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1985 Chevrolet S-10: Fact or Fiction?

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This is one of those listings where I hope I don’t feel like a sucker for posting it. Here goes: this is a 1985 Chevy S-10 pickup here on eBay, said to have only 69 original miles after being driven home from the dealer and torn down to become a drag truck. From the bizarre color combination to some snafus with the registration showing a different odometer number, this S10 is a head-scratcher.

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Of course, with an engine like this, you’ll likely do more neck-snapping than head-scratching, so I suppose that’s a plus. This thing has been tubed and caged and has a 750 b.h.p. 383 that apparently will pull 10s in the 1/4 mile. That power is managed by a Turbo 350 transmission and put on the ground with a Koni coilover suspension and fat slicks that cage a Ford 9-inch rear with 5:13 gears.

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So, here’s where it gets weird for me: who orders a red S-10 with a blue interior? Sure, the protective covering is still on the carpets, but I can’t get over this bizarre color combo. And if the truck was destined to be stripped the day it was brought home, why on earth would you spec a color scheme that no one else in their right mind would order? The seller acknowledges that this is unusual but exactly how his uncle ordered it.

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Here’s the money shot: the odometer showing the extremely low mileage as a result of the truck going into an immediate project mode and then never used. The seller says the title shows 43,000 miles but this a DMV-related mistake and has to do more with an error that went unfixed than any sort of odometer trickery. If it were me, I’d want the truck returned to as close to stock condition as possible or completed and sold as a near-new drag vehicle – not somewhere in between, and certainly not for $10,000 in its current form.

Comments

  1. Avatar randy

    Oh boy, another controversial barn find!! Where’s the popcorn gif?

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  2. Avatar Horse Radish

    My neck hurts from looking at these crummy photos.

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  3. Avatar Frank

    Still has the heater in it. Guess it wasnt to be an all out drag truck after all.

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  4. Avatar Larry

    That is not that unusual a color combo as you would think. We built (GM) SEO package trucks & SUV’s for different Police & Fire department’s with funky exterior /interior combos. I imagine his uncle was able to do this through his local dealer, but I’m sure he knew someone well at the dealer in order to get that SEO truck as we only sold them wholesale in quantities to the dealer for local municipality use only. Depending on the quantity ordered we would run them as a batch during a shift, several days, a week etc. Btw I have seen that color combo in Chevrolet Caprice before going to a fire department. It’s all about discounts sometimes, & a funky color combo would get a discount.

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  5. Avatar JW454

    Interesting story but I don’t think the “DMV” in any state makes arbitrary decisions on how many miles a vehicle has or should have. I’m throwing out the “BS” flag on this one.

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    • Avatar Kevin Harper

      Yeah I agree with JW, around here a vehicle over X number of years ( I think it is 20) just gets checked off as “odometer is in excess of mechainical limits”.
      It is a catch all used by several states.

      Klharper

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  6. Avatar Rick

    It’s definitely “tubed”

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  7. Avatar Dominic

    The engine looks like a toy.

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  8. Avatar edd

    I worked in a Buick store and we had a new 1981 dark blue Le Sabre with a red interior. The manager told me it was the Buick store (Bauer Buick, Harvey, IL) that made the mistake and ordered it that way. He said it was very difficult to order wrong but this one was ordered wrong. I asked him what he’ll do with it and he said he’ll feature it in the showroom and it will have a home right away. It sold in a couple of days.

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  9. Avatar Alan (Michigan)

    More interested in the TonyKart.

    But… it would be a tossup between the S10 and the Nova.

    A big drawback is the motor, with an unknown number of passes it might be ready to cash in.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Denis

    Back in the day, you could get most any available interior in any exterior color..I saw many while I worked at a Buick dealership. I owned a 56 Buick 4 dr ht that was a pale(peach color) outside with the original green(you read right) interior, a lt blue/white ’54 Century 2 dr ht with black n red interior. Years later I bought my first dealership(of 3) and my sales mgr accidentally ordered a Chevy S10 Ext cab ..dark maroon with denim blue interior….I put a matching blue pinstripe on it and sold it immediately to an old gent who thought it rocked…vision? There’s an ass for every seat and a seat for every ass(not profanity..they mention ass in the bible, right?) FYI..I’d love to have the S10. lol

    Like 0

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