Have you ever looked at a vehicle from a distance and said, “Man, I hope it looks as good up close as it does from far away?” That’s the reaction you may have with this “custom” convertible conversion involving a 1984 Chevrolet S10 pickup that actually presents pretty well as a drop-top, but is still likely pretty far away from ever being considered a professional conversion. Still, for short money and the fun of a V6/manual driver, this could be a hoot to use this summer if you don’t mind the lack of refinement. Find the S10 convertible lhere on eBay for $4,995 or best offer.
Now, we have all seen plenty of backyard convertible conversions by now, along with numerous other “custom” jobs. One of my favorites from my youth was a guy who filled in the body lines around the rear doors of a sedan and called it a “coupe.” It may have been well done, but I couldn’t believe how many props the owner got for what was still the same length of a sedan, had the same interior of a sedan, and otherwise was still a sedan, except it lost the convenience of having functional rear doors. This S10 is more honest in its presentation: it’s a pickup truck and we cut the roof off. Done. And we added a garish rear spoiler (that thing would be removed before I even brought it home.)
The closer you look, the more you see the signs that this is very much a home-brew job. But there are some details that point to some level of planning, like the black plastic caps on top of where the exposed bodywork would otherwise be where the cab roof was cut (at least, that’s my assumption – I couldn’t find any templates for the S10 convertible package in the GM archives.) The interior being in shambles doesn’t help with the confidence that this was done to a high level, but I have a feeling if the door panels were mint and the upholstery was redone, this S10 would present much differently.
Perhaps the best feature here is the optional V6 with the manual transmission. This would be a fun truck even without the curious conversion, but if someone were to fashion a decent softtop design so it could at least be watertight, this S10 would be a welcome addition to any minitruck show or even the white-hot Radwood segment. While it’s clearly a project and raises all sorts of questions about the integrity of the work, it could be worth a gamble given the asking price if you’re looking for a fun beach cruiser that won’t break the bank and leaves some room for improvements.
It looks good . My first thought was structural integrity . That coupled with no seat belts make this a death trap .
Yeah … my brother and his bud went together and bought a “hooptie” back in the mid-80s and cut the top off, removed the doors … they put chain-link fence posts in place of the doors so they wouldn’t fall out … but it would bend” in the middle – you could see it undulate when the drove it over the old gravel roads … they had a great time for a while until they eventually got a ticket for “unsafe vehicle” and had to scrap it … the stupid stuff we did back then …
This being a full ladder frame, at least it won’t fold like a taco when you open both doors.
It’s not one of a kind, the 84 has been “sport convertibled” so much its often thought of as an actual model. Been building these things 30 years, seen a handful in person so rare indeed, but in talking, S10 guys know what you mean when you say have you ever seen an 84 sport….” and usually finish your sentence
Too bad the garish rear spoiler couldn’t be moved to just behind the cab to create some sort of roll bar. Undoubtedly it is nothing more than a useless piece of fiberglass and could not serve as a roll bar. So yes loose the spoiler and add a functional roll bar both for the purposes of safety and appearance.
Those caps are from a company that made kits to do this conversion. I had a Ranger with same kit at one time. It did come with floor mount seatbelts and a metal plate to stiffen below cut and above the windshield
Sadly most didnt intall thebcomplete kit. Mine was watertight as i drove it through northern Wis winters as well. Not very practical but cheap fun
This thing would fold in half hitting a dip in the road at speed. Why do people do this?
Convertible bodies and chassis are engineered with a number of structural upgrades to maintain that structural integrity because of the lack of a roof
Cutting off the roof on a pickup is no problem, the cab and bed are separate items and designed that way. Cutting off roof an a car is different, car is one unit front to back and losing the roof is definitely an issue without additional bracing!
As already mentioned, it has a full frame, how is it going to bend?
Those were kits offered by a company out west that’s why the nice abs caps over the cuts came with or without a soft top or the pieces to reuse the hard top or even a custom fiberglass roof a bit shakey to drive through alotta fun
Liking the factory Dakota convertible better.
I have two of them…
These kits were popular in my area back in the 80’s. We had Mazdas, S10’s, Nissan’s etc. They definitely lacked structural integrity.
Cutting off the roof on a pickup is no problem, the cab and bed are separate items and designed that way. Cutting off roof an a car is different, car is one unit front to back and losing the roof is definitely an issue without additional bracing!
Why am I seeing an ad in this comment section?
Say what you want but it sold, seller has other vehicles listed.
It’s not a convertible if the roof can’t be reattached – it’s an open roadster.
What ever it is, there are more of them. There is a yellow one I pass regularly and a red one that often spends its day at the beach. Refined? No. Reliable? Apparently.
just got 1 in the shop. Fella couldn’t tune up the monster motor. No bed on back.
Didn’t realize there were after mrkt trims’n such.
Agreed: vert or rag top needed. Got 1/2 cab, vert & wagon top for my bronk. This might look like a blazer or sompin w/wagon top. But needs soft top round here (right coast).
just got 1 in the shop. Fella couldn’t tune up the monster motor. No bed on back.
Didn’t realize there were after mrkt trims’n such.
Agreed: vert or rag top needed. Got 1/2 cab, vert & wagon top for my bronk. This might look like a blazer or sompin w/wagon top. But needs soft top round here (right coast).
just got 1 in the shop. Fella couldn’t tune up the monster motor. No bed on back.
Didn’t realize there were after mrkt trims’n such.
Agreed: vert or rag top needed. Got 1/2 cab, vert & wagon top for my bronk. This might look like a blazer or sompin w/wagon top. But needs soft top round here (right coast).
just got 1 in the shop. Fella couldn’t tune up the monster motor. No bed on back.
Didn’t realize there were after mrkt trims’n such.
Agreed: vert or rag top needed. Got 1/2 cab, vert & wagon top for my bronk. This might look like a blazer or sompin w/wagon top. But needs soft top round here (right coast).
just got 1 in the shop. Fella couldn’t tune up the monster motor. No bed on back.
Didn’t realize there were after mrkt trims’n such.
Agreed: vert or rag top needed. Got 1/2 cab, vert & wagon top for my bronk. This might look like a blazer or sompin w/wagon top. But needs soft top round here (right coast).
We get it, Chris!
Yikes. I bet this mess shakes and shimmies going down the road worse than “Charro” on a bar top!
There is no mention of the Top , We’re is the top ? The guys use to do this to there trucks in the 80’s and they would remove the top and put it back on in bad weather … I think it looks Great and not a bad Price .