25
WORDS Jonathan Wong
PHOTOS Rory Seerden
THE SPIRIT OF
MINI-TRUCKING
IS ALIVE AND
WELL WITHIN THIS
MAZDA TRUCK
We obsess over the term “one-of-a-
kind,” but one look at Chris Gilder’s
’92 Mazda B2600i and you’ll realize
this truck is a true standout in a very
small sea of truly one-of-a-kind builds.
First, it’s a mini-truck—when’s the last time
you saw one of these?! Second, it’s been
converted to righthand drive. Who does that,
just for the hell of it? Chris did. It’s one hell of
a build, but more so, one hell of a story to tell.
For Chris, who grew up riding dirt
and BMX bikes and hanging out at his
grandfather’s mechanic garage, all it really
took was a couple of new kids moving into
his hometown of Tacoma, Washington, to
turn his life in a completely new direction:
fixing up cars. “I became intrigued,” he says.
“My life turned into everything Honda,
and I spent a lot of my spare time working
on a handful of Civics. I always had a love
for low trucks and custom paint, though,
except I didn’t know how to weld and didn’t
have a garage.” Chris did all his wrenching
in apartment complex parking lots but
knew he would eventually need a garage
if he was going to transition into crafting
more involved builds. Once he got into a
house, there was no looking back. Chris