PINKY

Built and campaigned by Shannon Campbell from 1996 through 2002, Pinky was the handmade flatfender that introduced Campbell to the national off-road world. Although it looked like a Jeep, very little of it came from one. Shannon constructed the body structure from ½-inch box tubing with riveted .030-inch aluminum panels and incorporated 1¾-inch, .120-wall steel tubing into the chassis and cage.

Pinky was powered by a Chevrolet small-block 350 backed by a Turbo 350 automatic transmission and Dana 300 transfer case. It used half-ton Chevrolet 10-bolt axles, custom Wrangler leaf-spring packs in the front, and a quarter-elliptic rear suspension designed by Shannon’s father and mentor, Don Campbell. Riding on 35-inch tires, the lightweight, long-wheelbase machine was capable, versatile and remarkably advanced for its time.

Nearly everything used to build Pinky came from a junkyard and was rebuilt by Shannon and his family. Shannon estimates that the entire vehicle cost approximately $2,800. It was competitive enough to race yet remained street legal and, in Shannon’s words, “drove like a dream.”

In 1996, Shannon entered Pinky in the Four Wheeler Top Truck Challenge and won the overall championship in his first appearance. The vehicle went on to compete in Whiplash desert races, tough-truck competitions, Monster Jam events and the Rocky Point 250. At Rocky Point, Pinky was placed in Class 8 against purpose-built desert trucks—and won. At a Monster Jam event, Shannon and his homemade machine were laughed at when they arrived. They won there, too.

Pinky was not Shannon Campbell’s first Jeep, but it became one of his most important. Its success helped launch Campbell Enterprises and established the resourceful, innovative and fearless approach that would define Shannon’s career. Built from discarded parts, family knowledge and determination, Pinky proved that ingenuity and execution could overcome budget, convention and expectation.