A few months back I was on my way somewhere on a dreary day when I spotted something bright off to my right. It materialized into a classic 1973-87 Chevrolet C10 pickup–or rather, a 1973-79 model, as this one still had the round headlamps. While not a factory color, I liked it enough to pull to the curb.
It was just a good old purposeful pickup–something seen less and less in new versions. Oh sure, there was always a Super Custom Deluxe Limited Edition model pickup, even back in the Sixties, but most 2014 trucks seem to be the full-zoot screw-frugality models, ferrying four foot tall blonde ladies to the mall. But I digress.
Judging from the visible interior sheetmetal, this car was originally a light cream color, matching the tan seats well. Must’ve been well cared for, as that appears to be the factory upholstery, with nary a tear or visible spring in sight.
And what appeared to be an eight-foot bed too. What a nice, honest old truck! Not mint, not loaded, but nice enough, and I’m sure, still ready for some work!
Very nice truck.
What’s with the seat belt tied to the steering wheel? Getting ready for a ghost ride, or unoccupied flat tow? Maybe it’s The Club Lite.
It’s parked in front of a repair shop. I suspect it found it’s way there being pulled by something else and they just haven’t pushed it into a service bay yet.
Yup it arrived in its current location on the hook and the driver of the tow truck didn’t trust the steering wheel lock to keep the truck behind him where it belonged, rightly so.
It’s an ’80…..based on the side mirror (mounts). The front-end redesign was in ’81.
Hard to said, maybe the owner had replaced the side mirrors. The 1980 models got round headlights for basic models while the other models switch to squared headlights as shown in Oldcarbrochures http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/GM%20Trucks%20and%20Vans/1980_Trucks-Vans/1980%20Chevrolet%20Pickups/1980%20Chevrolet%20Pickups-05.html
It reminds me of my grandfather’s Chevy, it was the same generation, same color. His was, if i remember correctly, a six cylinder with three on a tree. My dad would borrow it to haul firewood – i’m sure it didn’t move fast, but speed limits were 55 back then.
Would love to have one of these in the stable to handle the Menard’s runs, take care of the property, or just “go fishin’.” (… and I’m not an angler.)
Back in high school, a good friend’s dad bought one of these in Scottsdale trim, with the “BIG 10” decals on the upper rear portion of the bed sides. Two tone mint green and white. Green vinyl seat and rubber floor mats, but with the famous Harrison “meat locker” A/C.
Did I mention the 454 V8? 😉
His dad’s reasoning? “It’s gonna be driven by a teenager, so better make it heavy duty.”
It’s no small wonder that my friend, several buddies and I are still alive and kicking these so many years later. My friend still has this truck to this day.
The ‘Big 10’ and corresponding GMC ‘Heavy Half’ were emissions-cheat models. These nominal 1/2 ton trucks had GVW’s over 6,000#’s, which made them at the time exempt from catalytic convertor and CAFE requirements. Lead to some interesting available options, like 454’s. Ford had a similar model in the original F-150 and likewise the Dodge D/W 150. Remember the Dodge ‘Little Red Express’ truck?
My father used to have one of these heavy-half tons, a ’79 F-150 Ranger with a 460 V8. Nice old truck, and was pretty fast for the time.
Big 10 also meant that it was not restricted to unleaded gas. i bought one of these in late ’77 with 350 and a floor shift, 3 forward w a granny low. i loved it.
Yup the “Big 10” designation meant that it didn’t need a catalytic converter among other emissions controls. Everyone did that in 1975 which is how the IH Scout became a “1 ton” for 1975, and extra leaf in each of the spring packs was way cheaper than meeting the Light Light Duty emissions requirements.
An apt description, Tom.
Back when a pick up truck was not expected to out-option the Buick in the garage.
Great find. It is not easy to find Chevy trucks of this generation in the midwest anymore. This one has a touch of rust, but is extremely nice. From the looks of those plastic inner door panels, this one has spent much of its life indoors. Most of these turn chalky-white and brittle with age.
That seat upholstery reminds me of a late 70s strippo Suburban at a place where I worked. It was a work version with no back seat. Dark gray, with a front seat just like this, but in blue. I actually didn’t like driving that one much, the 305 always had a horrible hesitation on acceleration – it just never ran right, and it was fairly new at the time. But I later drove a friend’s pickup with maybe a 350, and it was a sweet driving truck, so I understand why folks liked these.
This is a 79 or 80. Some 79’s had the “aero” large mirrors. The gauges would be the quick confirmation. The 80 model year changed to the 85mph speedo with orange /white graphics. 80 models also introduced the lockup torque converter.
Pay attn to the front signal markers being amber. This is incorrect as those were only offered back in 73/74ish. Do we guess it had some collision damage and the repair was when it was painted a new color? Look for the front air dam under the bumper too. 79’s introduced the different hood and air dam for better mpg. 79’s also introduced the gas door in the bed sides.
