For the younger readers among us, this is another reminder that we older folks had a much more awesome childhood than you did. This time, we will rub your noses in the fact that we had absolutely awesome TV shows every night. One of these staples of prime-time TV was a show called “The Fall Guy.” This action-packed, stunt-filled show starred Lee Majors, Heather Thomas, and a really cool Squarebody GMC truck. While it is not a GMC, this 1977 Chevrolet Silverado for sale on eBay in scenic Waynesville, North Carolina has the unmistakable look of the TV truck. With bidding currently at $20,100 are folks willing to pay extra to play Fall Guy in real life?
Before the comments section gets flooded with complaints, I want to state upfront that this truck is not exactly like the truck from The Fall Guy. That truck was first a 1980 GMC K25, then a 1982 GMC Sierra Grande K2500. Both of the original trucks featured a lift and large offroad-style tires. Other enhancements were a huge chrome roll bar with off-road lights, an industrial strength brush guard, and a tall CB antenna. There were also a number of hidden features that played on the stunt man theme, such as secret compartments and some sort of air-powered plate that would launch the actors high into the air to jump fences and such.
This played into the whole stuntman theme of the show. Lee Majors played Colt Seavers, who was a Hollywood stuntman. Evidently, stuntman pay wasn’t enough as Seavers had to moonlight as a bounty hunter to make ends meet. He was often joined by his younger cousin Howie and friend Jodie in these adventures. While Heather Thomas’s character Jodie drew in a lot of viewers, it was the truck that was most crucial to the show. Every episode featured the truck driving over, around, and jumping something to catch the bad guys. This kind of TV show was red meat to an early 1980s audience. America was still enthralled with car stunts and stuntmen. That love was fed mainly by the collective work of Hal Needham and his Stunts Unlimited crew. His additional stint as director of the first two Smokey and the Bandit movies and the stuntman-based film Hooper, both with Burt Reynolds, paved the way for The Fall Guy.
Another thing that fanned the flames of these movies and TV shows was the Big Three themselves. Lots of shows were provided cars free of charge to get them in front of TV audiences. This apparently was the case for The Fall Guy until the demand became too great for GM to handle. The wild stunts were totaling trucks left and right until GM cried uncle. Not missing a beat, the studio had a mid-engine version constructed so the truck would land in a somewhat balanced stance instead of the usual nose first crunch. This one was built from a 1977 GMC and has been seen at various car shows. It even made an appearance at our local World of Wheels show a few years ago. It was rough, but still drivable.
This 1977 model is the Chevrolet 1500 version. For both of the folks who are unaware, GMC and Chevrolet pickups are basically the same truck. The GMC may get its own grill on occasion, but the badges are really the only way to tell them apart. This one was a fairly loaded truck, with the camper package, dual fuel tanks, factory air conditioning, and special one-year-only gold inlaid chrome. It is powered by a 400 cubic inch small block and backed up by an automatic transmission. The seller tells us that it has benefitted from one repaint and was garage kept. It has just 64,500 original miles on the odometer, and that is believed to be the true mileage despite it being listed as TMU.
It has been enhanced with a 6″ Sky Jacker lift kit, Indy mag wheels, and sports a new set of “Super Swamper” tires. The exhaust runs through a set of dual glass pack mufflers, and it is driven daily. The picture above shows the underside to be in great shape or at least the recent recipient of a rattle can refresh. The interior is also in excellent shape. Overall, the truck seems to present well and is mechanically sound. Overall, this truck is not just a reminder of a TV show. The bidding is evidence of just how strong the Squarebody market is right now. The question is what it will top out at. While it just kind of looks like a Fall Guy truck, it does bring back memories of a simpler time when entertainment was not so complicated and nuanced. Too bad we will likely never see such a great era of entertainment again. Do you remember The Fall Guy TV show? What were some of your favorite shows from the era? Let us know your choices and why in the comments.
