Hi! Jim Aust from Sport Truck and the Circus Wagon is BACK!

[CircusWagonJim]

Hi guys, I know it's been a while- but I've finally come full circle and back to the place I love with Chevy trucks.
My own love of the trucks started when I was two and my dad bought a really clean '55 Shortbed. That was his driver, but he had it painted and added rims and a 4 track stereo as were the fashion in 1969. We eventually got into restoring Tri-Five Chevies in the '70s and my dad still has those cars and the rest he has collected over the last 40 years. During that time a young guy helped us with the painting of the cars- it changed my life when he came over one day with his latest vehicle- a SUPER clean Mustard colored '72 Short Fleet. Right away he started changing it and soon it was lowered with a 454 added he had removed from a Corvette his mom drove. When I got a ride in that truck at 13 I was HOOKED! I had to have one!
I didn't get my own first Short Fleet until after I was in the Air Force for a couple years, but at 19 I was happy to finally have a stripper '68 Shortbed. While I was fixing that one up I found a better one- I had no idea how lucky I was. It was a super clean '68 short fleet with a factory 396, automatic, A/C, tach, CST with Buckets, wood floor bed, power steering & brakes, shoulder harnesses and probably a few things I forgot. It was red inside & out originally, but had been painted black inside & out when I got it. I lowered it and drove it everyday until I got a new S-10 Blazer. My dad talked me out of the '68 and kept it for 15 years.
During that time I went from an Electrical Engineer in the Aerospace industry to a manager at a Rhino Linings store. While I was there I did a custom job on a friend's really nice '67 short fleet and took it to a show at Golden State Pickups. While I was there a lady really admired the truck and started talking to me. She said she was the publisher of Rod & Custom and Custom & Classic Trucks and I should be working for the magazines. She hooked me up with the job at Sport Truck magazine.
In 1999 I started at Sport Truck and at that time I didn't even know how to turn a computer on or how to type- very embarrassing, but I learned FAST! Right away I was covering a lot of the tech and writing features. It was a blast! We were supposed to be covering the "late-model" trucks, but I really loved the early ones more. Kevin Lee already had a project '68 GMC short fleet when I started so he really didn't want me to get one too. But after a couple '68 longbeds were going through his grandfather's tow yard to scrap I convinced him I could make something interesting out of them. I bought a '69 short step basket case and dropped the cab of a beat up '68 50th Anniversary on that chassis and so began my project. I REALLY wanted a short fleet so I took off the step bed and collected pieces for a fleet bed. The thing about this project was I was TOTALLY broke- I didn't have 5 bucks really to put into it so everything had to be traded or found really cheap. I knew I wanted a big-block and a friend happened to be sending a '65 396 to scrap. We rebuilt that engine in the mag and it ended up dynoing over 400hp to the rear wheels. Also got a 700R4 from an advertiser along with the Air Ride System and the 18& 20-inch Torq Thrust IIs from American- one of the very first pre-sale sets! As I was putting the truck together everyone was asking "What color are you painting it?" and they were shocked when I would say I'm not painting it- just cleaning all the parts as they go on. Every panel ended up being a different color- but that was perfect for me because I was SICK of the overly detailed and smoothed out show trucks we were covering that were no longer any good as trucks with the smoothed out beds and white leather and tweed interiors- YEEEUUCH!
I also wanted to add a few parts to this new one to remind me of my old '68 and found a '68 Bucket Seat set up along with a tach dash. By the time it was just about ready to hit the street as a daily driver all of my friends had ridiculed my paint scheme and my new big wheels. Someone said "Are you REALLY going to drive that Circus Wagon?" and the name stuck! Also within 6 months many of those same friends were rolling their own "Circus Wagons" on big Torq Thrust rims!
So the truck was driving- had used it for a few articles and then we did the Sport Truck Shoot Out and as a joke we added it in as a feature. No one had any idea the response would be so overwhelming- everyone loved my beater truck and it's multi colors. One reader loved it SOOOO much he had to own it when I had no desire to sell it. But since he bought it we became best friends for the last almost 10 years and built other cars together that were in magazines. (Yes, the Circus Wagon was DESTROYED later by another owner who didn't get it an turned it into a billet smoothie)
Not long after the Circus Wagon moved to the right coast I left Sport Truck and went to work as the Editor of the Goodguys Gazette. Got to travel to car shows all over the country for a few years and then the magazine I learned to read out of when I was 3 years old called me and said I needed to work for them. I couldn't say no to Rod & Custom Magazine and again I built a few cars there while I working there the readers very much enjoyed.
My next decision was to work with my good friends at SO-CAL Speed Shop and open up my own franchise store. This would be the stor for the lower half of the state of California. What could go wrong? Well- about six months into the ride the American Economy to a gigantic DUMP and suddenly hot rod parts and apparel were no longer on the mind of most people. I struggled along for a couple more years, but ultimately took a double whammy hit as my wife of over 20 years wanted a divorce as things were winding down for my business. This situation had me sitting out most of the year of 2010 unemployed, but as we start this new year new things have FINALLY come my way and I am again working with SO-CAL Speed Shop to take their stuff out on the road for the majority of the year at most of the major indoor and outdoor car shows.
But what more excitingly and related to this board just happened this last week is that I have had a chance to reconnect with my passion for Chevy trucks. Remember earlier I mentioned that Kevin Lee had a '68 project truck? He also had a few more I found that ended up stored at his Grandfather's tow yard where my truck came from. Sitting in the same place for the last decade have been the NICE parts I picked the leftovers from to build my Circus Wagon- now Kevin wants me to clear out all the stuff at the same time I was looking for a new '67-72 project for myself!
I will have some pictures soon of what I will be working with, but just wanted to let everyone know how excited I am to get back to the trucks I truly love so much! Thanks Jim Aust