It’s hard to believe that 1975 was 50 years ago. Five decades, gone, poof. Where did all those years go? How many loved ones have gone since then, and how many kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids have been added to the mix? 50 years? I was riding around on my 1974 opaque blue Schwinn Varsity 10-speed, which is the same exact color as this 1975 GMC 1500 Sierra Grande pickup. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Portland, Oregon, and they’re asking $8,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for the tip!
This is one fancy truck, with nice two-tone paint in Skyline Blue and Frost White and white wall tires. GMC referred to this pickup bed as a Wideside, as opposed to their Fenderside bed, commonly called stepside. As with Chevrolet’s naming system of this era, the C trucks were rear-wheel drive, and the K trucks had 4WD. A 1500 is a half-ton truck, and the Sierra Grande was a level above the Sierra.
The seller says this truck has been in the same family since it was purchased brand new. I audibly gasped when I read their description, saying it’s a perfect candidate for an LS swap or a short-bed conversion! NOOO! What? No, why? Why does every vintage vehicle have to be turned into some TV reality show wannabe restomod? Stop it already. I’m somewhat kidding, as I know most readers are into restomods, but make mine original all day long. I don’t want an old vehicle with a modern drivetrain, that doesn’t remind me of the good ol’ days.
There is some faux woodgrain showing up on this Sierra Grande interior, and it appears in outstanding condition inside. The vinyl seat looks close to original, but doesn’t have the trim pieces on the backrest rest so I’m guessing it’s been redone at some point. The third-generation GMC C-series trucks were made from 1973 through 1991, and it’s a good sign that they have a sunshade in the windshield here. I’m a fanatic about using one. Here’s what the bed looks like, and there is a bit of rust bubbling through the paint.
The engine is a rebuilt Chevrolet 350-cu.in. OHV V8, which had around 175 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. They say the Turbo-Hydramatic 350 automatic has also been rebuilt, and it all works as it should, sending power to the rear wheels on this C-Series. Hagerty is at $15,400 for a #3 good-condition truck, so I’m not quite sure why this one is about half that price. Any thoughts on this GMC pickup?
Not everyone follows the old car market like the average BarnFinds reader Scotty. The seller probably thinks that he is doing okay, selling this truck for more than they originally paid for it.
Not everyone follows the old car market like the average BarnFinds reader Scotty. The seller probably thinks that he is doing okay, selling this truck for more than they originally paid for it.
Very nice. I always liked the ’73 to ’80 fromt end sheetmetal and especially two tone paint treatment better than the ’81 and up. I always thought how they did the front fenders was a lot nicer.
Scotty!!! Not only do we both have a ’70 Olds Ninety Eight in common from our past, but we both had Schwinn Varsities. Who knew!! Mine was Sky blue though ( darker than yours). Its rare to come upon a ’70’s vintage Chevy/GMC pickup with no rust and the original owner as well. Very nice.
Upon closer examination, I think this had a manual transmission. You can see the manual trans brake pedal. Maybe Grandpa got tired of shifting?
-Dave
I see a gas, brake, and parking brake pedals…
that small pedal to the far left is the parking brake you can see the release handle above they all had one automatic transmission or stand transmission
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my Jimmy, if it had an automatic, I surely would have kept it. A Sierra GRANDE( whistles), makes my plain Jane look like a pile of puke. Not really, same truck, and nothing particularly fancy about this one, I had the fancy gauge package, dual tanks, and no cruise? Seems people sure order their trucks weird. No A/C, okay, but no P/B, I mean, it was like a $75 option and greatly helped stop a loaded truck, and Dave makes a good point, that is a manual brake pedal, but I doubt it was ever a stick. Maybe unassisted brakes came with that pedal. IDK, I never saw one of these with no P/B. Nice trucks, I think the steam has already faded some, and $8grand is not out of line for a truck like this. Too bad when YOU have one to sell, the $8 grand buyers are few and far between, I was lucky to get $2grand. One thing for sure, this won’t be around long.
You know Howard. You raised a good point. Any Ford, Chevy/GMC, or Dodge pickup I ever saw with manual brakes, also had a manual trans. I’ve never seen one with an automatic. So I don’t know about the brake pedal. The steering column and shifter look correct for an automatic. So if they did convert it they did a nice neat job.
-Dave
Maybe I can help a little with this. My grandfather had a late 70’s GM truck that was 6 cylinder and automatic. However, it was manual brakes and had the small pedal pad like the manual trans trucks did. Notice this truck has manual brakes (no vacuum power booster behind the master cylinder). You didn’t see a huge number of them paired with an automatic trans, but during this era, the GM trucks with no power brakes used the small pedal, regardless of transmission choice.
You are so right, Anything I want to buy is gold plated and worth more money than I’ve ever seen but if I want to sell it, it’s a piece of junk and I should pay someone to haul it away.
