Tell your "How I got my truck story"

[LEEVON]

I distinctly remember my Grandpa sitting at the kitchen table shaking his head over how much I paid for it too. "Didn't even cost that new, boy you're beeing foolish!". He didn't live to see it completed but I bet he would change his mind!

[placerkid96]

My Great Uncle bought my 70 c 10 short bed in 1970 then sold it to my grandpa, after several years of use my grandpa had to retire the truck due to engine problems and so on... About 7-8 years ago my dad took the truck up to where we live (2 hours away) where it sat for until 6 months ago. I also dreamed about restoring it and driving the same truck my grandpa did. One day my dad was being a bit more pushy then usual about mowing the lawn. After 2 minutes of mowing I turn around to see my dad and my grandpa driving in an orange truck down the street days before my 16th birthday. I will never forget that.

[Dunenutt]

A man down the street bought a brand new 69 Chevy pickup. In 1971 it was bought by my dad, and parked in the driveway. Many stories, memories, good times and bad, it has always been known as "The Chevy". I took ownership of it in 1981. Since that day in 1971, it has always returned home to that exact same driveway.

[gearys 5600]

I bought my 69 off of the original owner for $400. It was all original with a blown up engine.

It started out as a budget build shop truck..LOL

[ChevLoRay]

In April of '99, I bought a '69 SWB Custom Deluxe for the youngest son. He was a junior in high school. It had a 350 and a 350TH. It would bark the tires almost every time it shifted into 2nd. But, it also needed premium to keep from rattling and running-on.

In October of the same year, I saw an ad in the paper one Sunday. I called and found out the guy thought the ad had run a week earlier and nobody had called. So, I bought it the next day...Halloween. Drove it to work for 2 years, retired, got another job and drove it for 3 more years.

But, this story started long before....in 1970. I was stationed at Bien Hoa, RVN. We had a cheesy '63 Econoline that had no side or rear doors in the cargo area. We drove it to Saigon once a month to take equipment for calibration. So, in March of '70, we received a new '69 P-10 step van...six cylinder/stick...natch. Like to have one, now.

But, when these trucks were introduced in the fall of '66, they were such a departure from what we were used to seeing....I mean everything up to that point (from GM) was angular. Ford, Dodge and International...oh, and Jeep...kept that look. So, the '67's were different. They didn't look like the trucks we knew. So, it took a while for me to warm up to them...33 years to be exact. But, here's the one I drove in 'Nam...and it wasn't a C-10 or a P-10.

[USMC45]

Well what happened was...........

Honestly, I had a stack of cash burning a hole in my pocket and had been looking for a new project for a few weeks when i came across a seller. So I said to myself, Self, you better go ahead and buy this 68 C10 before You blow all this money on something else!

And well, you guys know the rest.
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[AusTx68]

Back in the early 90s I was driving a very clean 64' Impala. I picked it up turn key. My brother-in-law had a 68' and 72' C10. The 68' was a big block monster. The 72' was a clean street truck. He let me drive it and from that day I wanted a 72'. Soon after I started college (age 28) and sold the 64' to my brother. I never forgot about that truck. Graduated college, wife, kids, motorcycles, and sports cars. Finally in 2009 I had an empty garage and nothing to wrench on. I figured it was time to find that truck. Found me a 68' C-10 220 miles away in Abilene. Paid the guy extra to trailer it to me. That week I found this forum and I was done. Y'all were a bad influence on me!

[DirtyLarry]

Lots of cool stories in this thread! The story behind my first truck, the ’68 GMC, goes that my dad owned a shop when I was growing up. I spent all of my child hood years at the shop even back to when I had a crib in the corner of the gas station. No after school sports for me....I had to go work at the family shop.

When was about 13 (1985) dad went through the motions of a mechanical lean on a 1967 Camaro that was abandon at the shop. It was a very clean survivor with a 327/TH350 but that was about it. Total striped down car. I was promised that car when I turned 16….well, Dad got the title then got greedy and sold it to my cousin who wrapped it around a tree a few months later. Next came a 1967 SS396 El Camino that he somehow ended up through another mechanical lean. Now, this car is supposed to be mine…NOT…the old man was behind in taxes and had to sell it to pay IRS so I missed out on that one too.

