Owner: Dion Giuliano
Ride: 1996 Chevy S-10
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Club: Subversive
Dion and the crew of Kal Koncepts are no strangers to the minitruck scene. They have more features and cover trucks than we can count hanging on the wall of their shop, including one of our personal favorites, "Last Look," from way back in 1995.
A long trip down memory lane takes Dion back to 1980 when his love for minitrucks started. And now 30 years later, this legend proves he can still set new trends and form new ideas for us all to admire as proven with this amazing SEMA S-10 that he humbly calls "No Biggie."
Right now you're probably looking at this feature in disbelief with its full minitruck-inspired-graphics plane, and trust us when we say we felt the same way when we first laid eyes on it. When we initially approached Dion about setting up a shoot on his super-clean S-10, he said, "I have a plane that matches," and we were instantly very interested. We knew this shoot would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and getting it shot on the runway of the Bakersfield airport truly made this shoot one-of-a-kind. While Dion was building the truck, Scott, a long-time friend, came to Dion and asked him to paint his plane to match. That sealed the deal to help include another Kal Koncepts mini in the minitruck history pages.
Dion and Kal Koncepts are always building killer projects for SEMA, and when Sony and Ford Motor Company both wanted his Ford Flex he knew he needed another build for SEMA. A quick phone call was made to good friend Cadillac Craig, and this S-10 was taken out of storage and sold to Dion for a hundred dollars.
With Sony on board, this truck went from lost in storage to the SEMA floor in three months flat. This of course takes the skills of many talented people, topped off with very little sleep. Starting with Nino Brown of The Mob Shop in Bakersfield, Dion's Kalifornia Kruiser was quickly torn down to pieces. With a new bed, Nino installed the CanDo taillights and full skin and shaved it and made a one-off metal hardtop. In the cab, no stone was left unturned. Nino body-dropped and shaved the floor and covered it in Line-X. Then, he went to town and swapped on the Envoy front end.
With the metalwork done, Lambie of Kal Koncepts got down on the bodywork, making this the perfect canvas for the paintjob of a lifetime. Dion wanted to create something different but cool, keeping with the old Kal Koncepts style but adding a few new tricks. Creating a one-off color using House of Kolor paint, this rolling work of art was finished off with the amazing airbrushing and pinstriping mastery of Craig Fraser at Air Syndicate. The build was capped off with interior stitching by Victor from R&A Upholstery and Rich from Noise completing the Sony stereo system that got this build going in the first place.
In only three months time, Dion showed the world that Kal Koncepts is back at it! In fact, they never left, they've just been working on some bigger projects and thought it was time to remind the minitruck world that they're here to stay. But what more do you expect from a crew with some of the most famous builds of all time under its belt? Just when you think they're gone, they'll keep reinventing the game and bringing new tricks to the scene.
For more information on Dion's Kruiser, check out the Lowdown.
Lowdown
Rolling Attire
Wheels: Colorado Custom
Tires: Toyo
Chassis Modifications
Suspension: Air suspension
Control Arms: Mob Shop
Compressors: Viair
Air Accessories: Firestone airbags, air tank
Frame Mods: Notched
Performed By: Nino Brown of The Mob Shop
Body Modifications
Shaved: Door Handles, full rear skin, hood pissers, and antenna hole
Body-dropped: Fixed by The Mob Shop
Body Mods: Shaved tailgate and one-off all-metal bed lid
Bolt-ons: Envoy front end
Performed By: Lambie at Kal Koncepts
Paint
Brand & Colors: House of Kolor Afternoon Delight custom-mixed by Dion with silver mini-flake, candy Oriental Blue, candy Magenta, House of Kolor Green, candy fade on the boomerangs' pink to purple
Performed By: Kal Koncepts and Air Syndicate
Interior
Seats: Ford Flex seats
Dash: Custom-shaved and painted
Floor: Shaved and covered with Line-X
Misc.: Custom center console, box, and amp rack by Rich from Noise
Performed By: Rich from Noise
Stereo
Head Unit: Sony
Mids & Highs: Sony
Subwoofers: Sony
Amplifiers: Sony
Misc.: All Sony gear, Sony SEMA vehicle
Performed By: Rich from Noise
Engine/Performance
Detail Work: Cleaned and painted
Misc.: Wiring done by Honda John
Performed By: Honda John and owner
Special Thanks From Owner
"Couldn't have built this truck without Lambie, Nino Brown, Craig Fraser, Bill from Colorado Custom, John Hall, and Nick Dall from House of Kolor in the short amount of time, helping to keep Kal Koncepts on the leading edge. Last but not least, Cadillac Craig for selling me the truck for a C-note."