Somewhere down the line, Jason Berland's family must have heard the Hank Williams Jr. song "Family Tradition" and decided they would start a tradition all their own. You see, when Jason's older brother began sneaking up on the age where freedom is displayed with a key ring, the family got him a Chevelle they built as a father/son project. Lurking in the shadows of the build was Jason, who was also approaching the ripe old age of 16, which means he was next on the list for the father/son build. However, Jason envisioned his project more along the lines of a '67-72 Chevy truck.
A year away from the big 16, Jason hit the papers and swap meets in the Arizona area. The plan of action called for a '67-72 Chevy Fleetside shortbed, but he soon found out the demand far exceeded the supply for that style of truck. As it turned out, Jason and his dad found a killer deal on a '72 Stepside and couldn't pass on it, but even then the plan was to swap the Stepside's bed for a Fleetside down the road. Yet at that time, all Jason wanted to do was get started on the truck.
Once back at home, Jason's family tradition got underway. They started underneath the Chevy's exterior by tearing the entire chassis apart. Once apart, everything was stripped down to the bare metal and painted for a clean, new look. As for the front end, they replaced the bushings, tie rods, ball joints, and more. Then they reinstalled the arms, but this time the truck would be complete with Early Classic 2 1/2-inch drop spindles, 1 1/2-inch Early Classic drop springs, and KYB GRZ drop shocks. In the back, the rearend housing was outfitted with '78 Cadillac Seville disc brakes and Early Classic 5-inch drop springs.
So far, the easy work was done, but now it was time for the real engineering to take place. Jason wanted to run a late-model drivetrain in the truck, so they pirated an LS1, along with the 4L60E tranny, from a '99 Camaro. To drop the LS1 and 4L60E in between the framerails, the Berlands had to do a number of modifications. They also used the gas tank from the Camaro, which was mounted backward between the framerails. For the air induction to the motor, they used an LT1 air duct elbow with a K&N LT1 cold air induction kit.
 |  The interior is a complete...  The interior is a complete one-off, including Silverado seats, a Trans Am bezel, and a custom-fabricated dash. All of it has been stitched up in gray leather. |  The door panels are from a...  The door panels are from a '96 Silverado. They were hacked and whacked to fit the '72 door. |