“All you need is love”.. or LUV is more like it. This 1980 Chevrolet LUV Mikado 4×4 pickup needs a little love but it’ll give back just as much as the third owner puts into it. This one is listed on eBay with one bid of $2,000 and it’s located in Troy, Montana.
Most of us know that LUV stands for Light Utility Vehicle and they were rebadged Isuzu Faster pickups. This example has had only two owners in the last 38 years and it appears to be in fairly good condition with just 85,000 miles on it.
This is the last year of the first-generation LUV and it also has the Mikado package which was more of an upgraded interior package with nicer seats and gauges and a few other things. The seller says that this one has minor rust but that it’s easily repairable. Those wheels sure look small.
A 4×4 option was available starting in 1979 and Motor Trend named it their truck of the year. You can see that the interior needs a lot of help with almost everything needing restoration and/or replacement. The dash is about as cracked as any that I’ve seen but as a good running 4×4 this one has to be worth saving. Have any of you owned a Chevy LUV 4×4?
Does anyone else see a sharknose BMW pickup truck?
As I was looking at the design on this, which I’ve never really done before, it occurred to me these are sharp looking trucks. The cab has a sportiness, that gets a bit lost with the box… I have a new appreciation for the LUV. Thank you Scotty.
I had a Luv, very uncomfortable very cramped inside however I did do a round trip in it from Kansas to south of Tampa Florida in it fully loaded in the back and it never missed a lick!
As a kid, I arbitrarily decided that the LUV was the most desirable of the mini pickups available in the mid 70s. Not sure why at this point, perhaps the distinctive styling and the Chevy name (we were pretty much a GM family). The intro of the 4×4 model just served to confirm it. But in ’81 I bought a Toyota pickup instead.
Had a ’78 LUV long bed. Great truck, good gas mileage, hauled a lot of crap, and even tracked well in the snow. Had to do a head gasket, and the tranny broke – replaced with a 5 speed from a sedan. Nice upgrade. Then it succumbed to NY salt, and I passed it on while I could.
I worked for a Chevy dealership in ’73, and they had one that parts, service and body shop used. We drove the slop out of it! I loved it! I wanted to buy one! A man had wrecked his, the body shop repaired it. He drove it home, and the temp light came on. It was towed back in, checked out, and someone had failed to replace the coolant. They did, and as far as I know, it ran ok from then on. A very base base truck, but trucks back then weren’t built to be comfort trucks like they are now.
I have this same truck, 1980 luv Mikado 4 x 4. Looking for someone who has been stockpiling original parts. Mine had been “upgraded” and the whole EGR system under the hood was removed…. Been looking for 3 years for an original carburetor and air cleaner system….and window cranks that aren’t broken at the ends.. Any leads would be so cool … Hopefully I can leave my email….momandoj@gmail.com, I’m Rachel and I luv my luv