Bruiser Cruiser

Victor Garza’s truck is featured in the Overdrive 2005 Calendar, sponsored by Mobil
Delvac, which highlights 13 repeat Pride & Polish winners.

Calendars are available for $9.95 (shipping included) by calling Jennifer Lancaster at (800) 633-5953.

Victor Garza’s truck goes to rough places to haul heavy stuff: iron ore, rock and some nasty hazmat – soil contaminated by oil or chemical plants.

But you wouldn’t suspect that from looking at the gleaming engine and exterior of Caspar’s Custom Cruiser. You also wouldn’t guess the origin of the unusual truck moniker, which goes all the way back to high school. “I’m Hispanic, but light-complected, so they called me Caspar,” Garza says, referring to old “Casper the Friendly Ghost” cartoons.

There’s nothing ghostly about the bold red-and-black scheme of the 1997 Peterbilt 379 combo Garza brought to the 2004 Pride & Polish. Like any observant truck show competitor, Garza realized his truck needed to keep an edge, a little something beyond two colors.

“I just wanted to change the look of it, so I checkered the fenders out,” he says. Such attention to detail helped him win two First Place honors at the 2004 show: Engines and Conventional Combination, 1992-1999. Garza also won Pride & Polish awards in 2002 and 2003.