Wow. Wow! This 1973 Chevrolet C10 Cheyenne pickup is.. wow! It’s one amazing truck. This museum-quality example can be found here on craigslist, or here on the CL archive, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The seller knows what they have and it’s priced accordingly at $22,500. Thanks to B. Walters for tracking down this incredible truck!
Before any of you light the torches and sharpen up the pitchforks, which usually happens with vehicles such as this with an asking price like this one has, this truck is special. This beautiful example is a “Real deal, 9,000 mile ’73 Chevy Cheyenne. Documented California truck with original papers and blue tags.” So, no, it isn’t from Pennsylvania and no it doesn’t have any rust on it. And, yes, that asking price is in line with what Hagerty lists as a value. How does the underside look, SG? Check out this photo – it looks great!
This truck is in amazing condition as you can imagine given the asking price. It doesn’t have 109,000 miles on it, again, put down those pitchforks and torches! Just because a seller is asking what may seem like a high price to many of you, the value experts puts this truck right where it is, price-wise. We have seen many examples of similar shortbox C-series GM pickups here and our friend Rube Goldberg snagged a similar truck recently, although not in this condition. To say that these third-generation square-body GM pickups are hot right now is an understatement. Check out the photos of this rig and I think you’ll agree that this is probably the nicest original example in the U.S.
This truck has a three on the tree manual and there aren’t any visible flaws or signs of wear anywhere inside this Cheyenne pickup that I can see. It looks perfect. Believe it or not, this truck has working AC! From the seller, “working factory air conditioning, all original including paint”. The Cheyenne was one level below the top trim Cheyenne Super for 1973.
The seller doesn’t mention what the engine is but it is a 350 V8. By 1973 the horsepower was down to 155 hp. The engine looks as clean as everything else does on this museum-quality C10 Cheyenne and the price is right on the money according to Hagerty. Have any of you seen such a nice example? I have not, at least since 1973.
Nice truck. I can’t see $22,500, but could see it move in the mid to high-teens, if it is as clean as described. I’d use it as a platform for a project with an upgraded drivetrain and better suspension. The condition of the paint/body and interior will justify the higher price due to the savings of time and money on the back end.
Thanks for highlighting this truck.
Steve R
I can see $22,500 all day long!
Buy the nicest truck for the money!
In this case leave it alone! The value is in its originality!
http://www.SergesAutoSales.com
Very good analysis Steve, on point as far as I am concerned. Update drivetrain with AC, disc brakes nice suspension set up and last but not least a nice set of wheels nothing crazy on the wheels but complementary, also I would keep the 3 on the tree! (I was driving one a while back and people find that so interesting lol)
great truck. Strange to order the 3/tree with such a highly optioned pickup. Too bad it left CA to go all the way to Scranton. Pretty sure it is a flipper dealer.
MANUAL disc brakes too!
Here she is on the flipper dealers website: https://sergesautosales.com/2018/04/27/1973-chevy-cheyenne-8k-orig-miles-2/
350 emblem in grille.
Boom! Nice work, sir! Thanks much.
No prob,don’t know why it double posted. Delete one if you will.
Wow, thanks SG, I’m feeling better and better about this. Obviously, mine isn’t near this nice, but I still doubt the 9,000 miles. It clearly doesn’t have 109, but very nice just the same. It is oddly optioned, pretty fancy truck, V8, A/C, carpeting, and then 3 on the tree and non-assisted brakes. I’ve been driving my GMC around, and one has to remember, it’s a 40+ year old truck. Aside from my GW, I haven’t had a carburetor in years, takes some getting used to, especially the 12 mpg it gets. Nice truck, but like most of the”finds” here, I can say from experience in looking for these, it’s grossly overpriced.
You know, it’s interesting, the non-assisted brakes. I think it was 1975 when GM introduced the F-44 package, which consisted of: heavy duty suspension; engine with 4-bolt mains; exhaust valve rotators; power steering and power brakes. For a limited time (until 01/01/79) you could even avoid a catalytic converter when you ordered that package. Most customers liked that and had no problems anteing up. 3/4 ton trucks had come std. with power steering and brakes pretty much since the introduction of the square-bodies. We still had some old school customers who chafed at the idea of power brakes. I remember one customer in particular who bought a new ’76 GMC 2500, and he pissed and moaned incessantly over the power steering and brakes, and how he did NOT need those luxuries on a farm truck!!! Of course he was so bloody cheap he could squeeze a penny till Lincoln’s eyes popped out….