Nice write up on the Fall Guy trucks. Here is a lightened, cleaner picture of the mid engine GMC mentioned…
Wow, someone decided to park it in a nice spot for pictures. A+
Usually sellers leave trucks half sunk in a back yard mud pit with a shredded 30 year old tarp wadded up against it, window open to ruin the interior, air cleaner & cam cover removed to make sure dirt gets into the motor and a pile of stuff in the bed that absorbs a ton of water to guarantee a year round source of wetness for rust.
This brings on a bit of deja vue. My truck was a ’79 but I liked the color scheme so I ordered it that way. I see this truck suffers the same thing that so many GM trucks had back in the day: collapsing rear cab mounts. It seemed that every truck we sold had to have new mounts before they reached five years or 100K miles. Back then every second person had to lift his truck. The smaller the stature of the owner, the higher he wanted his truck lifted. That CV U-joint in the front drive shaft suffered the worst. And mine, in original stance, went 300K miles. Probably the best truck I ever had…
Bought a new 3/4 ton exactly like this in 1977 but all “Cordova Brown” no tan, same engine interior etc…1977 was the only year Chevy produced the gold color inside the side chrome molding. It was stunning with the Brown. $6200.00 in 1977 was huge. I thought my Dad would kill me when he heard that number. I had just turned 20. Yes young guys, we were cool!
My dad had a 77 Chevy. Back then they came with full time 4×4. My dad’s was junk , never worked right ! The locking lever wouldn’t lock in 4×4 and if you were lucky in the snow you might get a front and rear tire turning at the same time ! Many times you got just one tire ! Either a front one and NO others or a back one and no others ! The dealer never could get it to work right so my dad drove it for a year without passing on it before they finally came n got it. (It was a lease).
I know this is dumb to ask, but here goes. Don’t tires of this type and similar ones with real aggressive tread really hurt mileage? I know people don’t install them for this reason; but I’ve always thought when you can hear tires growl at high speeds on hard surface roads that its a good indicator of how mileage is affected
When a person has a truck like this they generally don’t care about that problem. I know I don’t.
Never stupid to want to learn.
The aggressive tread makes a difference in mileage, but most of it is the extra size and weight of the tire/rim….. Here’s an extreme example: I used to run tractor tires on an old f100. Try rolling the tire uphill by hand, compared to a stock tire. 400+ lbs per tire vs about 40-50 lbs. This is compounded by the fact that it’s rotating weight, which is more of an impact to mileage and power than adding the weight elsewhere.
If you choose to do this to a truck, it’s pointless to go bigger than 33’s if you care about mileage. My current toy(2500 Chevy) is on 37’s, and gets 6-8 mpg on a good day. That old Ford used to get 3 mpg at best.
Beautiful pickup truck
Paul N I’ve probably most everything. From mild to wild. With my 79 F250 and a mildly built engine I got 15 mpg on the highway with 35″ tall groundhogs. That truck new came with 12ply highway tread about 29-30″ tall and a 300 six cyl. I was lucky to get 9-10mpg. This truck had 4.10 gears and was 4×4. Since that time I’ve ran mud n snows and AT tires one several other trucks. I think the mileage depends more on how much air your running and type of rubber or belting the tire is. Radial vs bias ply. More aggressive the faster they wear (sometimes). Best miles on a tire I ever got were Dakota AT tires. (They don’t make anymore). My mpg with those seemed about average. I think most mileage effects are only minorly measurable. I look for some traction with better wear
A-Team, Knight Rider and Dukes of Hazzard are 3 shows that come to mind that I watched along with Fall Guy.
The featured truck looks amazing for its age.
I had a 1978 Chevy Pickup, 350 4 barrel.
Many “sports cars” were surprised to see my taillights after taking off from a stop light. I loved that truck. Motor was still good after the body started falling apart.
Another trip down Memory Lane!
Long bed trucks and 4 door cars belong those who don’t know really how nice a short bed truck and most two door cars really are.
I used to like that show a lot. I don’t have a truck like that but I have The Fall Guy lunchbox… it’s a lot more affordable.
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