Custom 1999 Toyota Tacoma

Owner: Joel "Gromit" Sadenwasser
Ride: '99 Toyota Tacoma
Hometown: Escondido, Ca
Club: Xtreme Lowz
Model: Mercedes Terrell

Have you ever met the ultimate minitrucker? You know, the guy who is always super stoked just to go to a cruise night, hang out with his buds, and talk trucks 24/7. That's the case for many of us, but Joel "Gromit" Sadenwasser takes it a step further. His first truck run was Spring Splash '93, back when he was only in the fourth grade! His ex-brother-in-law, Lani Ho, promised Joel that if he helped him work on his car for the show, he would take him along for the ride. Little did Lani know, this would spawn the obsession of a lifetime. From that moment when Joel was merely 11 years old, he vowed he would one day grace the cover of Mini Truckin' magazine.

Fast forward a few years to the very first time I ran into Joel at a truck run. It was Summer Madness '99, back when the event was held in Bakersfield, California, dead in the middle of summer. It was about 115 degrees-so hot that me and a few buddies decided to head to the mall to buy a kiddie pool to stay cool. Back at the campgrounds, we had our pool filled up and were relaxing in style when I looked over and saw some buck-naked dude running full blast at our pool ...cannonball! It was hilarious! After we made him put on some clothes, we all hung out and talked trucks until the sun came up, not knowing that our paths would cross again one day.

A few more years passed and after messing around with a custom Tundra, and a couple of cars, Joel finally got his hands on his dream project, a '99 Toyota Tacoma. He slowly began to tear into it as time and funds permitted. But before long, he couldn't hold back any longer. After maxing out a few credit cards-AKA minitrucker money-Joel began working at Extreme Audio in Murrieta, California. This was the final straw on the camel's back, as building insane interiors for everyone else was leaving Joel itching for more. After the 'bags, body-drop, suicide doors, chop top, sheetmetal galore, and an MT Construction Zone feature, Joel still wasn't satisfied and lusted for more. Talking with Danny Albert from Albert Design Studio only made the itch spread, and Joel threw up his arms and told Danny to go nutz! If you saw Joel's truck at Reso, all silver, you might not recognize it today as the same truck, thanks to hundreds of hours of the most insane airbrush work imaginable. Danny worked for nearly three months straight-with the blisters to prove it-as he created a true work of art by using Joel's truck as his canvas. His insane airbrushing flows through every square inch of the truck: through the heavily modded exterior metal, into the interior, over the roof, through the bed, onto the bridge, through the doorjambs, under the hood-you name it and Danny's handiwork is surely there. Although the entire build of Joel's Taco took more than four years, the last six months of paint, interior, and finish work not only left Joel, Danny, Adam, and friends sleepless, but they left us in awe as they created the amazing work of art that sits before you today!

Last Look started the West Coast movement and was the beginning of insane minitrucks, the Time Machine kept it going, and now D-LOWEST put Cali back on the map! This truck is truly amazing. So, if you ever get a chance to see it in person, be sure to walk around it at least 20 times to take in all it has to offer.