This is my favorite year (or two) for these Chevy pickups, because I’m particularly fond of that fine egg crate grille. It’s the best version of the three grille types on this generation (1967-1972), and is distinguished from the near-identical 1971 by virtue of its rear view mirror being glued to the windshield instead of hung from the cab roof.
And this one is a bit more rugged than average, being a 3/4 ton C20 with 4WD. That wasn’t nearly as common as today, although this generation went a long way towards civilizing 4WD, with a new drive line arrangement that lowered the body compared to the hi-boy 4WDs of previous generations.
This was a well-optioned truck, with the deluxe cab too.
And an automatic transmission to boot. Based on the fender call-out, this one sports the ubiquitous 350 (5.7 L) V8. Standard was the 250 six or 307 V8, the 350 and the big 402 were optional, as well as the long-stroke 292 six.
Chevrolet finally went to steel beds in this generation. This one looks like its survived the Oregon winters pretty well, but then it probably had a camper on its back at least some of the time.
The proof of that are those two big hod-downs on the side of the bed. This would have made a fine camper-hauler, even if it’s not a Longhorn model, but then that unique version with an 8 1/2 foot bed was not available as a 4WD, I’m pretty sure.
Interesting. We have the exact same truck on our street, also with a big trash container up at the house.
I have shots of at least one of these, and in similar condition. These held up in the salty midwest much better than the following series (or at least the early years of them).
I am with you in really liking these. Perhaps part of it was getting a ride in a brand new 1972 that was loaded with options, including a/c. It was the nicest pickup truck I had ever seen in my life.
The next gen (square body) didn’t hold up well. Or maybe it’s because my father routinely used it to take boats to the ramp, and didn’t bother washing off the salt at the end of the day.
Nice truck! I still see those driving around here, the 2wd are much more prelevant. Wouldn’t this be a K20 then? I always thought the C meant it was 2wd. Or is it some sort of conversion?
It is a K20. My slip-up. Fixed.
Saw this weathered example recently.
Wow, what a find in New England!
I also fell that the looks of the 1972 Chevy Pick-Up were the best of that era. The earlier ones with the bar across the grill were cool too (69 & 70), but any of them from ’67 thru ’72 look nice. A buddy of mine in high school had a ’69 that I liked a lot.
But I wonder – What’s up with that front bumper? It’s as if the guy was jealous when all the ’73 vehicles came out with their mandated 5 mph bumpers and just had to have one, so he had it custom installed. Of course I don’t know trucks all that well. Maybe that’s some kind of optional ‘step bumper’ or something. I’m sure one of you guys would know.
I bet it had a winch on that bumper at some point.
That’s a winch bumper. Looks like a Ramsey sticker above the cutout for the fairlead. Unlike Jeep CJs Toyota FJ-40’s early Land Rovers etc, the bodywork on most pickups/sport utilities sits a lot closer to flush with the front bumpers which to get a more ‘fluid’ look requires an extended bumper like this one. Jeeps etc usually have less of a front clip that sits well behind the bumper, so a winch will mount on top of the framerails in front of the grille. Just a different way of getting there, based on the rig’s layout.
I considered getting a K20 (’70-72 were my target MYs) back when I replaced my ’99 Super Duty, but quickly found that nice examples are getting fairly spendy. This is a great old truck, and would have been a candidate had it been for sale locally.
This generation Chebby Peecups remain in wide use by landscapers and other contractors in my SoCal town–where rust is virtually unknown. Some Fords of this era too, actually, though I can’t remember seeing many Dodges of this vintage lately.
That’s in real nice original shape. Just a bit of weathering but no real rust that I can see. IMHO, this ‘bullnose’ bodystyle is one of if not THE best looking truck GM ever made.
One thing Ive noticed a lot of here out West on older trucks is that little aluminum door on the drivers side of the bed. Obviously its a fuel filler door to either an auxiliary gas tank or more likely a retrofit kit that relocates the fuel tank out of the cab (old pickups had the tank behind the seat in the cab like a giant suitcase) and mounts a new unit under the bed. Back east, I never saw this but it seems that TONS of old Dodges, C/Ks and F series from the ’60s up thru about the mid ’70s have this conversion done. And usually on 3/4 and 1-ton variants which are usually camper-spec. The spare tire hung in front of the grille seems to be popular out here too.
There was an option (I believe dealer-installed) for an auxiliary under-bed fuel tank. A very common selection for campers and trailer-draggers. The behind the seat tank would hold about 20 gallons at most, and at about 12 mpg empty, you wouldn’t get far, let alone hauling a camper/stock trailer.
I think youre right. Dual tanks were factory options also on different trucks. It may seem a bit weird, but 1st gen Broncos with dual tanks were pretty common. Unlike this truck, both fuel caps matched one another rather than the hodge podge look here.
Having dual tanks would seem like more of a no brainer here out west. Back east of the Mississippi, when youre traveling, it seems like the next exit is a maximum of a few miles away. Once you ply out west though, its a different story. Might not see a gas station for hours. I know when I moved out here, traveling across Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and eastern Oregon I never let my tank get below 1/2 way because that might be the difference between a comfortable amount of fuel vs bone dry.
