the lack of sales.

Up until recently, standard cab trucks were all the rage since the early 1900s. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that you could even purchase something other than a regular cab truck. With the introduction of the crew cab, which accounts for 70-percent of the GM trucks sold, the popularity of a single cab has gone to the wayside. But that didn’t stop Adan Ibarra, the Owner of Leading Edge Collision in Houston, Texas, from building a show stopper.

Ibarra started working at a paint and collision shop at the age of 15. He has always been passionate about paint and body, and when he saw that GM was not going to build any single cab short bed trucks, he decided to create his own. Ibarra and crew started with a 2020 GMC long-bed truck powered by a Gen V 5.3-liter LT engine. And while most people purchase new vehicles for the warranty, that wasn’t the case here. Ibarra said, “We voided the warranty right after the purchase.”

The first move was to remove the long-bed and replace it with a short one from a 2020 crew cab. After the new bed was fitted up, the frame was then measured and cut to size. As you can imagine, other things needed to be customized to get the now modified truck back on the road, like the exhaust, driveshaft, fuel lines, and so on.

Knowing that the truck would certainly be one of a kind, Ibarra planned on continuing the customization of the 1500. The “Ugly” white paint was not going to make the cut, and Ibarra’s team prepped the GMC for a complete color change. Body modifications include the short bed conversion, smoothed all texture, painted chrome, color-matched headlamps. They then custom mixed three different PPG Global paint colors in the house before applying the new paint scheme.

Photos by: TheBulletWS6

With the paint out of the way, Ibarra addressed other areas of the truck. For a proper stance, the team installed a BellTech lowering kit. This suspension system lowered the truck 4-inches in the front and 6-inches in the rear. Lexani Forged 24×10-inch two-piece wheels were used in the front with a pair of 285/35/24 Pirelli tires. The back of the truck sits on three-piece Lexani 24×11-inch wheels with a monstrous set of 305/35/24 that fill up the wheel wells nicely.

Other modifications include Katzkin leather interior, black painted plastics, and satin clear coat on all jambs and underneath the truck. While the engine is stock at the moment, Ibarra mentioned that a turbo kit might happen in the future.

When asked about Ibarra’s favorite thing about this truck, he said, ” I love the fact that this is a unique build, but it looks like something GM might offer as a limited edition.” While this is true, we don’t expect you will be able to buy anything this cool from General Motors with a short bed anytime soon.