SP Rides: As low as you can go
by Michael Kitchens
You’ve probably seen it on YouTube but Kevin Remigio-Simpliciano is driving the real thing…a low-slung mini-truck, slammed and dragging with sparks flying while the music pounds. Kevin has been into mini-trucks since he turned eighteen. “It was just something different. I wanted a truck for work, and then just got serious into modding.” Now 24, Kevin has put over three years of hard work into this eye-popping Nissan Hardbody.
Kevin didn’t play around, jumping head-first into this build. The truck started off as a wreck with no bumpers, no fenders, a missing interior and was in serious need of a paint job. Along with friends Victor Serapion and Alfred Maglangit Jr., Kevin replaced the missing features, primered and painted, and then massaged this vehicle into something more than mini. Working primarily out of their garages, the friends set about building and customizing each other’s trucks.
While demanding attention, the truck features an impressive $3,000 bagged suspension setup that allows for a complete drop with the body physically sitting on the pavement. Known as a “body drop”, it allows Kevin to scrape the ground in striking visual display. The entire bed is an intricate display of mechanical workmanship custom-built and installed by Kevin and friends. This setup isn’t what I would call subtle…in-your-face would be a better term for this insane custom job.
This truck stands out from the crowd. The incredible shock-green paint was applied by Kevin’s co-worker, Bernie Manding, and immediately catches you as you lay eyes on it. The truck rolls on Nissan Titan wheels, color-matched to the green luster and features a chrome grill that wraps the entire front fascia. A new trend is including a slick roof rack, and this truck has it in spades with Thule mounted equipment.
The interior looks like a fighter cockpit full of gauges and switches in shades of red, grey and green. A custom Heineken shift knob stands on prominent display as well as green 4-point harnesses to hold everyone in place. Kevin gets low in more than one way with a thick subwoofer enclosure featuring twp 2000×1 Rockford Fosgate amps and two 12-inch 9500 Series MTX Sledgehammer subs.
At its current level of detail, this is a simply gorgeous mini-truck. Even with all of this hard work on display, Kevin is already planning his next build. He intends to put the truck down for another two-year build and start from the ground up with a complete refresh. “I just want to start over and possibly two-tone the truck.” As crazy as it sounds, Kevin is going to take what he’s learned and put it to better use in this new build.
Mini-trucking is obviously alive and well in the State of Hawaii. As President of 808 Intricate, Kevin rides with a group of over forty different members. One of the great things about clubs like Intricate is the true sense of family and camaraderie that is common in the scene and this build is representative of that fact. Kevin also believes in a simple motto that rings true of the mini-truck scene: “I try to go as low as I can go.” This truck is practically through the floor so I would say it’s “Mission Accomplished”.
