BIG, BAD AND LOUD!

SUBMITTED BY BRIAN KLEINSMITH, AMP CUSTOMS, POCATELLO, IDAHO

The history of this unique 1988 Nissan hardbody minitruck is just as interesting as its build design: According to Brian Kleinsmith of AMP Customs, Robert Baden was the original builder in 1988. The truck was rebuilt and repainted numerous times over the years. MTX supplied all the products for the initial build, entering it as a feature vehicle in the 1993 IASCA World Finals. Later the same year, it headed to Daytona “with the bed open on the beach” during Spring Break Nationals. The truck has been featured in multiple print magazines, including Slam Jamming Trucking in 1992.

After going to its second owner, the truck spent over 10 years in Maryland. Kleinsmith said he came across it one day in 2019 while looking at online advertisements. “I called on a weekend. We’d just barely opened AMP. I relayed my passion for the industry. A few conversations later, we worked up a trade deal. He wanted to see the truck live in the industry,” he explained, adding that he got the vehicle in exchange for a 1991 Camaro RS. “I sent him pictures of it. He said, ‘Come pick up your truck.’”

After it came to AMP Customs, Kleinsmith said the team went through the entire bed and redid all the wiring, installing entirely Memphis Car Audio products. “We installed Memphis Car Audio Power Reference 12s—12 of them. We did four pair of the Memphis Power Reference coaxial speakers and pod speakers; Memphis ViV amplifiers, 2,200 watt and 500-watt, with Digital Designs 150-amp power supply, times two, so we can plug it in and run it all day with 300 amps of current.”

The truck has its own following, according to Kleinsmith, who said acquiring the vehicle went a long way to drawing attention to AMP Customs. “When I got it, I started getting messages from people asking about it. It draws a lot of people into the shop,” he said. “It was one of the things that first got AMP noticed.”

People will often stop just to see the truck. One day, a family stopped by and told Kleinsmith it was their child’s birthday. “They asked if we could play the system for him. I got his name, announced ‘happy birthday’ and played his favorite song. The kid will remember that forever.” And, who knows, he added—“It could even get him involved in the industry. You don’t see things like that all the time.”

To be able to offer such an experience, he noted, “Brings back the passion.”