No Mad Maximus

Nine-hundred lb-ft of trailer-towing, tire-roasting madness

- Taylor Kempkes

HOT RODDING USED TO FOCUS ON JUST MAKING CARS FAST—bolt on a bunch of speed parts, beef up your transmission and rear end to handle the added power, and maybe cut out some unnecessary weight. It might get down the road pretty fast after all that but you’ll certainly have sacrificed more than a little practicality. These days, with the advancement of technology and the rise in popularity of restomoded muscle cars it’s not uncommon to see an old car that is fast in a straight line, can take a corner like it’s on rails, and even have some modern conveniences. Throw that tried-and-true combination in a station wagon, and voila, you’ve got yourself one of the most fun to drive yet practical muscle cars ever. J.P. Dwyer and his father, John, decided to take that concept one step further.

“At the time, I was huge into diesel trucks,” recalls JP. So when he and his dad were tossing around ideas of what to build next, JP convinced John to build a diesel-powered muscle car. They wanted something useful; a show car that was able to do more than just wow the crowd. With that in mind, they started searching and came across a 1956 Chevy Nomad in Colorado. The car was in pieces and had no engine or trans so it was a perfect candidate for their unorthodox restoration. After John bought the Nomad it sat around his place in Gilbert, Arizona, for a few years while he gathered up the finances and parts to get the project started.

One day, JP was surfing the web and he came across a Craigslist ad for a wreaked 2003 truck with its 6.6L Duramax LB7 diesel engine and transmission still intact. Better yet, it was advertised to have just under 1,000 miles on the truck! It was finally time to get the ball rolling on the diesel-powered project.