1941 Chevy AK Pickup

Joannie and I are pleased to present our next one-of-a-kind light-painting project. This one is of a cool 1941 Chevy AK pickup truck! We created this beauty a few weeks back, just two nights after creating a pair of light painting projects in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Here’s the setup photo before light-painting Tracy’s cool 1941 Chevy AK pickup.

The first of those two unique projects involved a Ford Bronco, a Ferrari Roma Spider, and a P-51D Mustang fighter! The second was of the P-51 all by itself! Please check the full stories of each one at the links below:

Light Painting a Ford vs Ferrari

Light Painting the P-51D Mustang “Happy Jack’s Go Buggy”

Motorhead Madness

I met Tracy, the truck’s owner, this past March at Motorhead Madness in Duluth, Minnesota. I loved her truck, and I loved it even more after I found out that she did much of the restoration on it! Because of that, I presented her with our “Photographer’s Choice Award” at the show.

Tracy acquired the Chevy from a long-time school friend, Loretta, after the sad passing of her husband. She decided to name the truck “Loretta” in her honor and brought the truck to her home in July of 2019.

Tracy was kind enough to share some of the photos taken during her rebuild.

The truck was in good condition, but it was missing some body parts. It turned out that purchasing parts during the COVID pandemic would prove to be difficult. It took nearly a year to purchase rear fenders, door handles, glass, gauges, and small body parts to even start a proper assembly.

In November of 2021, Tracy started to slowly take the truck apart in her garage to paint each fender and reassemble it. She painted the truck with “rattle-can” Rustolium paint colors that she purchased from Menards, layering 8 different colors to get the rusty patina look she wanted.

The logo on the door is a combination of her maiden name, along with her son’s last name. He will inherit this cool ’41 pickup when the time comes.

Here are more of her restoration images. Well done!

The wood inside the box also came from Menards. Tracy blackened the wood with a torch and then sealed it with clear varnish.

In the spring of 2022, she sent the truck off to get a rebuilt Chevrolet 350 engine and a 350 short-shaft transmission. Her first real outing for the pickup truck was in March of 2023 at Motorhead Madness! That same year was the first of many road trips to MSRA “Back to the Fifties” at the Minnesota State Fair grounds.

It served as home to the Twohy Mercantile Company, which grew into the largest wholesale grocery business in Superior. Later, it became known as the Bayside Warehouse. It also housed a builder’s supply warehouse and a salvage seller before sitting vacant. Local Superior business Earth Rider Brewery named their operation in honor of this historic site.