Many of our longtime fans here on the Hooniverse know my feelings about RestoMods, but every once in a while, I become enamored with a well executed modernized classic, like this one. This is a 1955 Chevrolet 3100 Stepside Pickup that has been highly modified, but not in the way that you imagined. No, there isn’t a modern big block Chevrolet V-8 under the hood, or a modern Chevrolet Pickup chassis lurking under all the smoothed over body work. No, this truck was modified to accept a fully functioning 2001 Mercedes-Benz ML-320 Chassis and interior. Yes, a Mercedes-Benz ML-320! Make the jump to read a lot more about this interesting ride… After a little research, I found that the seller once put this marvelous Chevy up on eBay, and that is where I found this description:

This one of a kind was built by Metalworks Classics, and they didn’t skimp on any details. From a custom made one-off hood, to the Mercedes interior and dash that fit so flawlessly snug, it looks like Mercedes themselves created it just for this truck. This is a truck that certainly turns all heads anywhere it goes. This is how it came to be according to the owner: “I had a ’55 Chevy pickup and a 2001 Mercedes SUV parts car. I was trying to figure out how to use the Mercedes parts in my Chevy pickup. My wife suggested that I cut the sheetmetal off of the Mercedes and just set the pickup on it. I reminded her that building trucks is kind of a guy thing. She went back to the house and I got to thinking about what she had said. Damn, that is a good idea. Now I have a 55 Chevy pickup with a MB 3.2 liter engine, 4 wheel drive, PS, PB, PW, Air conditioning, cruise, air bags, heated seats, Bose sound system, and Navigation” When Mercedes Benz conceived the M-Series of 4-wheel drive luxury SUVs, they began with a clean sheet of paper and designed a vehicle combining superb off-road capabilities with a high level of luxury. As daring as the German manufacturer can be, they could never have imagined what the folks at Metalworks Classics of Eugene, Oregon had in mind for the M320, the 3.2L V-6 version of the M-Series, the entire workings of which they have grafted onto – and into – this fully customized 1955 Chevrolet 3100 stepside pickup. From any standpoint, this is the ultimate hybridization, marrying vastly different technological eras and divergent automotive cultures into one of the most unusual combinations of old and new – to say nothing of foreign and domestic – we have ever seen in a Resto Mod. The truck uses the full M320’s complete platform. Fully independent suspension with double wishbones at all four corners, torsion bars at the front and coil springs in the rear works in conjunction with full 4-wheel drive and an anti-lock braking system managing 4-wheel disc brakes. The Mercedes-Benz all-aluminum 3.2L V-6 offers strong and flexible power delivery through a 5-speed automatic transmission, its throaty growl amplified by Magnaflow exhaust. The Chevy’s cab and pickup bed incorporate considerable custom work. The front fenders and hood were joined at the seams and a new hood opening defined, the cargo bed now features dual storage compartments, and the interior has been replaced with the full Mercedes-Benz installation, including the M320’s superb power seats. The finish is a combination of Black over Silver lacquer bound by carbon fiber and airbrushed smoke graphics that are perfectly complemented by chromed M-B large diameter alloy wheels wearing Toyo Proxes4 tires. A serendipitous final touch: the hand-lettered sign on the tailgate, “Wie Ein Stein,” the German translation of the signature Chevy truck slogan: “Like a Rock.”

On the Custom Classics website, this Chevy/Benz is being offered at $110,000, which is a large sum of cash no matter what kind of vehicle is being sold. Yes, it looks flawless. Yes, the workmanship is glorious. Yes, it is amazing that you can marry to different vehicles seamlessly. To justify the asking price, you have to judge it as a piece of Art, and what magnificent Art it is… See the Custom Classics Listing here, and tell me what you thnk of this truck…