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500 V8 Rear Engine! 1964 GMC Pickup

There are folks in the upper-Midwest that have a lot of time on their hands. With 4-5-6 months of cold and snow in Minnesota, some folks here retreat to their garages or their shops, preferably heated ones, and create. Some tinker, some do general maintenance on their vehicles and small engines. Some restore a motorcycle or snowmobile. And then there are folks like the owner and builder of this 1964 GMC rear-engine pickup. Uhhhh.. stickboy, did you say rear-engine? Yes, yes I did. This crazy creation is on Craigslist in Annandale, Minnesota, about an hour northwest of Minneapolis. The seller is asking $11,000 or best offer. That, my friends, seems like a very decent price for this amount of coolness. If the link goes away the info can be found here.

This is one neato and/or keen (do they still say that?) truck! A truck this nice with a basic in-da-crate SBC mounted under the hood for $11,000 or offer seems like a good price. But, criminy, when you see what’s lurking behind that straight and nicely-detailed cab, well.. I don’t know what, but.. you’ll know.. something.. I think. $11,000 or best offer in 2017, with fake reality tv shows running rampant, usually means offering $7,500 if even that. I hope the seller doesn’t go that low, there was a lot of work done to this truck.

The cedar-lined stepside box, or bed, is from a fourth-generation Chevy or GMC pickup – a 1989, to be exact – according to the seller. I would have very much preferred a 1964 stepside to match the cab, but for a custom build, I don’t know if it looks too bad, does it? It’s maybe a bit round and modern compared to the cool, cubist cab of the first-gen pickups. This truck is right on the money for drivability, though, with four-wheel disc brakes to stop at every other gas station with that 500 cubic-inch V8 in the back.

The interior looks fantastic, much nicer than I thought it would when I ran across this listing. Well done, seller. There’s a glove box mounted stereo and a GPS speedometer, along with a very, very nice two-tone seat and crisp dash, a nice steering wheel, and just about everything else that is visible here looks great. And, if you look in the engine compartment, you’ll see this. But, if you look in the back…

Here’s what all the hub-bub’s about, bub: a Cadillac 500 cubic-inch V8. There’s no word on horsepower, but Cadillac 500 V8s had from 190 to 400 hp depending on the year. This motor and transmission were both rebuilt and this a “great cruising truck that will drive 70mph comfortably”. This looks like a lot of custom and cool for $11k or offer. What is a realistic price for this much fabrication? Or would you ask $11,000 if it were yours?

Comments

  1. Avatar Leonard J Coloccia

    Yeah great, but where am I going to put my sheets of plywood?

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  2. Avatar Russ

    It is no longer a truck BUT IS COOL

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    • Avatar DrinkinGasoline

      It was manufactured as a truck. Engine placement does not change that fact.

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    • Avatar Christopher Wenz

      All about that tasty torque.

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    • Avatar Christopher Wenz

      It’s very silly like that 500 cube Pacer.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Karl Kretschmar
  3. Avatar Troy S.

    Is this some sort of race truck? Putting the engine back there serves no practical purpose at all.

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    • Avatar DrinkinGasoline

      Nor did the Little Red Wagon wheelstander but, it gave a lot of Us folks a lot of entertainment during it’s tenure. Not everything is practical….sometimes….it’s just fun ! The Hemi Under Glass and numerous others were staples when I was growing up (like a can of peas).
      Not everything is about practicality. :)

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      • Avatar Troy S.

        Those were race/exhibition cars built with a singular purpose as all race cars are where practicality is not even a consideration. You’re absolutely right on the money.

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    • Avatar Lloyd Hale

      Nothing says everything has to be practical. if we did we would not make a lot of progress. It is just a whim, i wonder if i could put that old Caddie engine in the back of my old truck. Next project please.

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  4. Avatar DrinkinGasoline

    The price at 11K OBO is very decent given the work involved. Fabricate an aluminium tonneau cover for the bed with punched louvers facing forward to catch all of that air that usually foils into the bed anyway at higher speeds. Screen the underside for debris (removable for cleaning, kinda like a reusable furnace filter).
    Forced air at it’s best.
    Fill the tail lamp openings and mount a set of Stepside tail lights on the bed sides. Maybe even a pair of tailgate chains with insulators for aesthetic purposes.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar KEN TILLY Member

    If there is a Caddy mill up front, what is under the hood?

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    • Avatar DrinkinGasoline

      The Cadillac engine is in the rear. But you raise a valid question. What, if anything is located under the hood. Surely, there should be some sort of ballast for weight distribution. Without it, front end hop would be miserable. (No under hood pics in the ad).

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      • Avatar craig m bryda

        I saw pictures of the underhood and I saw expanded metal flooring with a aa red cooler on that. It appeared to be nicely finished under there.

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  6. Avatar MH

    I have seen this truck in person. It’s nothing I would want but it’s well built. It’s worth 11K for sure.

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    • Avatar DrinkinGasoline

      A little more info would be appreciated.

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      MH — Is the drive train from a front drive Eldorado? Almost has to be, as the engine is sitting right in the middle of where the rear axle would be. It’s sitting too low in the bed to be mounted ABOVE the rear axle. At least I’m hoping it’s from a FWD Eldo!

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  7. Avatar michael streuly

    I like it

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  8. Avatar JimmyJ

    I understand these old shortboxes are hard to find as a friend of mine has been looking a long time for one but later model box doesnt work for me.

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    • Avatar DrinkinGasoline

      It wouldn’t be hard to find an original bed out west. Montana would be the first place I would look.

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  9. Avatar Brakeservo

    Reminds me of my Toyota Tacoma truck WITH A BENTLEY ENGINE IN IT!! Yes, that’s 100% true, I had a small Toyota pickup with a Bentley engine and transmission in it. All the way from El Paso, Tx to Portland, Or I drove that truck home . . . and then I unloaded all that Bentley stuff into my workshop. And after that i no longer had a Toyota with a Bentley engine in it.

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  10. Avatar sluggo

    most of the weight over the rear wheels I bet it goes like stink although I wonder how stable the steering is at full tilt.
    Must have made sense to someone, but I would have preferred the original version. I have a 65 GMC of this body style but long bed. We call it the “Old Grey mare” and has been a trooper, great truck.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar jw454

    I’m not sure I would have done this much re-engineering and then leave the stock gas tank inside the cab. It would have been a perfect time to relocate it elsewhere and make the space inside the cab more usable and safer.

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  12. Avatar blaine horne

    I wish he had sent pictures of the underside, I would love to see where the trans. and exaust are mounted. I think he really messed up a nice ride.

    Like 0
    • Avatar whmracer99

      Have to agree. I have to wonder if the owner will find another person who thinks this is $11K worth of cool. Always wonder what the builders were thinking when they did this and then decided to sell it or did they really build it with the intent of selling it for a profit? With the prices on these it seems that you could have spent the time and effort and made a nice traditional resto-mod and got more money out of it. Workmanship appears to be nicely done.

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  13. Avatar Joe Haska

    I have seen this done on an earlier truck, and it was very well executed, a little better fit & finish than this one ( probably spent more money), but the work and engineering on both trucks, is definitely something to appreciate. If you don’t think so, try it!

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  14. Avatar jeff6599

    Why is the right front wheel farther back in the fender opening than the left front wheel. What went wrong or what are we missing here.

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    • Avatar whmracer99

      Saw that too. Makes one wonder……

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  15. Avatar olddavid

    If it hooks up at all, I’m betting the steering gets super light?

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  16. Avatar Scot Douglas

    Not sure how I feel about this, as the 60-66 gmc/Chevy trucks are my favorite. I think I would like it more if it had the correct box on the rear, but that 500 caddy engine is the real deal. Put a aluminum intake manifold on it and it weighs less than an Iron SBC.
    Bet it is a hoot to drive.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Oingo

    Not sure what if anything it could be used for other than showing someone else’s work or tooling around.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Mark S

    I’d put that big caddy engine back up front with a overdrive trans behind it and some 3.75 gears in the back. Then I’d shave the tail lights and install the old period correct ones on it to give it a more correct look. The way it is just plain silly ant quite useless. I’d also paint it red with a white roof. JMHO.

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  19. Avatar Wayne

    I like it. I would put a fuel cell in the place the original engine used to sit. (back up against the firewall, naturally. To help with the weight bias a little.)
    And duct the radiator down and out the bottom. With some sheet metal and insulation. You would still have room for a decent amount of luggage. With a little tweaking. I bet you could make this thing handle really well. (adjust the rear (front?) torsion bars down? and Drop spindles on the front. Don’t lower it too far down. Just some more to get the center of gravity less than 3 stories high.) Not to mention it has to ride a ton better than stock with the independent rear (front?) suspension. I assume that the front of the Eldo frame is spliced in place of the Chev truck frame.
    I have actually thought about doing the same mod myself. (can you tell?????)

    Like 0
  20. Avatar GP Member

    There is a lot of old trucks( 100 or so ? ) at a VanDerBrink auction on 9-16-2017 in Gering Nebraska. Lots of trucks and parts.

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  21. Avatar Tyler

    A lot of work went into this. It’s a good execution & pretty unique, but that OBS bed ruins it for me. The box is the same from 55 through 87 with only very minor differences & fenders of course, so not using a correct bed is just lazy.

    All things being equal, I’d rather have a stock truck with a LS swapped into it. But that’s just my opinion…

    Like 0
  22. Avatar Thedieseldoc

    There’s so much wrong with that truck I don’t even know where to start

    Like 0

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