Notice the pop rivet on side emblems. This was a common cheapskate body repair solution as you had to essentially pull the fenders to remove the speed nuts that hold them on. Body shops would simply bust the cast studs and re-install with rivets.
Not many of this generation left. They rusted out very quickly and especially compared to the 67-72 generation. Interior parts didn’t hold up so well either.
Still interesting to see these in action and they did drive well with great A/C units.
Beautiful truck!
I miss when trucks were like this.
Love it.
Nice. Even though that’s not a factory color, it’s close to one that I remember seeing on these trucks in the day.
This example is extremely rare, no rusted out rockers.
I drove a similar pick up when I was in the Navy. It was a short bed with the 6 cylinder engine and “3 on the tree”, truly a basis truck. It always struck me as a decent enough “run around” truck, but exceeding the speed limit seemed like a dicey idea with that truck’s marginal brakes and tires…plus it felt like it would almost become airborne at 60-70 mph.
Still, I’d much rather have one of these Chevys than a comparable Ford.
I sure miss seeing these around. When I was a kid, they were EVERYWHERE! Now, not so much.
Love these, though given my small car appetite, they’re acquired taste (weird, I know). I always thought that the Chevies and GMCs of their day were more “sporty” lifestyle trucks; check out the curvaceous styling, and that dash. Wouldn’t the coeval Ford be more of “an honest truck?”
My dad owned a ’79 GMC just like this one, dark blue with blue interior. Straight 6, 3-on-the-tree, power nothing. It was his work truck and our only family car for a few years when my mom stopped driving pending cataract surgery.
I can remember the childhood disappointment when it wouldn’t start (not often) and how fast it rusted, and to a certain extent I’m judging it by modern standards (“Shifter on the column, dimmer switch on the floor, parking brake as a pedal on the left. Why not put the headlight switch under the hood and the steering wheel out by the left taillight while you’re at it!?”), but to a certain extent it made my standards what they are more than any other vehicle. I still think of FM radio and cloth seats as little luxuries and felt I had Made It when I got a car with A/C and an AUX jack.
Beautiful old truck. I would have preferred the short bed, but this was obviously a work truck. I love the clean simple lines, stock wheels (amazing to find anything anymore that does not have 24″ wheels) and on this model, the full square front end and round headlights. But the biggest thing this old truck has going for it is the standard cab. You almost never see a newer truck anymore with a standard cab. I would never even consider buying anything else. If this truck has A/C, and I could afford the gas, I would love to drive it on a daily basis. That long bed does leave room for an across the bed tool box behind the cab.
There must be at least a dozen in my town (population almost 9000)
With a truck this old the only way to positively identify the model year is to look a the VIN. Way too much mixing and matching goes on when things break or get smashed up over the years and way too much stuff will work even if it is not exactly right for that particular model year. My 72 Scout came to me looking like it was a 1975 because it was involved in a collision and that was the grille they found. I have since located and installed a 72 grille so it is right once again.
A while back I saw my first Sprinter that had a mix of Dodge and Mercedes branding, like people have been doing to GM trucks for ages. Also a ’90s Ford van with a mid-00s grille that wound up with two blue ovals, one on the hood and one in the grille!
How were those trucks in terms of cab room? Could you drive several hours without stopping to get out and stretch due to it feeling like you were packed like sardines? It has been years and years since I drove one (drove a friend’s father’s 1977 GMC High Sierra for a few hours)
I agree about simple honest single cab pickup trucks but I will admit that my next pickup will be an extended cab truck as a single cab feels too dang cramped. My ranger was single cab and it was a fun truck but it had no stretch room. Plus the back window was a bit to close to my head for my own tastes.
I don’t need a bells and whistles truck but my next one will have A/C, radio with USB port(or the ability to add an aftermarket radio as my commute is long enough to get annoying having to listen to regular radio in the mornings) and extended cab. I don’t need power windows or locks but extended is a must.
They weren’t great for leg room. I spent a lot of time behind the wheel of my brother’s ’86 and it was tight on a long trip, but I am tall and leg room is very important for me. I also remember driving a really nice ’79 that I liked, but the leg room was too tight to be comfortable. I seem to recall the steering wheel on that truck being very large and hitting my legs. Lots of cab width though. The GMT-400’s were a huge step up in cab space (at least for leg room).
I too moved up to an ext-cab. The extra interior space is nice, and so is the ability to carry extra passengers when needed. I still can’t too a crew cab though, especially with a 5 3/4′ box.
I’m 6’3″ with a 36″ inseam. Owned or drove many of these trucks back in the day. More than enough interior space and leg room in the 73-87’s.
Simply can not compare a Ford Ranger to this truck for space.
The prior 2 generations of GM trucks also had a fine amount of room inside as well.
The recent generation of “full size” trucks are a total joke being so exceedingly large and yet two key areas of space such as the bed and interior are the same or smaller in comparison. Look at the footwell space, the width of consoles, the width of doors and door panels, the huge dashboards, etc. etc. I laugh every time I ride in a newer truck by the Detroit 3. Space utilization is horrendous compared to the earlier generations of trucks. Yes, yes, yes, we all get the topic about safety and crash protection regs, etc. But still, the bloat topic is valid.