How would you like to see this sign? I have heard about plenty of long-range fuel setups in vehicles, the most extreme was a bus converted to an RV running on CNG with over 3000 miles fuel range!
You actually could have 3 factory gas tanks on the 67-72 Chevy pickup, retaining the in cab 18.5 gal tank as well. That’s why the huge factory fuel gauge has 3 indicator scales, the center one being the in cab tank read out. As you switched tanks, the gauge would move to left or right depending on which tank you were using.
In another CC effect, last week I saw what I’m pretty sure was my old ’70 C10 I sold in ’06 going the other direction from me in town. I tried to U turn and follow, but the driver was really flying and I would have had to drive like an idiot to catch up so I let it go. Hope to see it again and confirm it’s my old truck.
Came across this one for sale, obviously came from California.
These add-on side gas tanks were once common as dirt here in Phoenix; I had a ’70 Ford truck with one. Making them was practically a cottage industry, seemed like every other welding shop sold them. There was a valve mounted in the cab floor next to the seat to select which tank fed the (thirsty) engine. If one paid a bit more, you could get a sending unit installed for the gas gauge, along with a stern warning that the seller would not be responsible for your lack of electrical skills!
They faded away after gas tanks were moved from the cab to beside or inside the frame. Maybe the first OPEC shock contributed to their disappearance too.
Regarding widely separated gas stations in the West, I still remember my dad running out of gas in west Texas in 1955 when driving out from the South. He just couldn’t believe that towns could be so far apart.
When I-5 first opened between Los Angeles and the SF Bay area, there was at least one stretch of over 200 miles without services. Some cars back then didnt have that much range.
Spent a lot of hours looking over the dashboard on a ’67 that I plowed snow with in Wisconsin. The company had several of these of various vintages. As the junior guy, I usually drew the oldest one. My ’67 was the only one with a manual shift, a 6 (292) & 2WD. With 1/2 ton of sand in the back and studded tires, I never missed 4WD. The manual was a pain though. Automatics let you back up a lot faster – important for plowing tight areas efficiently.
I always liked the sloped hood of the 67-68 models better than the more squared off hood of the later versions. Between the different hood and the lower ride of 2WD, I could slouch down in the seat and still see the edges of my plow without having to sit up. Funny how plowing day and night during a heavy snowstorm embeds memories of stupid stuff like this.
Anyway, this generation of Chevy may have started the transition to more comfortable car-like interiors, but the basic fleet versions were still bereft of comforts we take for granted today.
The moral is if you plan to put a vintage Chevy to work plowing snow, go for the earlier sloped hood model. I’m sure you all will find that useful advice.
The steel bed floor was still an option in ’72 (my granddad had a ’72 K10 long-wide with a wood floor). Steel bed floors didn’t become standard equipment ’til ’73, and wood floor became the option on the step-sides.
What were the advantages to a wood bed floor that Chevy hung onto them that late?
Money. Costs a lot less to cut some 2×6 planks (even if they aren’t plain white pine) than it does to design a stamped steel floor and purchase the machine to stamp it with.
Was wondering the same.
Fleetside pickups came standard with steel floors from 1967-72 (except Longhorns). However, wooden floors were optional, if the customer preferred.
According to Chevrolet, a wooden floor was better for livestock, give’s better footing when wet, easier to secrure cargo and it doesn’t rust. And of course if you saw that Chevy promo video yesterday, it can withstand a explosion better!
And of course along with the explosion resistance advantage the wood floor made it convenient to carry your termite colony along with you.
Oddly enough, GMC Fleetsides of this generation came with wood floor standard, steel optional.
This reminds me of the ’69 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup my dad had for several years.
Like most of his vehicles, he bought it well-used. It had a 6/4-speed manual transmission. I’m assuming the 6 was a 292. You NEVER started in 1st gear on the thing, it was too low.
He also changed the rear end gears from something like 4.10 down to 3.90 or maybe even higher.
It also had holes cut in each side of the bed with plywood doors over them. Dad did those so when he was farming tomatoes, the machines at the cannery could wash the tomatoes out onto the conveyor belts.
It survived his move from Ohio to Virginia in 1982. I have no idea what happened to it after that, but it was still going strong at that time.
Growing up in the 1960s and 70s I remember how farmers would seek out used Camper Specials of all brands.
Paul, I have to disagree. The original bar grill looked way better on these. I’ve always been more of a Ford guy (and in fact drove a 69 Ford one summer as a trash collector on a arch in New Mexico) but I’ve always liked these a lot, and remember seeing these a lot growing up in Kansas. And they look best in 2 tone.
Good catch there! There are a bunch of these trucks in the Portland area from nearly trailer queens to somewhat modified to ones still working.
My first Chevy truck was a ’71 C10, stripper fleetside short bed in avocado green. Bought it for looks.Yes, I still iove the styling, including that business-like dash after decades.
It even had the same “Indian blanket” seatcover. The tired 250ci six was eventually replaced with a slightly built-up 283, keeping the all-synchro three speed and 3.73 gears. Gas mileage actually improved considerably. It also had the all-coil suspension, which I loved for its longer travel when going off-highway.
This is reminding me of The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. Big Blue Chevy ’72