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Moss started is automotive career at Oldsmobile in the early ‘60s but his heart was really in performance. A frequent street-racing threat on Woodward Avenue, Moss moved into chassis development at Chevrolet. One of the earliest innovations to come off his drafting board was the carburetor linkage for the famed Z/28 cross-ram intake manifold.

In 1986, Moss was moved to the Chevrolet Special Vehicles division where he oversaw the development of concept performance vehicles and pace cars for Indy and other tracks.

Moss’s biggest claim to fame is the Impala SS. Inspired by a customized Caprice wagon roaming the streets of Detroit, Moss lowered and spiced up a Chevy Caprice sedan as a concept for the 1992 SEMA show. The vehicle drew considerable praise from show visitors and the media, leading Chevy to start building the Impala SS from 1994 through 1996 when GM dropped the B-body platform. Even to this day, Moss is considered the Godfather of the Impala SS and literally mobbed when attending SS gatherings.

About every year or so, Moss sponsored a “Toys Test,” a day at a racetrack for media to drive and report on the concepts. Some of Moss’s creations reached legendary status through these events, including the 572ci, 770-horsepower ZL1 Camaro he match-raced against Ford SVT boss John Colleti’s Boss-powered Mustang. The most powerful car Moss built was a 1700-horsepower twin-turbo Monte Carlo.

Truckers most likely will remember the 1996 Coolside pickup (a second version, the Coolside II, was built a few years later) and a 454-powered road racer from the early ‘90s.

Moss recently retired and is now a consultant to performance aftermarket companies, dividing his time between Detroit and Arizona. Regency tapped his expertise in chassis dynamics when developing the RST. The truck is lowered about one inch with a specially tuned Ground Force suspension, and extra stopping power is provided by Baer brakes up front. Other performance enhancements include a True Flow intake and ceramic-coated headers JBA headers.

With the 5-speed and lightweight regular-cab, the Moss truck is rather spirited. As a die-hard hot-rodder, Moss probably would have preferred to have big-block engine under the hood, or at least a 6.0-liter Vortec. But a larger V8 in the Moss truck would be a direct competitor to the Silverado SS, and GM wouldn’t sanction such a program. Also, insurance costs will be lower with the 4.8-liter engine, a strong selling point to youthful customers.

Prices weren’t released but the “street price” will probably fall in the $32,000 range, depending on options. More than 100 man-hours go into the conversion, so it would be difficult for a typical Silverado shopper to duplicate the package. The Moss truck carries the standard 3-year/36,000 warranty and the total costs can be financed through the dealer.

The truck will officially launch at Barrett-Jackson with a charity auction of one of the first production models. Proceeds from the sale of lot number 1048 will benefit ChildHelp USA.

Two years ago when the RST first came out, Regency sold a black RST at Barrett-Jackson for $59,500, even though it carried a $35,995 sticker. Moss will be working with Regency on future truck projects, including an upscale Remington-rifle theme that will be available not only on GM pickups but also the Ford F-series and Dodge Ram.

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