Five years ago, Jeff Zion bought a '87 Isuzu P'Up for only $600 and took it home to his wife and kids. Soon, he found himself working on the truck more and more, often making it into a custom. At one point during this time, he decided that the truck would look best totally shaved. So he began getting rid of items such as the door handles, the taillights, and other obnoxious factory outcroppings.
After Jeff had made all of the modifications, he felt his ride needed to look the way he envisioned it, so he had the whole truck painted a solid dark purple and was content to show it this way for a while.
The next season, Jeff decided that his truck needed something eccentric to set it apart from the other trucks he'd seen at shows. He commissioned Paintrix in Hackensack, New Jersey, to start putting graphics on his truck. By the time he was done, he found another shop, PJ's Totally Custom in Bergenfield, New Jersey, to finish the other side of the truck, which by now had become a mobile mural filled with insane clown depictions.
After his truck's paint scheme was complete, Jeff went back into his truck and reworked the interior and the suspension to make it even more show-worthy. When he was done, his truck had an adjustable suspension via a hydraulic setup, and a fully tweed-wrapped interior. With all this complete, Jeff dove into the East Coast 2001 show season where he promptly cleaned most of his competition's clocks all season long.
Toward the end of the 2001 season was when we finally ran into this incredibly well-painted machine and captured it on film in many different looks for all the mini-truckin' world to see. Believe us: You can spend hours staring at the truck and still find new things hidden all over in its graphics scheme.
Wheels/Tires:
17-inch Billet Specialties aluminum wheels with P205/40R17 BFGoodrich Comp T/A radial tires.
Body Mods:
Jeff shaved the door handles, the tailgate handle, and the frenched-in taillights. Interior S&B Auto Upholstery in Hackensack, New Jersey, reupholstered the factory bench seat and the custom door panels in gray and purple tweed fabric with a touch of gray piping.
Stereo Features:
Pioneer head unit, Pyramid subwoofers, and amplification by Lanzar. Jeff's friend Sean performed all the stereo work within the P'Up. Engine Mostly stock with painted accents, braided hoses, and lines to reflect the truck's cleanliness and attention to detail.
Paint:
Probably the most wicked paint schemes we've seen to date, the background airbrushing on Zion's truck is more than incredible.
Owner's Quote:
"If I had to build my truck all over again, I would. There were a lot of late nights with a lot of beer, a lot of jokes and laughing, and plenty of clowning around. I did my best to take all the time I needed to work on my truck without putting my wife and kids second."