At SEMA, A 16-Year-Old Unveils Her Modified 1976 Chevy C10

SEMA is strictly a place for grown-ups. Over three days, one didn’t see more than a tot here and there.

Generation Z the future of the industry, so when you meet a 16-year-old who has rebuilt a 1976 Chevy C10 from the ground up with the help of her Pops (and Air Lift Performance), they stand out.

Bailey McKeska, a high school junior, has been working on the truck for the past year for its SEMA closeup.

A few grizzled men circle the truck, nodding, perhaps never imagining that the quiet Bailey, sitting next to it, is its modifier. “Everybody’s all about the color,” she says. “It’s sage green. Everybody just is in love with the color.”

Bailey’s mother stays out of the car-modifying business back home in Amanda, Ohio. Except for the finish. “We were gonna go patina,” Bailey says. “But Mom told us it had to be shiny, so we made it shiny.”

The truck even has a name. “Lafonda.” Fans of “Napoleon Dynamite,” Bailey’s favorite movie, will remember LaFonda as Kip’s online girlfriend whom he eventually marries.

“We just love the story of Bailey and her dad,” said Mike Alexander, Air Lift Performance brand manager. “Many of us at Air Lift can relate to it.”

The truck ran okay when they bought it for $7,500 from Facebook Marketplace.

“I was turning 16 and I really wanted a C10 and didn’t care what condition it was in,” she says. “I only wanted the big ‘Chevrolet’ on the back.”

“Originally we had just planned to lower it,” says father Mike, who has been modifying cars most of his life. “But we just kept going. Bailey did all the bead rolling works. See the wheel tubs? She did all that herself. She did the sandblasting, painting, priming, and lots of cleaning, detailing, running for parts. She also installed the Kicker audio system.”

Bailey and her father are fine with working together. “We get along,” she says. “We’re from a very tiny village, it’s very close-knit, and everybody knows everybody.”

“I give her all the dirty jobs,” says Mike.

Bailey custom-built the interior seat structure from salvaged materials, and Apex Leather took care of the leather and carpet. “This isn’t my first show, but it’s my first show with the C10,” she says. “I’ve been to lot of car shows. Never been to SEMA before.”

“We literally put the finishing touches on it in the hotel parking lot,” says Mike.

And what are the plans in the near future? “I’m gonna drive it a lot,” Bailey says. “It’s going to be more of a show car, but I’m going to be able to take it out during the summertime and stuff. I don’t think I would ever sell it.”

Despite the fact that the truck runs fine, they didn’t drive it to SEMA.

“I’m not driving in Vegas,” says Bailey.