A few weeks ago, I was contacted by my boy Speedy from Louisiana. He told me that there was an opportunity to buy back my old cover truck that I sold over six years ago.
We talked about this before, but the idea never really came to life; however, it appeared that this time would be different. I told Speedy to find out as much info as possible and that I would somehow make it happen. I would buy and restore the original "No Regrets" one way or another with the help of my friends.
I was coming home from Tex Mex when I got the confirmation on price, and a deal was soon struck. The truck was purchased and sat in Louisiana for a time until it could be painted and then shipped back to California. Of course, things never go that smoothly. As it turns out, the Mitsu was in pretty poor shape and would need more than just a simple paintjob, not because of neglect, but rather time and use. Even though the previous owner tried his best, the truck had seen better days. It just goes to show that anything custom won't hold up forever, and besides, this truck was built to be driven and from the looks of things it had definitely been driven a lot.
The truck for the most part was still very complete, but the stereo system was missing and it had a few dents here and there. The previous owner had kept it out of the elements and did his best to keep it out of sight from thieves and looky-loos. When the time came to purchase and pick up the truck, I sent money to my boy Zak in Louisiana and he agreed to drive the few hours from Houma to go and pick up the Mitsu. When they got there, to their surprise it was mostly in one piece as you can see in the pic. It would, however, need some parts to make it road-worthy or even stay aired up. They would have to wait until they got it to the shop and put it up in the air to make a full determination and list of what it would need to get "No Regrets" back on the road.
Zak sent me a detailed list, and my first stop was Mac's Spring in Southern California. I picked up some new Contitech 'bags-three 2,500 bags and two 2,600. In case you're wondering why three 2,500-pound bags, the extra one isn't for a spare. It's for the custom air-actuated tilt bed. I also picked up 100 feet of air line and shipped it all to Zak. A week later I picked up two Air-Zenith compressors and some new SMC valves so the truck could at least air up and hold air. As of now, the truck runs and airs up and down, but it will still need a lot of tender love and care to get it back into shape. Look for some upcoming stories on the restoration of NR 1 in the coming issues. We will be restoring the truck but updating it at the same time. What's in store, you ask? First off paint, soon followed by a new interior with a booming system, a ragtop, and we will lay it out on 20s. Follow along as we bring back to life a little piece of MT history.
*Fun Fact: The photo shoot of Ernie Macias's "No Regrets" cover was the very first digital cover shoot for Mini Truckin' magazine.