1973 Chevy LUV bodydropped on air with an S10 engine and bumpers!

“My love for the lowered scene started when i was 13 years old and helped my cousin drop his Nissan Hardbody. As soon as I saw it hit the ground, I was hooked! After that, I scraped up every dime I could to build model trucks and lowriders, and buy magazines. It was my life.” 

And so begins the story of Anthony Cobb and his ’73 Chevy LUV. Things were never easy for Anthony, and he in fact had a lot of struggles during his journey to build his truck. “Growing up in a less-than-fortunate situation, the reality of having anything remotely close to these trucks and truck clubs I idolized was pretty much non-existent, but I knew all I wanted was to build something that was nice enough to grace the pages of a magazine – to be one of the elite few like the rides I watched being built in Negative Camber, Severed Ties, Pebble Pushers, and all the other clubs that were ruling the scene at the time.”  

With plenty of inspiration, young Anthony decided to set himself up for success by investing in quality education – one that would put him right in the thick of working on customizing trucks! “I enrolled in college for collision repair and refinishing. As I’m standing out in front of the classroom for the first time, four bagged trucks pull up and aired out right in front of me. All of the guys were coming to the same class! For the next two years, all we did was bag trucks, lay down paint, and even body dropped one of them. Every morning, I was happy to go to school!”

It was obvious that Anthony had found his passion, and he was happy to lend a hand with friends’ trucks whenever he could. Things were looking up, and Anthony even got married and became a father just before finishing school. But then, a tragedy we all know too well… “During this happy time, 9/11 hit. Being from a military family background it really struck home, so as soon as I graduated college I enlisted in the U.S. Army, active duty.”

Anthony served his first term, but the hardship of having a wife and baby so far away took a great emotional toll on him. Once back home, it was back to the daily grind and, soon enough, another baby was on the way! And Anthony was as thankful as ever. “Given my childhood, people who know me will understand why my family time was more important than anything. Bouncing from job to better job, busting my ass trying to give my wife and children everything I didn’t have wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.” 

Now, Anthony also had a thing for bikes, but after he was hit by a texter and had another close call, he was done. ”It made me realize it was time to sell it and get back to my roots, my first love – mini-truckin’. I was finally able to have my own shop built next to my house and start having some fun, starting my first real project of my own, a $400 hunk of rusted Chevy LUV. After getting some of the frame built, we fell on some serious financial hard times. But, two years later I had a huge breakthrough with my job and it was just what I needed for my family, and the rusted forgotten project in the shop.” 

And from that point forward, the LUV started progressing pretty quickly. The frame got finished (along with the air suspension), it was bodydropped, and Anthony even threw in a right-hand drive conversion for good measure! His buddies convinced him to take the unfinished, rolling truck to the Sparks of Insanity show in 2016, where it won Best Suspension and got Club Pick from four different truck clubs! As Anthony added, “I had never expected that, and it was one of the most humbling experiences I’ve ever had and gave me all the motivation I needed to continue.” 

But, Anthony quickly concedes that even once the build finally took off, everything was still a learning experience. “It seemed like there were constant problems. I’d fix one problem just to create two more. I didn’t take any shortcuts, but I used only the tools I already had. Nearly the entire build was done with a 4.5-inch cutoff and a MIG welder, and a lot of these modifications were my first attempts at them, and honestly not the best they could be.” 

One look at the results will tell you that Anthony has mastered the art of truck building. The seat was done by Upholstery by Fuzzy, but everything else was all Anthony’s work. The custom interior, all of the bodywork and paint… all of it. 

For someone who is so modest about their beginnings and skill set, Anthony sure knocked it out of the park with his LUV! Just imagine what he’ll come up with next!