Next came my ’68 GMC. By now I was already 15 (1987) and had my drivers permit but my dad let me drive alone most places especially if it benefited him like me running parts runs, etc for the shop. He even let me drive our shop van (retired Mountain Bell 1971 SWB G-van with a 250 straight 6) back and forth to school and work at the shop. Anyway, one afternoon a long time AAA customer called and said the engine in their truck was making a funny noise and needed to be towed to the shop. These folks were the original owners of this truck which I had always been fond of because it had a big block, factory tach and bucket seats. Dad sent me and an old retired guy that was the shop janitor and steward to go pick up this old GMC with our wrecker. I got to drive the wrecker to go pick up this truck down the street from the shop (I only got to tow cars at 15 if I had an adult with me, which is why the shop steward rode with me ). Once we got there I was like WOW, this poor ole truck changed a lot since it was in the shop last. As it turned out the old man died and the grandson inherited it about 9 months prior. He had blown up the 396 and had a small block in it. The bed was full of cinder blocks which one cinder block got thrown through the front windshield by some stinking vandals as it was parked on the street. Worse yet was the grandkid wrecked the truck and it was now sporting a red ’67 front fender on the left side and a blue ’68 fender on the right as well as a chrome ’67 grill. Also gone was the original gold/white paint replaced by some cheap tan paint.

Long story short it was diagnosed that this kid threw a rod in this small block as well. To my luck, the grandma was fed up with this kid and asked my dad if he would give her $150 for the truck and drop the diagnostic charges, which he said yes. The ole gal quickly came down to the shop with the title in hand for exchange of the $150. As soon as the lady left dad handed me the title and said…..”Here is your damn truck!” . From there on through college I sunk every dime I earned at the shop and income tax returns turning it into what it looks like today. For all of that, I keep the truck stashed in the garage to this day and haven’t driven it in 10 years. The way it sits now is how I finished it in 1993. I doubt I have even put 500 miles on it since 1993...

The earliest photo I can find of it and after I primed the front fenders. Notice the poor job I did of screwing a reflector onto the '67 fender to memic that of a '68 fender ....stupid kid


Present day

[special-K]

Great story,Larry. I'm enjoying them all. This title assumes we've only owned the truck we now have. I guess those who aren't new to these trucks and have had more than one should post about their first.

[Lemield]

I've had 5 of these trucks. The first one was a 1970 C/10 that had sat for many years in the garage of a lady named Betty that my Dad knew. He gave her $300 bucks for it. It had the typical rocker and cab corner rust but only 36K original miles. We got it running and then my sister bought it from my Dad. A few years later, I got it, fixed it up and drove it. My neighbor liked it, made me an offer and I sold it to her. A week later she got laid off from her job and asked if I wanted it back. I had not spent the money so I bought it back. A few months later my other sister bought it and she just recently sold it.
My second was a 1970 C/10 with a built up big block in it and a Camaro 4spd and .456 gears. I found it in the Auto Trader.
My third is my 1970 CST. I saw it at a car show in Moab Utah. I kept going back and looking at it all day....finally took it for a drive and a week later it was in my driveway in Colorado.
My fourth is my 1970 C/20 Custom Camper. Also found it on Auto Trader online. It had a Mitchell 10.5ft camper on it.
My fifth is my 1971 K20 with the 6.2 turbo diesel engine. Found it at a local dealership being advertised on Craigslist.

Yes, I'll admit it....I have a truck problem.

[GMCJOE]

DirtyLarry, not a big fan of yellow.. But it seems to suit your truck just fine. I like.

[LMREESE]

Summer of 67 my grandpaw bought himself a new farm truck. Short bed, power nothing, no air no radio or lighter. Only one visor and one mirror. It pulled farm duty till 96 when i bought it at the ripe old age of 12. I been driving it ever since
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[low&slow]

Gosh you guys sure do make me feel really young. lol. Back in 2005 when I was 12, there was this lil old lady that had a 100% original matching number 69 chevy camper special w/out the camper. I told her I really liked old trucks and that it would be best if I got an old one. That way I can learn to fix my own stuff if I need to fix something. She told me to go do yard work for her for one summer and I could have it. So that's what I did when I was 11. Turned 12 and my dad and I went and got the truck. My plans were to fix the broken 350 that was in it, but I didn't know how. And I wanted to take it and give it back to the lil old lady. So my grandpa and I spent 3 weeks putting a BB 454 in it. As soon as we got it going, about a week later my grandpa passed away. So after about a month or so dealing with that, by that time I was 13, I asked my brother if he could drive the truck back to the lil old lady so I could give it back to her. Well, we got to her place and her grandson told us that she had passed away the week before. So, to this day I still have the truck and nothing has been changed other than having the BB in it. I'm not going to fix it up or make the body straight or anything. Just going to keep it as she is in memory of this lil old lady and my grandpa.

