Calm Down, Karen—This Longbed C20 Is Built for Adventure

Kyle’s 1986 Crew Cab Longbed C20

Every friend group should have a Kyle Fannin in it. He’s a firefighter, he’s a road warrior, he’s C10 Club Maryland’s president, and he’s a “Beaver Believer” (for those wondering—yes, you can pick up the same banner at your local Buc-ee’s if you believe in the cause, too!)

Among the garage full of Kyle’s current projects sits “Karen,” his 1986 crew cab longbed complete with a vintage camper that is built to haul. About four days before Lone Star Throwdown ’24, Kyle did what many of us have done in a pre-show manic episode and completely tore her apart. He had no doubts that he’d make it out there. Like I said, he’s a road warrior—a mere 1,500-mile trip from Maryland to Texas is just another Tuesday for Kyle.

Karen’s running a 454 big-block with a Holley Terminator fuel injection kit, a Holley mid-mount, with Slosh Tubz and panels under the hood. This ain’t her first rodeo, but it is the second after debuting her new shoes at the Patina Party, hosted by Kyle’s C10 Maryland Club and Rustomod Garage. A set of 20×9-inch Detroit Steel Wheel ‘Delrays’ with a 4.5-inch backspace up front and 20×11-inch with a 6-inch backspace at the rear feature a powdercoated antique white finish, which was also used to color-match the Porterbuilt 1-inch narrow, 1-inch forward control arms and sway bar. Got a 6/8 drop on bags, and the plan after the show was to swap the Turbo 400 out for a 6L80 transmission to maximize mpg from 9 to a whopping 10 miles per gallon. In this economy?

Kyle makes a point saying, “Traveling across the country in a nearly  40-year-old truck isn’t for the weak.”

About two hours before his 1am road trip departure for LST, Kyle decided to throw in a new dash pad and Dakota Digital gauges. Then it was cruise control and a caffeine drip to pick up his buddies Matt Cooper and Alex Walker in Atlanta. During our photoshoot, he swapped out his stereo while patiently waiting for Karen’s beauties. We don’t waste any downtime around here.

This industry is based in history. It’s cool to have something that has maybe been in your family or had one owner, but there’s a moment you can share with somebody that was a part of your build long before you had it. Kyle ended up talking to a gentleman named Larry for about two hours before finding out he was the one that built his camper. From 1970-1972, Larry built campers, another one ending up on fellow C10 Club Maryland member Andy Vollmerhausen’s truck (@uglyc10). He took the time to adjust the doors, get everything tight, and gave Kyle and his crew every detail about these campers.

Most of the shows I go to, Kyle’s there. He hits all the big ones in Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, you name it. This year he plans on driving Crew Cab Karen out to Dino’s Gitdown, and he’s currently scheming ways to have me come out to Fall Revival (schedule permitting, fingers crossed). He lives and breathes the C10 scene, and based on what he has told me, we may be hearing more about that from him coming up. O.L.P. (Our Lifestyle Podcast) has him on as a guest host, and it sounds like he and Jason (@bd94s10) are working on something that will give Kyle a platform.

I can honestly say that anytime Kyle is around, you know people are going to be laughing. Whether it’s impromptu shirtless calendar shoots, dinner in matching Buc-ee’s T’s (you see a theme, right?), or just hanging out with him and all his crew, the time is spent well and memories are made.

Kyle makes a point saying, “Traveling across the country in a nearly  40-year-old truck isn’t for the weak.”

He prides himself on building “reliable junk” with the best products, and this trip to Lone Star Throwdown proves it. Check out everything he has going on his @kdfannin and @c10clubmaryland pages, and make sure to go catch up with him at shows. As Kyle would say, “WE OUT.”

Photo Credit: Emma Sauve