Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/107898
CUSTOM RIGS By James Jaillet Rockwood Products custom-installed the African Rosewood flooring and fabricated the truck's dashboard pieces, including the stainlesssteel elements. Freightliner of Arizona airbrushed the truck's interior and sleeper to mimic the floor, and Tino's Upholstery specially fabricated the interior in light and dark brown suede. M&M candy characters – taking off from Most's nickname and initials – hitchhiking to Vegas decorate the passenger side of his 1999 Freightliner Classic, along with the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil and the Cheetos Cheetah. On the sleeper's back, a mural honors the New York City native's family members who, working with the city transit, police and fire departments, were involved in the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. There are also murals on the hood's outside and inside commemorating Dale Earnhardt. To see a full gallery of photos of Mike Most's truck, scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit OverdriveOnline. com/legends-heroes. 34 | Overdrive | February 2013 M ike Most drove a Freightliner for years, but had never seen one win in a truck show. S o in 2006, he set a goal. "I wanted to slowly but surely show that a Freightliner Classic could compete with Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks and win Best of Show," says Most. Now, after seven Best of Show awards, "I think we've kind of proved the point." The Phoenix resident bought the 1999 Classic – his first truck – in 1998, and he used it as a cornerstone to build what is now a 60-truck fleet that hauls tropical fish nationwide for PetSmart. When the Classic needed a new paint job in 2006, Most seized the opportunity. He coated the truck with Millennium Yellow, which he'd seen on a friend's Corvette. The next year, Most added chrome, stainless and WTI fenders, pulled the engine and painted it to match, pulled and fabricated the stainlesssteel boxes and changed the engine looms to match one another. He also had the entire drivetrain and suspension painted yellow. Next, Most says, the truck's calling card was added. Spun from ideas from Most, his children and the truck's driver, Nick Mitchell, the Classic's cartoon paintings and namesake theme, Legends & Heroes, was implemented with detailed murals.