- Meet "Ratiki", the HOS shop truck, aired down and ready for its close-up. The idea was to build a sixties custom beach wagon, using design touches that borrowed liberally from woodies, nomads, with a definite West Coast surf wagon vibe.
2. Built in Austin, Texas, our 1965 Chevrolet Suburban received a full-frame up restoration. Among its many custom touches are the numerous tiki and bamboo details painted by Austin artist, "CRASH!"
3. The tiki grill was a collaboration between myself and Crash. I made the figures and Crash did the painting. Each individual piece is unique. The tikit also adorn the roof rack. More on that later.
4. The engine is a 383 stroker block, built for torque. The tranny is a 700/R4 4-Speed automatic.
5. Even the lettering has been painted in a bamboo motif.
6. The roof rack is a one-off design by EB Effect Lab of Austin Texas. Everett Byron built the rack from scratch using mild steel tubing. A particularly nice touch is the integrated fold down rack.
8. The seats use a pearl white vinyl. The goal was to make the seats look like vintage lowbacks. We chopped a pair of 90's Honda buckets, adding bolsters to shape the seat more like a sixties chevy.
9. The headliner consists of bamboo which I installed a single split shoot piece at a time.
10. The dash is faced with a seagrass material I found at Pier One. The gauges are from Mooneyes and the tilt steering column is from Ididit, painted by Crash. The skull hangs from the rear view mirror and keeps an eye on things.
11. Sea grass mats were made by Fat Lucky's and finish off the truck nicely. Thanks for reading.
