Four-door pickups are as common today as silver SUVs, but a few decades ago, they were generally used as work trucks for crews of railroad workers or similar jobs. Given an original crew cab truck from the 70s or a lowered restomod two-door pickup, you know which one I’d choose. This 1976 Chevrolet C20 Custom Deluxe Crew Cab Camper Special (the name is longer than the truck!) is listed here on eBay in West Linn, Oregon and the bid is $6,160, but the reserve isn’t met.
The seller hits a grand slam with dozens of nice photos of every square inch of this “Rounded Line” third-generation Chevy pickup: inside and outside, top to bottom. The C20 is a two-wheel drive 3/4-ton and almost any model, trim level, drivetrain, cab, and bed configuration was available. This truck appears to be in amazing condition, I would love to have this one.
With a full-sized eight-foot bed, this is where a mid-70s camper would reside since this is a Camper Special. There appears to be some surface rust in the bed, but there doesn’t appear to be any rust holes on this truck anywhere. The seller has provided many underside photos and it looks rock solid. They say that it has its original “patina paint” and also dings and scratches, but it looks great to me.
The dash is cracked, which seems somewhat surprising for an Oregon vehicle, and the interior is all original, according to the seller. The seat pattern is fantastic and they look like they’re in good condition both front and back. You should be able to fit at least six people in this rig, but for drive-in movie night, maybe a dozen or more (kidding, sort of). Hagerty is at $18,100 for a #3 good-condition truck so this one has a long way to go.
The engine is Chevrolet’s 454-cu.in. OHV V8 with 245 (net) horsepower and 365 (net) lb-ft of torque when new, according to a 1976 Chevy pickup brochure. This one sends power through an automatic to the rear wheels only and the seller says it works “healthy and strong.” There has been a lot of work completed over the last few years so please check out the eBay listing to see what’s been done. Have any of you owned a 1970s crew cab pickup?
Leaving this truck in its current state would show the owner has zero imagination. I would turn this into a really cool Boulevard cruiser. BTW these trucks hold a maximum of 6 people.
Some held way more years ago. Two people can share that center lap belt in some states. But, yes, the 3+3 on the cab corner indicates it a 6-passenger.
Consider this. This “square body” doesn’t seem to have any rust in the usual spots..the fenders directly above the wheel and through the rocker panels, and being 3/4 ton or bigger, the engine isn’t smogged out as much since it wasn’t required to run on unleaded in those days. Based on what I see here, if the price doesn’t go nuts it might be a nice buy.
The owner of a company that I worked for got a new truck every few years. He had an almost identical truck to this one, and I was given the opportunity to purchase it at a discount. I took it for the weekend to try out. I found it really difficult to maneuver in many different situations and parking could be difficult to locate, both due to its length. It was not enjoyable to drive. Also, I could watch the fuel gauge visibly head for empty as I drove down the freeway with the 454. It was a nice truck, but for a single guy as a daily driver, it was a bit of overkill. I passed.
Popular w the paving companies. 🚧 👷♂️
Popular with the Drag Racers way back when !
Be aware NW Classics Investments in West Linn, OR. has a F rating on the BBB.org web site
It has a new model front bumper not the correct year
Looks like they bought all the chome to go with the mirrors. The front bumper is from the next generation. Maybe it was white before. Air and a 454 should work for most. Love the plaid printed upholstery but it could use more foam in the seat cushion. Moss gold looked good on these.
Darn Scotty. you just took me down memory lane. After looking at all the pics, this truck reminds me of Dad’s 75 Suburban Scottsdale, especially the interior. It had a 350 tho but was ziebarted in Michigan & bought new.I left for the Army that year, followed by 5 years of college. I don’t know what happened to it but I’d like to know after looking at your write-up.
This is awesome. You never see a crew cab in this body style in my neck of the woods – they were only used by construction companies and I don’t think they were even that common in fleets in the late 70’s. I’d love to have it, but that 454 would be thirsty. I wonder if Holley fuel injection and an overdrive trans could get it into the low teens in the miles per gallon department? The interior is great. Exactly like my grandad’s 4wd regular cab had.
I had a 73′ 350 and a 76′ 454. The 350 was a much better running truck.
Even this looks like a mid-size compared to the ridiculous trucks coming from Detroit nowadays!
Looks like a decent truck. I have not seen one of these in a long time!!
Occupy Wall Street . . . and Main Street at the same time!
Seller says headliner is missing. The Custom Deluxe (base) and Scottsdale trim levels do not come with a headliner. Great trucks. Love my ’78 GMC Sierra Classic C-35 pickup.
We sold a lot of these back in the day. Lots of people using these to tow an RV or horse trailer around the country. They held up quite well although they came out at a time when camshaft failures were coming close to epidemic proportions.
We were changing camshafts by the 24 pack, in everything that GM built. Then we heard that everyone else was having the same nightmare. Although no one would say it, a bunch of us concluded that it was because the API changed its oil formula from SE/CC to SE/CD. Camshaft failures were everywhere, except for the local farmers, who were using either straight diesel oil, like Exxon D3, or something like Shell Rotella T, or Exxon XD3, both of which were formulated to lube anything from your garden roto-tiller to your most severe diesel in the field. The ZDDP levels were high in those formulas but depleted in the other lubes. In 1979 SE/CD got changed to SF and almost immediately camshaft failures stopped. Of course when the oil companies got quizzed about it they either took the 5th (personally I’d have taken the 5th–and drank it) or blamed it on some government bureaucrat. interesting that on flat-tappet engines we’re experiencing similar failures today…
The government for years wanted to rid us of our older cars. This is their way of doing it, without them saying so. I also went through some 350 GM cams in the day. I took it as cheaper metal than the other car makers. Now China is doing the same to everything they make. If they want to get their ACT together, they may have more buyers for their products. Their cheap labor has nothing to do with not using Quality material.
Auction update: this one sold for $11,825!