Also, a little history on the truck. I am the 3rd owner of it. Found out it was built in Boise, Idaho (same county as me) and sold in Boise, Idaho. I guess it's actually suppose to be a 1970. It came off the assembly line in '69 and had a bunch problems so they took it back in and fixed it. Finally came off the assembly line to be sold in 1970. Someone bought it in 1970 and cut the dash and put in a radio from a jeep or something, but they did a dang good job at cutting it. Anyways, the lil old lady I got it from had owned it from 1975 till 2005. She told me that has been her Only vehicle she's ever had and it was her daily driver till the motor broke. Then her grandson drove her around town.

Shortly after all that. I was 14 and got into drag racing pretty big. My dad told me if I'm into racing and show a big interest in fixing old trucks, then he will go buy me something I can race. When I turned 15 he went and got me a '69 c10 long-bed with no motor or tranny or interior. I asked him how I was suppose to race it and he told me, "You got to fix it first. That's why I've been having you practice up for the last year." I didn't think he was too funny. So a few years went by and I stuffed a 500 caddy into it. Still to this day I can't race it legally at the track. Took it down there once when my brother worked at the drag strip and he let me slip by and not do inspection and I ended up getting banned from the track. No seat belts. Cracked windshield. Seat wasn't bolted down. Water leaking. Transmission fluid leaking. Battery wasn't secured down and so on :/
But I did get to race my brothers 72 chevy long-bed. I didn't know anything about bracket racing at the time, but I did make it all the way to the finals before I blew his motor at the end of that track.
Well, That's my story on my trucks.

[Downtown]

My truck belong to my Dad. He ordered the truck on 2/26/72 from Pagett Chevrolet in Morristown Indiana. It is a 1972 super cheyenne longbed in green and white. I drive it around in highschool. In 1973 the truck was involved in an accident at the local gas station(photo below). It was a rainy day and the impala in the picture was struck in the rear out on the highway. It was spun 90 degrees sideways and at that point got traction. It went into the gas station, ran over a gas pump and into the side of my dad's truck. His truck went sideways over the another gas pump and light post. His truck pushed the pump and post on top of a Vega on the other side. This is when everything went up in flames. They put the fire out with foam ( you can see it around the truck in the picture). The only thing really damaged on the truck was the bed. My Dad sold the truck to a guy while the clean up was going on that day. The gentleman put a new bed and rear wheel on the truck and started driving it.

I moved away in 76 and moved back in 1988. The guy had driven the truck until 77 and parked it outside on concrete. After aleast 10 years of trying, I was able to by the truck back in 2004. When I got the title back, it turns out the other guy never registered the truck. I got back the original title with my dad's name on it. Sometime later the town sheriff at the time of the accident stop by the house. He had found the polaroid photo of the accident when cleaning out some files. The only sad part is my dad passed away before I got around to the restoration, so I never got to take him for a ride in it. Other than that, it was pretty cool how everything worked out.

[Gokart Mozart]

I had a 72 years ago and loved it, even with its faults, until it got to the point it needed more work on the engine than I could deal with at the time.

I needed a 2nd vehicle. The wife has her car and I was driving a Fiero that of course needed some work to be a dependable DD and something that I could beat in the winter. About 5 years ago I picked up an XJ Jeep Cherokee that had issues because the p.o. wanted to put a v8 into it but changed his mind and cobbled it back together (including 18 exhaust clamps in 3 feet...). I tinkered with it and sold it for a profit. With that coin I picked up an 02 S-10 extended cab and drove it for a year and a half (with issues) until I saw a Craigslist ad for my current 70. Drove 2 hours to look at it and ended up trading my S-10 and a few bills for it.

