Dermie's Art Project

Saga of a Fanatically Detailed ’48 Chevy

- John Gilbert

The saga of Dermie Close and his 1948 Chevy 3100 starts out not all that different from a thousand other classic truck owner’s stories, but it takes on an unusual fanatical twist partway through, a twist that made it take over 20 years to complete.

Dermie’s first car was a truck; he was in his senior year of high school and bought a 1950 Chevy pickup from his neighbor, Clyde Denham, for $500. That old 1950 Chevy served Dermie well, and after high school the 3100 helped him leave California for Arizona where he enrolled at Arizona Automotive Institute (AAI) to gain certification as an auto mechanic.

After graduating AAI in 1974 Dermie hopped in his 1950 Chevy and returned to California to work as a line mechanic at a SoCal Chevrolet dealer. One morning on the way to work the 1950 puked out its transmission and completed the journey on the hook of a tow truck. Dermie pulled the blown transmission out with its 216-inch six-cylinder engine still attached and installed a small-block V-8 with an automatic transmission. The archaic torque tube was swapped out for a modern open driveline, and a friend repainted the truck in a custom color. Dermie said that’s where his love for hot rods began. The ’50 looked pretty good; good enough that the Snap-on man bought it, and with the money Dermie moved to Utah.