Rant over…..
That’s strange that you found these trucks had decent leg room. I am a bit taller than you and I always found them tight. They are much better than a Ranger or S10, but I didn’t find them overly roomy for leg room. The newer GMT400’s actually had enough legroom to stretch out my left leg on a long trip. The best trucks I have seen for front leg room have actually been the late model F-150’s, at least in the Super Crew variations.
Sorry for the annoying internet speak but this is the Best.Truck.Ever.
These trucks were anything but cramped. I have owned 2 of them, and worked on hundreds more as a fleet services mechanic. Unlike newer trucks, the dash was a mile away, everything was airy and open. I have a 34″ inseam, and had to slide the seat slightly forward. There is at least 30% more room in the cab of these trucks than in the 1988 and up standard cab truck. And there was tons of room under the hood, especially on the first gen of this body style, with the boxy front end. These trucks did tend to have hood bending issues after the first 2-3 years. It seems the hood was built so strong that in a front collision, it would not bend, and got pushed through the windshield, with the results of a few heads being lost. Chevy cut notches in the bracing, but went to far. If you are going to repaint it, any of these hoods can easily be restored to original strength.
If it weren’t for one problem, I would find a truck of this model 1980 or older (I like the front end style much better than 1981 up) with a straight 6 in it or put a straight 6 in it with a 3-4 speed manual, short bed standard cab 2 wheel drive, fix it up a bit, put 134a A/C in it, and use it for a daily driver for the rest of my life. The problem? In my state (AZ) these are emissions vehicles, and they have to be tested every year. Most of them that old have to be rejetted and retuned to pass inspection, then be put back the way they were to be driveable. A few years of that will drive you out of you mind. Better to find a ’66 or older model if you want to drive it in AZ.
A lot of the IH people I know who live in CA will have their factory carb for emissions test time, since they need to pass a visual as well as tail pipe and then an aftermarket carb for the other 364 days of the year. On these era vehicles the carb is quick swap. So if that is what you really want then go for it, an hour or so per year to have what you want seems worth it to me. Though when they repealed the 25 year rolling exemption for a while in my state I never had problems getting my Internationals and 69 Buick to pass with flying colors. If they don’t do visuals then fuel injection is a good choice too.
Terrific trucks although GM one again cheaped out and didn’t make any pretense of rust proofing plus they used thinner sheet metal than ever before so even in the Desert they rusted out .
I bought a 1976 GMC 3500 (3/4 Ton) rig long bed fleet side , 292 i6 engine and SM465 manual tranny , compound low .
it has P.S. & P.B. as it’s only options being special ordered new by North American Van Lines as a work rig .
Somewhere along the line a dual tank set up had been added and the second owner owned a Ranch deep in Mexico , put a sturdy pass through typ of shell on it and commuted it there and back for decades ~ the Mexican mechanics kept it running at quite a cost ~ the engine dashboard was mangled when I bought it although the original sorf red paint was still pretty good .
I rebuilt the entire truck end to end *except* that wonderful long stroke 292 C.I.D. i6 .
I used various parts from the multitude of highly optioned Suburbans to get the full factory gauges and DELCO AM/FM Cassette player etc. ,etc.
I made it for one long distance hauling job then sold it because the long bed precluded parking anything else inside my gate .
I still miss it . , my Son says he sees it around his town of Monrovia , Ca. .
1976 meant I still had to California smog test it and it had co cat . it took over a hundred feet of various size hoses and God alone knows how many hose clamps (part of the test now I was told) but it *wistled* through the test even though it burned a fairly good bit of oil .
-Nate
I own a 1987 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe. Mine is a stripper model too- the 305 and the Auto transmission seem to be the only options.
No floor carpets, no dashboard vents (Floor and Defrost only), and not much else.
It’s the best truck I’ve ever owned. It rides much smoother than my F-150, and carries more weight. My 305 will even out-tow my Ford 300.
The square body is, in my mind, the best truck that anybody has ever built. Refined enough, but still a truck.
I thinks that’s old Earl Schieb “Basin Street Blue” 🙂 . Love that vintage Chevy truck, my long gone ’77 Silverado was a trooper. Took all I could throw at her and laughed it off.
Back when I was a Boy Scout in the late 80’s/early 90’s, a truck much like this was the “pack mule” for all of our camping trips. C10 of this generation, black grille white bumpers white steelies with dog dishes, but it was an orange short-bed. Same general idea though. It had a cap on it so we would cram as much gear as we could into that short bed to keep it out of the rain. A good, honest, basic, truck, of the type they essentially don’t make anymore.
what’s the engine capacity of this bakkie?
Is it fast?
Am busy rebuilding it.
Can I convert with Lexus V8 engine?
Mpho from South Africa