[Moonbeam]

After reading some great stories I decided I would add mine. My 68 Stepper was bought new by my Grandfather. After his death a few years later, my Grandmother sold the truck to one of my uncles. He kept the truck until the early 80's when my cousin and her husband needed a vehicle so he sold it to them. My cousin whom I hadn't heard from in years until we became friends on facebook last year, sent me a message via Facebook in May of this year asking if I had any interest in the truck. So around the middle of July I went and picked up the truck. Now I am in the middle of a frame off restoration.

[Andy4639]

Nov. 1982 I married my wife and we had just sold the 75 454 corvette. She wasn't working at the time so we couldn't afford it. I had a new camaro so we kept it. I told her when she started back to work I wanted a truck. Well she started work and we bought a house in 1984 so it got put on the back burner again.

Spring of 1985
Her dad at the time had his dealer license in NC. So I told him to be on the lookout for a 67-72 truck for under $1500.00. He called me and wanted me to come up to the auction on Thursday night in Charlotte NC and see what we could find. We took off and looked around and found a 67 long bed carolina blue with white pin strips. 283 motor with factory AC, power steering rack, tinted windows and 3 speed over drive. I loved it but the starting bid was $1500.00 so I just figured I wouldn't get it. So we are sitting there and placed the first bid on it at $1500.00 no one else bids on it. I couldn't believe it we got it with no bidding war. I was so happy I had me a truck and a pretty nice one to.
Well the truck lasted me about 6 months. The first time I ran the heater that next fall it caught on fire and burned to the ground. I saved the motor,trans and bed but sold it all. I had no insurance on it! Man...
So back to looking again. I found my 71 in March of 1986. Thank goodness

[BatteryMedicJoe]

I went to the dealership in October of 1971 and ordered my truck, I arrived in late November and I paid cash for it!

[Already Gone]

I always liked these trucks from when they were new. I worked in sales at Chrysler dealers from 1975/2000 and it would have been seriously frowned on by the dealer if I owned a Chevy seeing I made my living selling Chrysler products which I also like. I first saw my truck in 1997-1998 at our local Easter weekend Car Show and realy liked it especially the ice coral pink and white 2 tone. In 2001 I was at our annual August Cruise Weekend and saw the truck with a For Sale sign on the dash. The next day I bought and probably paid too much but have nev regretted buying it and really enjoy owning and driving it and Ole Pinky will be in my Estate.
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[lineman14]

I friend of mine told me about an old man who had a 72 short bed that he would sell in his barn. He bought it brand new for his son. His son wrecked it in the late 70's, so he had it fixed and repainted, when unexpectedly his son passed away. The old man never put it back together. After hearing that story I never told anyone, I was just waiting to save up some cash, but the same guy that told me, told some other people about it and they said they were going to go buy it. So I went out to the old mans house and told him I really wanted the pick up but didn't have all the cash, so he said "You got a dollar?" I said "Well, ya" he said "well give it to me..you made your first payment, she's yours" So the next week I gave him the rest of the cash and hauled her home.

[FirstOwner69]

About 1963, when I was in high school, I saw my first camper mounted on a Chevy truck in northern Wisconsin. I immediately decided that I would eventually own a rig like that. My new bride and I moved to southern California in 1968 for our first jobs. In Oct., 1969, we decided to drive to southern Utah because I'd seen an article in one of the major outdoor magazines about the great hunting. We drove up and slept in our car in the snowy mountains out of Beaver, UT, and froze. It was the weekend prior to their deer hunting season, and on the way home we met many Californians heading north in their campers to hunt. We stopped to look at campers Sunday night before we even got home. We found our truck, a new left over 1969 CST-20 with buckets and A/C a few weeks later sitting on the lot at Barton's Chevrolet in Yorba Linda, CA, and a camper in Santa Ana. We cut deals on both, picked up the truck Nov. 20 and picked up the camper on the 21st. About a week later we were camping in the mountains near San Bernardino. We've owned almost 40 vehicles since including trucks, SUVs, ordinary passenger cars and Corvettes. I almost sold the 69 in about 1981 for $1200 until the buyer told me how he would be beating the crap out of it. It was stored with 118,173 miles since the mid-eighties until 2010 when I finally started a frame-off restoration. The old camper still sits in storage about 100' from the truck.