Not to sound too picky but the whole truck is so nice, you’d think they’d at least put the correct hub caps on it. And I agree with Dave, if the truck came as an automatic the brake pedal would be centered, not offset to the right leaving room for a clutch pedal. Still a really nice truck though
Bill. 100 percent with you on the correct hub caps. I’ve always liked their design a little better.
sweet ride. i agree with the writer on chopping up perfectly good truck like you’re on tv. i feel the lore of these are driving them the way they were built with minor updates that were like back in the day. i would add a power brake booster and the factory truck rally wheels and loose those hubcaps and some under hood detailing
Link provided takes me to 54 Olds???????????????
Dang, it must have sold, and the seller used the same link to start another listing? That Oldsmobile looks like it’s also located in Kennewick, WA, where this truck is/was. The link under the craigslist one shows the original ad that I always save as a screenshot. I’m guessing it’s the same seller, so you could maybe give them a jingle at the phone number listed in the Olds ad?
Stunning.
I bought a new GMC Sierra Grande heavy half that had the TH350, it had the small brake pedal. Built in Baltimore. So, I don’t believe this truck was any different. An 84 I also bought new had the large brake pedal.
I forgot that they went to the GM Corporate Blue engine paint in 75
What’s going on? I try to comment and a window opens up telling me that I’m blocked; forbidden to participate…
Is that you with the drone, Geo? I don’t remember that pic before, cool.
I’m not sure about being blocked; I’ll ask Jesse about that.
Hi Scotty. This comment didn’t block me but I tried a couple of times before and my whole screen changed telling me that I was forbidden to go any further…
That’s odd. We obviously haven’t blocked you. If it happens again, can you take a screenshot or copy the exact text and email it to us so we can look into it? Thanks!
Hello again, Scotty. Yeah I got a drone and am trying to find the time to learn how to fly it. There’s supposed to be a course coming up that teaches the rudiments of flying/controlling those bad boys. I’ll let you know…
“Why does every vintage vehicle have to be turned into some TV reality show wannabe restomod? Stop it already.” I totally agree. My ’70 C20 is mostly original although it does have a kickazz stereo and a TH700R4 trans. The 350 has been rebuilt. I drive this thing everywhere ~ just got back from a 360 mile trip.
Beautiful truck. Sad that the original buyer didn’t spring the extra sixty bucks or so for power brakes. For fifty years members of this family have lived with left legs larger in diameter than their right legs. The hub caps on it are 1976 and newer style, which in my opinion look a thousand times better than the ’75 and earlier caps.
As for the lack of p/b I had a 79 with no p/b and never had an issue with it. The manual brakes were quite sufficient. On the other hand, adding a booster is a simple and inexpensive process.
The hubcaps are for a four wheel drive. At least the front ones. And the carpet job is terrible.
*Correction. Should read right legs larger than left legs.
Unfortunately, I could see someone buying this and chopping the frame to make a shortbed. Probably put a LS engine in too and do the patina look. All too common.
Kind of an interesting truck. In 1975, when GM shifted its trim option packages, the Sierra Grande, which used to be the top of the line, went to one off the bottom. You got the pile seat covers but only a color-keyed floormat; this carpet was obviously installed much later.
I’m little confused about the dash; the basic Sierra had the black finish on the face while everything above that had the similated brushed aluminum finish. I do admit that I could be wrong; after all it was 50 years ago.
The lack of power brakes indicates that this truck had the basic suspension, which was around 4700 GVW. We ordered all our trucks with the “F-44” package, which eliminated the catalytic converter, offered Power Brakes, included HD shocks, four-bolt mains, exhaust valve rotators, and a 5500 GVW. A lot of the big city dealers ordered trucks with nice trim but cheaped out in the suspension options.
That got frustrating with small town dealerships like ours because the wealthy farmers would buy a new truck on a whim then treat it like a typical farm truck and bring it to us for warranty work…
Chevy engines weren’t painted blue until 77.
Yes, you are absolutely right; GM Corporate Blue was introduced in the fall of ’76 for the ’77 model year. There were a few holdouts though; early productions were Chevy Orange until the actual year, 1977. For example, my Dad bought one of the first ’77 model pickups, just before Christmas of ’76. His had a 454 and that engine was orange.
We sold a ’77 K2500 to a guy in the fall of ’76. That had a 400 SBC and it, too, was orange…
I don’t get the issue of what’s wrong with cutting the truck and putting a modern engine in it. It’s not like it’s a Mona Lisa. It’s an old square body GM truck. I owned several of them when they were current. They were gas hogs, they were slow & on a nice quiet night, you could sit and listen to one of them rust.
I don’t get why anyone would ruin a nice clean long bed truck by cutting it up and making it less useful. I don’t get why someone would turn a reliable truck into something controlled by a computer that’s going to give you problems all the time. Want a short bed? Buy one. Want a computerized truck? They’re for sale every day all over the place.