1970 Chevrolet C10

Description

Some of our favorite vehicles are these honest old Chevy pickups that don't need excuses and are still ready to work or play. A seemingly well-preserved survivor, this 1970 Chevy C10 Custom is a blue collar machine with rugged good looks and a great-running 350-inch small block and a somewhat unusual short bed.

You or your folks probably had a refrigerator or a stove about the color of this Chevy pickup back in the late 1960s, but it works a lot better here than it does in your kitchen. Instead of looking dated, it has a period-perfect charm that totally works on an old pickup, particularly with the white accents. It might be original paint or even an older repaint, but either way it gives this C10 a very authentic look that pickup truck fans will appreciate. The sheetmetal underneath is pretty darned nice with good panel alignment that's accentuated by the long stainless trim that was part of the Custom package. And speaking of trim, the chrome and stainless looks quite good, as if someone has properly polished it over the past four-and-a-half decades. The bed, which is a somewhat unusual short bed, is simply too nice to be original paint unless this truck was never used, you know, as a truck, which seems unlikely.

Funky green upholstery is another period-perfect touch on this pickup and shows quite well. The seat cover itself is brand new, and quite possibly the door panels, so it looks and feels fresh from behind the wheel. There are three pedals on the floor and three gears on the column-mounted shifter, making this C10 a bit more entertaining to drive than its automatic-equipped siblings and the instrument panel carries attractive round dials with bright, clear markings. This truck is also equipped with factory A/C that's a welcome feature, although it seems to need a recharge to be fully functional. There's also a factory AM radio, suggesting that nobody was in a hurry to update this truck and instead preferred the true 1970 feel. Even the floor coverings look nicely preserved as like someone truly cared about keeping this truck in top condition.

As far as we can tell, that's the original, numbers-matching 350 cubic inch V8 under the hood and while it's not totally detailed for show, it does have a well-maintained look that adds to the truck's honest presentation. That sure looks like factory Chevy Orange paint on the engine itself and a correct factory air cleaner up top. It starts easily and runs smoothly, almost too smoothly for a truck engine, and has that well-oiled feeling that you get from a tool that's been properly cared for and is still at the top of its game. The 3-speed manual transmission is easy enough to shift and it still exhales through a stock-style single exhaust system with just a muted burble to remind us that there's a V8 in there. The undercarriage isn't clean and shiny and there's some surface scale on the major parts, but you can see that the basics are quite good and this is a solid truck from a climate that didn't attach the steel. Factory Rally wheels with spinners in the center look sporty on the old pickup and carry 235/70/15 blackwall radials.

With its original Protect-O-Plate to confirm its originality, this neat old truck is one of those vehicles that wins you over with its honesty and earns its keep by still doing its job well. Call today!