Truck enthusiasts, take note! This Saturday, June 25, Tom Wieck Realty And Auction will be hosting a huge auction of more than 100 square-body vehicles in Central Nebraska! Tom and his wife have been in the selling business for over 40 years and perform nearly 100 auctions annually, many of them featuring real estate, but this weekend’s offering is all rolling real estate! If you’d like to attend in person, you better start driving, because festivities get underway at 10:00 AM Central Time. A long list of all 100+ vehicles crossing the block can be found here on the Wieck Auctions website. Can’t make it? No problem, as online bidding going on right now is also an option.
With the wide variety of square bodies available, there’s bound to be something of interest for everybody. One fine-looking machine is Lot number 98, a 1968 Chevy C10 pickup. It’s got a rebuilt 355 small block under the hood with a 650 Edelbrock, headers, an aluminum radiator plus a 700 R4 transmission. It’s currently sitting at a high bid of $4,800.
Ever seen one of these? While it may look like a homemade camper, it’s actually a 1976 Chevy Chalet, a short-lived offering based on the Blazer. The Chalet and its counterpart, the GMC Casa Grande, were only manufactured in 1976 and 1977. The vehicles went from the assembly line to Chinook Mobilodge, Inc. for the transformation, and though the exact number of how many were produced is not confirmed they are definitely not a common sighting. If you’re digging this concept, check out Lot number 79, currently resting at $11,000.
Lot number 31 is a 1956 GMC pickup, and even though it’s missing some stuff on the front end and has a rough patina, it looks fairly complete and might be a decent starting point for a restoration.
If you like a little luxury in your square body, this 1996 Ford Bronco might be right up your alley. It’s a 4×4 with the Eddie Bauer package and a 5.8-liter engine under the hood. Mileage is listed at 119k and all eleven photos depict a well-preserved vehicle both inside and out. It is Lot number 97. Current bid: $12,000.
For good measure, there are even a couple of non-square bodies in the mix! Lot number 16 is a 1996 Chevy Camaro Z28, and it’s a nice-looking black-on-black example that is said to have the 5.7-liter LT1 engine under the hood. There are also ZR1 wheels with a new set of tires on them. It may seem a bit out of place here, but I’ve got the feeling this beauty is going to pull a lot more than its current bid of $3,700.
Among the square offerings is also this 1986 Jeep Wrangler CJ Laredo, featuring a 350 crate motor and a 700 R4 transmission. There’s also a Holley EFI and a Dana 44 rear outback, plus a new set of wheels and tires. It can be found as Lot number 85 with a current bid of $20,250.
We’ve only just scratched the surface of what all can be found here, and there are even some parts offerings available at this very large gathering. What square bodies in the auction do you find the most interesting? If you’re one of the fortunate ones able to attend, let us know the vibe and give us some updates!
Have we ever seen a Blazer Chalet? You must be new here. Barn Finds has featured dozens of them. There may not have been many built, but it seems a disproportionate number survived.
Kinda like the 300,000 people that were at Fenway for game 6 in 1975
Or the 400,000 who were at the Steelers 1972 Immaculate Reception game at 3 Rivers. lol
Perhaps more accurate to say there’s been a disproportionate interest in them by BarnFinds writers here in the recent year or two. Allegedly only 1,780 made altogether if one lone figure in a 1979 magazine article is correct, GM can only account for the Chalets which they have a figure of 1,555 made while the numbers for the GMC Casa Grande ones are still lost. As I’ve said in prior comments here about other Chalets / Casa Grandes, I’m the former owner of Chalet #1747, and am the current caretaker of the VERY old blazerchalet.com website (with a Contact page there), who also has the mega-spreadsheet list of 600-ish of these which I can individually ID so far, for the fun but otherwise impossible goal of tracking and documenting every one of these ever produced. Lot #79 in this auction is Chalet #0510 which the seller has been apparently unable to sell for the last several years despite having it at Craigslist and eBay a couple of times. He’s also the owner of Lot #43, Chalet #0025 (which was in way better shape when I first saw it in a 2010 Michigan Craigslist ad), and Lot #42 Casa Grande #0847, and Lot#14 Casa Grande #0852, and I’m unaware of any efforts by him to sell these until now.
If I have it right, he owns the bulk of the vehicles at auction here, which makes me wonder a bit why the whole pile is now for sale when he had this ‘square body’ accumulation passion of his for several years.
cuz U can make more $ this way…
isnt the famious Chalet unitized? Nota slid in?
Most of what I can see looks pretty rough. Maybe they should have called it the Big Square Body and other Misc Project Extravaganza. I guess this is what happens when you’re a collector/builder and you OD on one thing. Time to wipe the slate clean and reset the bank account and budget. It’ll be interesting to see how the final results come in…
Looking at his inventory , I think he will be quite happy with his bank account reset,and ergo probably unconcerned or even familiar with the word “budget”.
Blazers ,Square bodies, and limited edition pick ups have easily outperformed virtually any traditional investment fund.Don’t get me wrong I collect cars for fun ,not profit,and give me Amazon or Apple stock all day.But,Overall ,there is a lot to like here.
Everybody knows the word budget…especially now. Why else do you think he’s selling them all? If money wasn’t a concern, they would keep sitting around. Don’t kid yourself, money supply isn’t endless…not even for Bezos, Jobs or Musk. And no, I don’t think he’ll realize the money he’s expecting…my guess is it comes in a little short – as it should. It’s not like there isn’t a plethora of choices out there. In the words of Mr. Buffet “you want to know what an asset is worth, sell it.” We’re about to find out…
Love that 2 tone 96 Bronco, still looks great today.
Square bodies are 73/86.
1973-1987 and up to 1991 on some models
Haha, I was going to say that. Only that they’re also up to ’91 Subs, K5s and crew cabs…! 😎
Went to the auction site and discovered one of the high bid trucks – an ’85 K10 Outdoorsman now @42K, reserve yet not met(!). Never heard of this package, so a quick google revealed it was a package available in 4 colors that included various camping gear and a…Winchester lever action rifle…!
I knew knew that also didn’t want to type that much,got the general idea out there.
we’re specific here, no? Passions R that way~