Ironworks Builds Goodguys' First 4x4 of the Year: Greg Heinrich's L8T-Powered 1987 Chevy Crew Cab

When a guy already owns street rods, street machines and muscle cars, the next build has to be something different. For Greg Heinrich, owner of Fairway Chevrolet in Las Vegas, it was a lifted square body crew cab. Built by Rodger Lee's Ironworks Speed & Kustom, it has just been named the Goodguys 2026 Roadster Shop 4x4 of the Year.

Fuel Curve's Damon Lee announced the award on Oct. 9, and the truck fits the category well. It is lifted on 37s with real off-road hardware, but the target was a usable, comfortable truck with some '90s flavor, not a show-only rig.

The first winner of a new award

This is the first time Goodguys has handed out this trophy. In January, Fuel Curve announced that Goodguys was adding the Roadster Shop 4x4 of the Year to its Top 12 program for 2026, replacing the Trendsetter of the Year slot that had been added in 2024. The reasoning was simple: restored and modified vintage four-wheel drives such as Broncos, Scouts, Blazers and Cherokees have become a fast-growing part of the hobby, and lifted trucks had already been landing finalist spots in the Truck of the Year categories for seven years.

The rules limit the award to lifted four-wheel-drive trucks and SUVs from 1999 and older, with seven finalists picked at regional events through the season. Goodguys said its committee would judge craftsmanship, design, body and paint, fit, form and function, stance and creativity, and look for a vehicle that represents current overland trends. For 2026, any lifted 4x4 was eligible; starting in 2027, the award will look for new debuts, the way the other Of the Year titles do.

That makes Heinrich's crew cab the benchmark the rest of the class will be measured against, and it is a smart one to set the bar: a 1987 square body that looks like it rolled off a showroom with an aftermarket catalog in the bed.

A repeat partnership

Heinrich and Ironworks have done this before. Fuel Curve lists a bright orange '55 Chevy that made a splash in the street machine world, and a '35 Chevy coupe that won the 2025 Meguiar's West Coast d'Elegance from Goodguys. This time the brief was an OEM-plus truck: everything looks like it could have come from GM, only better.

Real off-road hardware

The foundation is a Roadster Shop RS4 chassis, built for performance with long-travel front and rear suspension, Fox shocks, a Dana 44 front axle, a Dana 60 rear and splined sway bars. Ironworks added Wilwood disc brakes with an IntekOtto electric brake booster. Then the shop went old school on rolling stock: 18x9 Pro Comp aluminum wheels on 37-inch BFGoodrich HD Terrain tires.

That wheel choice is what sells the '90s feel. Polished Pro Comps on a square body are exactly what a lifted Chevy looked like in a 1990s truck magazine, and they look right on a crew cab with a short bed.

L8T and a 10-speed

Don Hardy Race Cars built the engine, a 6.6-liter L8T, GM's modern big-displacement truck V8. Fuel Curve says it is detailed in an OEM style and runs a GM ECU, a Wegner front accessory drive and a PWR radiator, with a custom exhaust. Bowler Performance built the 10-speed automatic behind it, and an Atlas transfer case splits power front and rear.

Square body, sharpened

The crew cab got the panel alignment and tight gaps you would expect from a high-end shop, and Ironworks swapped on a short bed. Fairway Chevrolet, Heinrich's own dealership, handled the blue and white paint, split by an orange divider stripe and custom-machined side trim. IntekOtto mirrors, Delmo Speed door handles and retractable side steps under the rockers finish the outside.

Inside, late-model GM work truck seats and a console were fitted and trimmed in tan Relicate leather by Cato's Custom Upholstery. The dash got a double-DIN stereo, Dakota Digital gauges and a custom leather pad, and an Ironworks billet wheel sits on a tilt column. Custom machined sill plates, door panel trim and speaker surrounds keep the factory-like look.

Driven, not trailered

The best detail in the Fuel Curve story is how much the truck gets used. It covered more than 1,000 miles on the Goodguys Hall of Fame Road Tour in August, and the plan is to drive it from California to Las Vegas for the SEMA Show. After that it heads to Scottsdale, where it will be shown with the rest of the Goodguys Top 12 at the 29th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals.

That is the case for this truck in one paragraph. A lifted crew cab with a Dana 60, a 10-speed and 37s could easily be a showpiece that never gets dirty. Heinrich and Ironworks built one that eats highway miles, which is the whole point of a truck like this.