This 1978 GMC Sierra Grande has a great story – so great, in fact, the truck goes by the name of Virgil, a shout out to its long-term owner. The GMC is the “Heavy Half” model, which is the less often seen trim that is effectively the same as Chevy’s “Big 10” moniker in terms of purpose. We’ve talked that marketing strategy to death, so no need to rehash it here – let’s just focus on what an incredible survivor this truck is. The seller notes that it has just over 107,000 original miles and that the numbers-matching 350 runs swell, along with its TH350 automatic transmission. The truck has lived in the dry, western states all of its life and wears mostly original paint. Find it here on craigslist with an asking price of $12,500.

The paint is imperfect, but that’s sort of the point. This truck has been used but not abused, and after being purchased new in Colorado, it went onto Montana and now to Wyoming. To say this truck has lived in some of the friendliest states for vintage sheetmetal is an understatement. The Mariner Blue over Light Blue two-tone paint job still presents quite well, and the only paintwork to the seller’s knowledge occurred on the hood, which was replaced and repainted. The seller mentions that the clearcoat is fading out in places and that it has obviously lost the battle to the elements on the tailgate, but these are minor gripes. The original wheels present well, and the seller has installed fresh rubber. The bed cap is a perfect complement to an old working girl like this.

The interior is in outstanding condition for an unrestored truck, with clear gauges, clean rubber floor liner, and nicely preserved door panels. The seller notes that green shag carpeting placed over the floor liner is what helped keep it in outstanding condition, and while the blanket over the bench seat is hiding some seam splits, there’s no major damage to report – you can definitely live with it for a few years. The dash features some fake woodgrain that still looks good, and it appears to have an uncracked pad up top. Even the pedals show surprisingly little wear, and I’d wager the emergency brake was rarely used. It would also seem the GMC didn’t spend much time baking in the sun given the colors of the surfaces don’t show much in the way of fading.

The chrome bumpers are excellent and the original grill doesn’t appear to have taken too many rock hits. The seller notes the truck runs strong, and that they’ve performed a basic tune-up and fluid changes. There are some minor rust spots but nothing major, with isolated spots on the body showing some very modest rust spots. Rubber and plastic materials are still soft to the touch, courtesy of years’ of garage storage. Sadly, the original “Heavy Half” decals were removed ages ago, which is something you certainly wouldn’t do now! This GMC seems quite fairly priced for being such a nicely preserved survivor, and I doubt it will be for sale much longer.