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Fire And Rescue: 1970 Chevy Suburban

Fire Rescue 1970 Chevy Suburban

These old municipal vehicles seems to keep popping up, and in different colors no less. This 1970 Chevy Suburban has a history as a fire and rescue vehicle, complete with graphics still on the door and lights and sirens on the roof. Listed here on eBay with a Buy-it-Now of $8,500, it looks like a solid entry into ex-municipal car ownership. 

suburban5

There’s only 103,000 miles on the ‘Burban and the interior seems to back that up. Or, perhaps the bench seat has been re-covered. Either way, it looks pretty clean to me. Also still present are the original controls used for what I’d assume to be radio communications and a PA system.

suburban3

The seller mentions this is the high-nickel 350, which I had to look up to see what the significance was. Turns out Chevy produced some of its engines with higher nickel content, which in turns adds hardness to the iron alloy – and that leads to potentially greater durability.

1970 Chevy Suburban

Out back, the remnants of additional badges from its days on the force are present; the paint appears to be in fair, if not good, condition all the way around. Its location in California potentially means dry storage and the low mileage says limited use; that seems like a potential win-win to me. What do you think?

Comments

  1. Avatar ydnar

    Ghostbusters new ride? I like it.

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  2. Avatar MountainMan

    Nice old Burb, looks like its in good shape. The $8,500 ask is more than I would hope to shell out for a truck like this but there are surely folks with more dollars than me who may feel differently. Is that price the norm? I guess maybe the fire dept ownership adds value for some folks but I would think this is a $5k-$6k vehicle at most. Anybody out there recently buy or sell one of these? Just wondering if they are actually selling for this money or what

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  3. Avatar JW

    I don’t know if the Fire & Rescue adds value but IMO these old 67 to 72 Suburban’s are quite the collector items for truck enthusiasts. I would think $8500 is at the top of the price range but being a California rust free body who knows what the market would command on such a vehicle. It does seem to have lock out hubs on front so it should be a 4 wheel drive but in the ad it states RWD, that would also effect value.

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  4. Avatar krash

    ….This would be a great ride for Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky if the Banana Splits ever made a comeback….

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  5. Avatar Steve

    I think it’s a fair price at 6-7 g if it’s four wheel drive.

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  6. Avatar racer99

    It would make an awesome tow rig — a bit pricey for that but the owner is taking offers so who knows?

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  7. Avatar Arthur

    It is 2WD. There is no 4WD shift lever in the floor and the stance is typical of 2WD. As far as price, I believe this is a fair price as long as it mechanically checks out. A California solid truck of this vintage is a rare piece and I have seen trucks with rust priced in the 5K to 6K range.

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  8. Avatar Arthur

    I didn’t edit in time. There does appear to be rust on the drivers side rocker panel and lower door. I’ll withdraw my statement above on price, without looking at the extent of the rust I’m not throwing out numbers.

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  9. Avatar Peter R

    Assuming the third door still works, I’d like to move the barrier wall back far enough to install a second bench seat. No mention of the rare factory air and if it works – definitely a bonus on these vehicles. I agree with others that it is a $5-6K value if the rust is not too extensive. I’d use it to haul my boat and stuff for the cottage. Lots of room and somewhat unique in yellow. Clearly I like it

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  10. Avatar Bill

    I love these ‘burbans This one is a whole kinda cool, if you could hire Desoto and Gauge to help you load the patient in the back it would be a total win. If I had the dosh I’d be driving it home this weekend.

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  11. Avatar Mike

    I have bought a few Old County and City rigs before sometime you get something good, sometimes junk. I am currently using some old Missouri Natural Gas vans for parts delivery trucks, got a good buy on them, as long as you don’t mind driving around in a bright Yellow van. A few years ago they switched to White Chevy Vans, I am looking into them, but they get picked up quick around by used car dealers out of Arkansas for some reason.

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  12. Avatar van

    Don’t change a thing
    Just put logo on the sides
    Zombie response vehicle
    Run for your life

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  13. Avatar Doug

    I bought a 72 in the late nineties($1200.00) and drove it til 03, 69000 miles, front and rear air, front and rear heat, two wheel drive 33/1250s on 8 inch rally’s. I loved that truck. I wish I had it today.

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  14. Avatar Skip

    I think that $8500 is a ridiculous price for this old truck. Still looks decent but not that decent!

    During the last couple of years of my standby ambulance service I bought a very nice 1970 high top Suburban ambulance from the small town of Tatum, NM for $750. It ran great but we had to replace the tranny. During a time when I was hospitalized c.1989 the truck was stolen while still fully equipped, and has never turned up. I suspect it went across the border. I still have title to it.

    Another good deal I got on a Suburban ambulance was in 1981 when I bought a ’71 low top Suburban fully equipped from a predominantly black funeral home in Dallas. It still had the lights and siren on top and I got it for a whopping $500! It became our workhorse and stayed in service until 1989, when anything that could go wrong, did. My volunteer fire chief had his own mechanic shop, so he pulled the tranny and engine. The tranny went into the ’70 high top, which kept it going before it was stolen. We also had one other ’70 Suburban, this one with the regular roof line. It came from an ambulance service in Amarillo and cost us $250. It was in service from 1980-86. There should still be some good deals out there….somewhere.

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