The only one I haven’t had would be a Chevy 4WD.
And I thank God every time I get in the old 93 Dodge,
It is truly a great truck.
And I Am Lucky Enough To Still Have One
Bustednuckles
Documenting The Death Of America
The only one I haven’t had would be a Chevy 4WD.
And I thank God every time I get in the old 93 Dodge,
It is truly a great truck.
I had to sell my 79 K5 when I had my first child. We had just lost everything and needed a car that can take a car seat. I don’t regret doing the right thing, but I miss that truck.
I had a 79 Dodge Warlock. Exact same story.
“93! What a great year. Just so happens we have a ’93 Jimmy Suburban, old school 4wd. With of course, your garden variety 350. Couple years back we had to scrape a little, but shoed it with BFG Mud Terrains. Gets 14 mpg, down hill, straight away with a tail wind and the engine turned off. TRY TO BEAT THAT!!
OK.
My 87 F-150 had a built 300 six – full ported, BIG cam, 600 Holley and 3″ exhaust. It got 11mpg IF you short shifted and pussy footed it. 6mpg when driven in anger – think 6000+rpm shifts. With 32″ tires and a 3.08 rear gear, it would top out at 130mph. It was over the top radical and a blast to drive.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
We have the 93 burban, but I’m a Ford truck guy. Those 300’s are way underrated. Would probably climb a tree if it had the taction. Plus, they have insane torque.
My dream truck would be the above Ford in blue, with a 300 horse, 400ci, 350 posi rear. The only retro mod, would be a non computer, overdrive trans. It would be plenty quick with “good enough” gas mileage.
My 79 F-150 was bought new by my mother’s father. It is Baby Blue and while it wasn’t technically a High Boy, it was as close as a 1/2 ton could get. It has the heaviest 9 inch rear made. He was a logger, so you know it had a hard life. It initially was my brother’s, then he let his hired hand have it. I bought it back when the hand quit The Farm.
When first owned by my brother, we rebuilt the body. He drove it for a while until the 351M just puked its cookies. We ended up putting a fairly mild 400 in it with a torquey towing cam. I figure with the work done to it, 300 – 350HP wasn’t out of the question. Having a C6 trans and a 4.10 gear, I can relate to the AOD wish.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
When my Dad retired, he wanted to get an antique truck. He’d scour online sites, get those car ad magazines, etc. and look constantly. But he was always too picky, this one had the wrong engine, no A/C on that one, didn’t like the paint, etc. Never did buy one. After about 15 years of retirement, I let him know that the 5 year old truck he had at retirement was now officially an “antique”. He passed without ever finding his perfect antique but being perfectly happy with his old truck (1995 model Chevy). Found out later he had enough money in his retirement account to pay someone to hand-build anything he wanted, so figured he just enjoyed looking more than buying.
Also told my Mom that lots of people were going show up and offer money for his old Chevy. She was strictly warned to NEVER sell it. That damn thing has a quarter million miles, zero dents, no rust, and the original paint still gleams under the many layers of wax. Interior is pristine. If nothing else, either me or my brothers will keep it as a second driver. And yeah, lots of people have made offers. And some of those offers were very insulting – yeah, I’m keeping track.
It is a sad fact that most people we know will cheerfully line up to fuck us post-mortem. We should govern our planning accordingly.
Mrs. has strict instructions to tell anyone who says “you know ol’ WWW wanted me to have this or that” that ol’ WWW told her to say “Well that’s interesting because ol’ WWW said for me to tell you specifically fuck you, you lying liar because he didn’t promise a damn thing to anybody. Now GTFO.”
Had a 75 F250 for years. One of the best trucks ever built.
One of my sons bought a 92 F250 with a 460CI engine a few years back and fixed it up. Not a restore. Fixed it up and kept the original paint, etc. Awesome truck.
That is one sweet 79 F-150.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
I had a 78 F150 XLT 4×4 with a 400M, granny gear 4 speed, factory 3″ lift that 38’s fit without rubbing, and 4:11 gears. I drove it 20 years. My 2016 F350 is not as tough as the 78 was.
my dad had a 1968 Chevy C-20. big inline six, 4 speed cast iron box. 3/4 ton
I rebuilt the engine for him in 75-6 I think it was. my brother had worked on the carb and dropped a bolt down it. yes. I found it on one of the pistons !
anyway, had a shop do the machine work and I put it back together.
all six pistons in and it spun easy. I had by this time built a few race engines, so I knew what I was doing. had them shaved the head and block. new copper gasket
asked them to true and face the flywheel too. wasn’t that much like 200 bucks or so. all new bearings and cam, lifters. damn truck ran better than new !
not that he ever told me that ! but he did brag to others and I heard it second hand like. anyway. got divorced and cam home. he gave it to HIS brother to sell
back in eastern KY. NEVER HAPPENED. he ran the shit out of it for another 15 years until he broke it. bed had rusted out and he replaced it with a “newer one”
like a 84-5 bed. I made him change the oil once I saw what he did to it.
oil was like tar on the stick. he never changed it. just added a bit now and then when it was low. (asshole) but he did run it into the ground by 2000.
what once was a almost rust free truck, now looked like it went thru a war.
so, 1968-70 Chevy trucks are the ones I like to get. just can’t afford one now.
kind of funny as in high school, you could get a lot of 1950’s trucks for under 200 bucks all day long. NOW? yeah. right. take out a loan to get one.
I have a mint condition 85 F-150 built/lifted ect.,love it and it’s simplicity(excepting power windows/locks…..,sigh).
I have a 81 G-20 van on a K-20 drive train/lifted ect.,I also love this one dearly!
One can get a decent rig for about 20,not showpiece but great daily driver,beats the hell out of a new 70 grand truck with garbage non of us need!
I realized, at age 75, I was not going to trick-out my very original ’69 Chevy C-20 V-8 4-speed 4×4. When I bought it in 2006, as 3rd owner, I already had a ’97 F-250 V-8 auto 4×4 plus an ’04 F-350 6.0 4-door 4×4. When CA mandated insurance to tag vehicles, the ’69 was non-op and retired to ranch duty. I did teach a grandson how to drive stick, with & without clutching.
The ’06 had the gremlins, so I soldiered on with the ’97 racking up 369k miles. Already have 95k on my ’18 F-150 V-8 auto 4×4. Go Big Red, or Blue!!
My only Chevy was a ’66 Stepside that I replaced the blown up 292 straight 6 with a 283. Loved that truck. My ’78 Ford 150, I couldn’t get a decent power steering box. I then bought an ’89 F-250 4wd with a 460. The only thing that truck could not pass was a gas station. I now have a 2018 Ram 4wd with a Cummins and a 6 speed manual. That will be my truck until I assume room temperature. Excellent truck and great fuel mileage.
It’s nice to have a pick-up you have great memories from. They don’t have to be necessarily all good either. My ’76 Dodge Adventurer took a long time to warm up in cold weather. I had to turn it on for several minutes, shut it off, have a cigarette, then start up again and it ran oaky until I made it to freeway. Loved that old thing to death. Bench seat was awesome – I wish my current truck had one too ! The vent windows are also missed as well.
My first vehicle was a candy-apple red 66 F-100. Had the little toolbox in the side of the bed. No power anything. Had a 4-on-the-floor with a 352 with dual exhaust. Stood out like a sore thumb in the high-school parking lot. I miss her dearly.
I would have kept my 79 F-100 but it was rusting across all the body seams and from the inside out. I suspect it spent some time in frozen north.
You drive it out on beach sand enough it will look like it came from Leigh’s neck of the woods…
I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY