- Seller: Mike K (Contact)
- Location: Payson, Arizona
- Mileage: 86,729 Shown
- Chassis #: 1GTDC14D7BF704384
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 250cui Inline-6
- Transmission: Automatic
I remember an old Steve Martin comedy bit where he was trying to speak French, and he finally said, “Boy, those French, they have a different word for everything.” That’s like pickup makers and how they named their truck beds. This 1981 GMC C1500 Sierra has what GMC referred to as a “Wideside” bed. This “Carmine” (burgundy) truck is located in beautiful Payson, Arizona, and the seller has it listed here as a Barn Finds Auction!
I guess paint colors are similar to box or bed style names; every manufacturer has a different name for burgundy. I believe this one is Carmine. I’m not sure what the missing paint is from on the passenger door, and there are a few scratches and nicks here and there. We see many more Chevrolet pickups from this era than GMCs, and it’s nice to see one from the fancy side of the assembly line floor. The badges on the rear bottom sides of the cab, where the white top meets the burgundy paint, say GMC, but for a Camper Special, I believe they would show a graphic of a pitched tent, so I’m not sure about this one being a Camper Special. I understood that the Camper Special trim package was only available on the 3/4 and 1-ton pickups, not the 1/2-ton, as with this C1500. The Sierra trim received this cool black inset grille and single rectangular headlights on each side.
The seller says this C1500 is wearing its original paint, and it looks really nice to me. I don’t even mind the passenger door fading, and there’s a bit of fading, as expected, on top of the hood. Please check out the seller’s photos to see inside the topper/cap/shell. That bed floor looks nice and shiny, almost like new. They say this truck has 86,729 miles and has been in storage for years, so that probably accounts for its nice cosmetic condition. Chevrolet referred to their full box/bed as Fleetside, whereas GMC called them Wideside. The Chevy Stepside bed was the same as GMC’s Fenderside bed.
GMC and Chevrolet offered the third-generation C/K-Series pickups from 1972 for the 1973 model year until the end of 1991 in North America. The Sierra trim “striped vinyl” seat looks nicer than it should for an original Arizona seat cover, so that’s nice. I don’t see any glaring issues inside, other than a couple of small cracks in the top of the dash from the relentless sun, and a small crack on the passenger side of the windshield. The door panels show some fading, but I’m betting those could be restored or repainted in an interior paint to match the factory color.
The standard engine for the half-ton pickups was a 250-cu.in. OHV inline-six engine. This one also has power steering and power brakes, along with an automatic transmission, so it should be almost as easy to drive as your modern vehicle, albeit with a bit less power. It should have 130 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque. They say it runs and drives, with new tires, but could use some dialing in after being in storage. For a nice, all-around pickup for weekends and show duty, it would be hard to go wrong with this GMC C1500 Sierra. Please check out the photos and get your bids in on this Barn Finds Auction!
Bid On This Auction
Steve bid $6,350.00 2026-03-04 10:28:16
Reo bid $6,250.00 2026-03-03 09:34:21
CMAC bid $6,000.00 2026-02-28 18:43:17- Steve bid $5,000.00 2026-02-28 11:53:26
stillrunners bid $700.00 2026-02-26 18:32:12
Tom bid $600.00 2026-02-26 11:01:29- Steve bid $500.00 2026-02-26 09:38:47
So is it Mississippi or Arizona?
Rt, I’m not sure where Mississippi came from, there isn’t a Payson, MS. Hmmm…
Mississippi is where this truck was bought new…..guess now it’s in AZ.
Arizona
Arizona
Nice simple truck to work on. It even has A/C.
Reminds me of my dad’s ’79 except this one is downright luxurious – dad’s had 3 on the tree, no a/c, and was blue without a contrasting roof. Up north, it rusted like it was an Olympic sport.
Wow. I had an ’84 that I bought in ’93 with 14000 original miles from the original owners estate for $1000. 250 straight 6 THM350 C ( had the torque converter lockup). Base Custom Deluxe model ( just like the Sierra in GMC talk). While you wont win any drag races with the 250, it has torque, and the torque is whats going to move you along. It had highway gears in it maybe 2:73(?) This one is kind of fancy with the two tone roof and cap. It just looks like an honest old commuter work truck. That I’d be more than happy to have.
Dealer in Hattiesburg, MS so probably a typo on the town or a wide spot in the road. Honestly, I would love this truck as is.
Buy it, fly to Arizona and drive it home
Bidding on it but does have a reserve…..
Payson AZ has a Indian Ruins to visit. Twas a great road trip vacation for my wife and daughter 20 years ago. Like Pinky and the Brain. “What are we gonna see today mom? Indian Ruins”
This truck would’ve been perfect.
Would love to bid on this because it is perfect for me. But the logistics of flying to Phoenix, renting a car to Payson, and hoping to drive it back home
Reach out to the seller see if they will drive it to the airport area then you don’t need a uber or rental car
Arizona?!?!??!? I thought it was in Mississippi? Well, that lets me out…
This is NOT a “camper special”. I worked on these trucks as a mechanic for a Chevy dealership back in the early 80’s. I only saw the “camper special” on a few 30 series trucks. You could tell them by the “teepee” emblem on either side of the cab, behind the doors, up around window level, where the “GMC” emblem is on this one and the rear sway bar. If it could be had on the 20 series, I never saw one.
Unless I missed it, there is no mention, if the A/C is working or not. Nice old work truck that’s easy to work on and will outlast the next owner, if they treat it right.
I think you’re 100% correct, sir. I mentioned the very cool tent emblems in the second paragraph, and this one isn’t wearing them. Thanks for the confirmation on that!
Nice truck, personally I would get rid of the canopy at least on this rig you can open the hood and understand what you are looking at without all that computer junk
I had an 81 with 6cylender this is the integral head meaning intake is built into head and they tend to Crack and create vacuum leaks. I put a v8 350 in mine.