“I plan to leave his race number, 1445, standing for “I Love Mary Ellen,” and his name on the driver’s side window to honor his memory.”

When many of us talk about our classic vehicles, they are often revered to as family members. We feel they are part of the family, because the story that gives them that status usually revolves around a memory of an actual family member. Such is the case with this week’s Home-Built Hero, J. Marcus McCloud’s ’68 Chevrolet C10.

“I first learned about this truck back in 1992. That’s when I met my high school sweetheart Angie. Her father, Barry, and I immediately became friends, and he treated me like a part of the family. After six months of dating Angie, Barry introduced me to his pride and joy, his 1968 Chevrolet C10,” J. Marcus told us. At the time, the Burgundy drag truck was sporting a .030-inch over-bored 350ci small-block engine.

Barry and J. Marcus upgraded the engine to a stroked 427ci big-block many years ago.

The two new friends soon upgraded to a more powerful 350 small-block and raced it on many drag strips, including Wilkesboro, North Carolina and Shuffletown Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina. It didn’t take long for the duo to decide the second small-block was not up to delivering the power they needed. “We then started to upgrade by locating a 427 block and crankshaft, Brodix aluminum heads and intake, and a Barry Grant 1150 carburetor.

J. Marcus’ oldest daughter is ready for Junior Prom.

According to J. Marcus, “I don’t know all the specifics about the engine, because it was written in a notebook by Barry that we can’t locate. I do know it’s 512 cubic inches.”  Behind the big-block is a TCI-built Powerglide transmission and a 3,500-rpm stall converter. It has four link rear suspension with coilovers, and a Dana 60 rearend.

Sadly, the big-block engine never got ran on a drag strip because life circumstances put the C10 on the back burner in 2000. Unfortunately, that’s when Barry’s health started to decline, and on March 25th, 2013, after multiple heart attacks and many different types of cancer, Barry passed away.

After his passing, his wife Mary Ellen and daughter Julie decided Barry would want J. Marcus to have the truck. J. Marcus, has no plans to change much about the truck, as this is how Barry built it, but he did start a few upgrades to transform it into a street truck. “I removed the two-speed Powerglide and put in a Turbo 400 transmission with a 3,500-rpm stall converter,” he said. Out of respect for Barry, he plans to leave his race number, 1445, and his name on the driver side window to honor his memory. “I feel I did not choose this C10, this C10 chose me.  It’s a part of the family and a huge part of my life,” J. Marcus said.

Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heroes? All you need to do is click here. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more – we can never get enough. If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected].