All-Female Team Builds ‘57 Chevy Pickup With BMW V8

Crew headed by All-Girls Garage host Bogi Lateiner turns out a gorgeous teal pickup truck for SEMA 2017 with a unique powerplant choice.

When Bogi Lateiner announced in 2016 that she and a team of women would be building a BMW-powered ‘57 Chevy Pickup, some people might have scratched their heads. Why do that? “Because we can,” Lateiner said at the time. But when the truck debuted at SEMA 2017, she and her all-female team displayed a gorgeously turned-out pickup truck from one of Chevy Trucks’ best years.

Some Chevy purists will naysay the BMW S62 powerplant, but none should doubt the finished product. Bogi and more than 80 women helped put the “Chevy Montage” project together over the course of a year in Phoenix, Arizona.

BASF USA helped sponsor the project and even provided custom paint for the Montage. Not only did Bogi and her crew apply that blue hue — coined Tenacious Teal — to the truck, they also applied it to the custom airbox on the BMW V8. That engine comes from the 1998 2003 BMW M5, where it makes a healthy 394 horsepower in stock form.

We really like the wheel choices and the tasteful lowering, too. It’s a good look on one of our favorite iconic Chevy trucks of all time.

The Bogi’s Garage crew documented the entire build as well as the stories of the women who worked on the truck. They plan to travel with the ‘57 Montage to help promote the idea of women in the trades, Bogi told BASF.

Bogi Lateiner cohosts All-Girls Garage on the Velocity Channel, although this project was not part of that show. After graduating from UTI, she worked as a tech at a BMW dealership for six years, according to her website bio. That might explain the engine choice to some degree and we hope to see this truck tearing up the streets or autocross courses soon.