Even though the American car and truck industry was made famous by Detroit, I believe the headquarters of American car and truck culture is centered right here in Southern California. You never know what you’ll see on the road around here. For starters, because of the widely varied terrain (want to get to the mountains, drive a twisty canyon road, or romp on sand dunes? You can do it all in the same day), California tastes run the gamut from hot hatches to lifted medium-duty trucks. Plus, people who modify their rides don’t have to deal with the problems of snow and rust caused by road salt, so vehicles can last longer here than elsewhere in the country, meaning this is one of the best classic car climates in the United States. Also, people from all over the world visit here, many driving cars that aren’t sold in the U.S., so we get the chance to see compact SUVs that are only sold in other markets, versions of pickups that don’t come here, or even our favorite trucks with different names. So even on a normal morning’s commute to the office, we might see mid-1950s Suburbans, lifted Titans with crazy paint jobs, and a few classic F-100s in addition to the typical Camrys, Civics, and Malibus on the road.

To start off this series, here’s one of the most interesting custom trucks I’ve ever seen. It left the factory as a Toyota Tacoma Xtracab, and a lot has been done to it since. Three axles with two different wheel styles, hard tonneau with a wing, frenched license plate in the tailgate, and stacks near the back of the cab, flanking what I think are auxiliary lights (I didn’t get a good look at the front of the truck). I’m also going to guess that this was originally a much taller truck, as there are side steps. It also looks like this Toyota may have carried too much in the bed at one point, because the rear of the truck sits lower than it does in the middle. Say what you will, but I doubt you’ve ever seen a truck quite like this—unless you know the owner, of course.

There’s no shortage of weird and wild vehicles on the streets of SoCal, and I’ll get shots of what I see as I’m parked in stop-and-go traffic. (And I’ll try to get a better camera.)