Fastest SS In the West – John Melvin’s Supercharged Silverado SS

Posted by Kevin Whipps on Jun 23, 2010 in Muscle & Style | 8 comments

John Melvin of Laveen, Arizona is nothing if not a character. Standing 6’1 or so, with a slight accent and a positive attitude about trucks that’s infectious, he brings a fresh take to the scene. For example, when we met John at our shoot in Scottsdale, he brought the SS you see here in the back of a huge enclosed trailer, towed by a 2005 Silverado crew-cab dually all decked out in SS Trim and boasting 479 horses. Not two weeks later, when we setup to shoot some burnout shots, we found out that he had traded the truck in for a 2006 Crew-cab HD, and it was already lifted on 20’s. And of course, there’s also his orange crew cab, featured here: True Flamed Silverado.

See, John owns a bodyshop out in Laveen, named JM Collison Center. There he does all the usual things you’d expect from a guy who runs a shop: he repairs quarter panels, fixes dents, and sprays things all day long. The business was doing great, and he decided to expand a bit and add a new branch to the company, named JM Custom Concepts. There John uses his creative talents to bring out trucks with killer graphics, nutty paint jobs, and super straight lines. Along the way, John started collecting a small fleet of Chevrolet trucks, and decided to pick up a Silverado SS when they first came out to add to the stable.

This all came about when John first bought the truck, a few years ago, and took it to the track. It pulled a 15.3, which wasn’t real inspiring too him since his tow rig ’03 Duramax was running 14.7s. He had this 408 motor now that he was going to put into another truck – an ’02 Chevy – but since that wasn’t going anywhere, he figured he’d put the bottle on his SS. First time out, 12.88. Then at the Truckin’ Nats in 2003, he pulled a 12.65, putting it at the top of the list of the SilveradoSS.com forums, a spot it held for a long time.

With the need for speed now coursing through his veins, John needed to step up. It took a bit of time, but he got a Vortech supercharger kit for the truck, then pulled a few low 12 passes. After some tweaks and a belt change, it was high 11’s on the squeeze, and John was happy. Not everyone was, though.

This started a huge trash talking war between John and some of the guys with Ford Lightnings on their online forums. John ended up smoking one of the Ford crew members on the track, pulling a mid-11 pass. Between the smack talking and the other rule restrictions, John ended up getting put on probation by the NHRA. It’s all been worked out since, and John even started building a Lightning.

It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to make a truck this fast, and keep it looking this good. From the attention to detail under the hood, and the flawless black paint, this is one truck that looks amazing going down the track in the 11’s.