Remember George Barris’ 1955 Chevy truck that went by the name of “Kopper Kart?” If you don’t, then you better do some research!

This is Vic Collins’ Kopper Kart Klone – at age eleven, Collins saw the truck and has been infinitely fascinated with it. So fascinated that he decided to take on the challenge of cloning the truck 24 years later in 1999. The build took many turns and there was a lot of trial and error with the chopping of the cab, but in 2008, after over 3,100 hours working on the truck, it was finally completed and debuted at the Detroit Autorama, which was actually the 50th anniversary of Barris’ truck being debuted at the same show.

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Years before the truck was completed, Collins found out that John Maurice in Maine was also cloning the truck. After Maurice and his wife moved to New York City in 2006, he came to the harsh realization that he wouldn’t be able to finish the project living in the big city, so he sent an e-mail to Collins asking if he was interested in buying the parts he had, project itself, or both. Collins and his friend helping him with the project, Mark Wojcik, looked over the photos that Maurice sent in the e-mail and were thoroughly impressed.

Collins and Wojcik received the project from Maurice in October of 2006 and had the metal work done within a few months. The last finishing touches were the paint and a tedious detail job after paint. Wojcik laid down three coats of white sealer, three coats of base, four coats of pearl, and two coats of intercoat clear. After that, the clear coat was scuffed and on went three coats of base, three coats of candy copper, and four coats of clear.

This truck is certainly awesome and the passion is definitely there – we love builds like this! For the whole story, head over to Kustomrama’s website.