Black Gold: 1966 Chevrolet C20 283 V8 4-Speed

According to the seller, and the paint number (525) on the door data plate, this 1966 Chevrolet C20 was originally Saddle in color, which the seller refers to as gold. They have this flat black Chevy 3/4-ton pickup posted here on craigslist in Madera, California, and they’re asking $11,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Jack M. for the tip!

That took about a half hour to research that color, trying to decipher the small, pixelated color code, finding several color charts with similar colors but not quite the exact one, etc. I don’t know if anyone cares about vehicle colors, but it’s a challenge for me. Since I don’t make a living doing this, it’s fun to try to figure these things out even if I end up making $5 an hour. In case you wondered why I always spend so much time trying to figure out vehicle colors, interior fabrics, options, etc. One thing I will never, ever, ever, ever figure out is why anyone on planet Earth would take #$% vertical photos of a horizontal vehicle. Give me Aerospace engineering or any other easy subject. Taking vertical photos of a horizontal vehicle – that’s a tough one to figure out.

This is a first-generation C-series 3/4-ton truck with a regular-length Fleetside bed, and they were made for model years 1960 through 1966. It just looks like an old truck to me, which is a good thing, but I didn’t expect to read that it has power steering and power brakes! Fancy. This is the only (vertical) (not bitter) photo showing inside the bed. We’ve only seen two 1966 Chevrolet C20 pickups on Barn Finds over the years, weird.

With really small photos, it’s hard to tell what’s going on, condition-wise, but it looks pretty good inside. There are some dents, dings, and rust holes outside, but far fewer than there should be for a six-decade-old pickup, and it looks solid underneath in this one photo. The coolest part inside, other than having power steering, is that shift lever with the extra-long boot. This truck has a 4-speed manual. Here’s a 1966 Chevrolet pickup brochure, and another one.

There wasn’t an overall engine photo, so I combined two of the vertical photos here. I didn’t expect to see headers, cool! That’s Chevy’s 283-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been rated at 160 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque when new. The headers add a bit, and we don’t know what other modifications have been done, but they say this truck is mostly original, it’s been in California since day one, and it starts and runs well. They also say it’s “tired” and smokes a bit, which sounds like half the Barn Finds crew. Just kidding. How much is this truck worth with some rust and a tired 283? Is $11,000 a reasonable price?