I think you are right about the 109, the clutch pedal has more wear than 9K.
Flip logic, buy truck for $12K in CA, take it to PA and ask $22K
Why would anybody put this in a museum?
It sure wouldn’t go into a museum if it was my truck. It would be preserved and enjoyed. What I mean is that a lot of the time it would be used as a truck was intended. Coming back from a swap meet with a flathead V-8 in the back would just clinch what it was made to do. I’m not a lover of a 3 spd. manual in a pickup but I sure wouldn’t try to change it with anything else. I’d love to buy this truck but someone else is going to luck out here. Enjoy.
Is the 3 speed manual transmission really more desirable than the Turbo 350 auto transmission in this particular case?
Being a ’73, this could have been ordered by some old guy, who grew up shifting a 3 speed on the column. For some, old habits die hard. Wiki claims the last 3 speed on the column was offered by Ford in 1986. While I don’t care for a manual, my truck has the 4 speed ( SM465?) and it’s a lot more civilized than rowing a shift lever half way around the steering wheel.
I have an 86′ C10 with 3 on the tree and a 305 V8.
I’ve had about 20 of these trucks and I got 20 recalls from General Motors to move the gas tank. And it’s hagerty’s price. Tired of their price game
There has never been a recall on these trucks. There was a settlement that included GM passing out some vouchers towards a new GM vehicle, but there has never been a recall to move the tank.
When my parents would go out-of-town, I’d take out my Dads ’72 Camper Special. Reach under the dash, unscrew the odometer cable and away I’d go. Until that one time I didn’t quite get it re-connected…busted.
Been there…also got caught doing that
Genius! Lemme guess, you watered down the booze as well to bring it up to the “mark” on the label, LOL.
Dad did not find out about the speedo thing, but he drank all his booze on the rocks and he caught us on that one. We did not get the truck for 4 weeks and we had to buy him 2 new bottles of booze and he locked all the booze in the bottom drawer of his file cabinet. We were smart enough after that, to get our booze from other sources, which was easy to do in 1974. Oh, the good old days, 48 cent a gallon gas and used cars for $150 to $500.
Didn’t know it was that easily done.
I did the disconnected odometer thing also, my Dad never found out. Dad would give me and my younger brother $20 each on Friday nite and tell us we could only go to the pool hall 6 miles from home and back. So, we went to the pool hall for two hours, because one time Dad left his wallet in the truck glove box and showed up there to get it. He always carried a money clip and never put cash in his wallet. You also, must remember to top off the fuel tank so the fuel gage was reading the same as when Dad brought the truck home from work on Friday.
My Dad’s had a granny 1st gear and it was only good for pulling tree stumps, lol. You had to always start in 2nd or you could get whiplash and you were shifting to 2nd at 8 miles per hour any way, what a waste.
With the arrival of the 2019 models, RAM is blowing out pricing on 2018 models.
Why is this relevant? With some careful shopping, you can buy a regular cab RAM1500 for $25k.
If you want to do truck things, the RAM makes a lot more sense than this C-10. The C-10 is so pretty that you wouldn’t want to do truck things with it.
3 on the tree? BLAH!
Bajorek: I agree with you. But I just think its because we have gotten away from them. All of the older trucks were 3’s on the floor and Dad tells me neighbors would come and gawk when the 3 on the trees came out. I had a 1951 Ford F-1 with 3 on the tree, as well as 1958 Ford style side short wide with a 292 and 3 out on the limb. The were fun to drive and shifted so much smoother than the 3 or 4 on the floor. There were plenty of those of the same vintage, but they were clunky to shift. At my age I would prefer an auto, but if I had this one, I would just adapt. I think it it over priced by $5K, but I have never payed retail. I just can’t do it. (Okay there has been a time or two that I was off on the value of the car and my wholesale price turned out to not be so wholesale.)
If this truck is the real deal, and I think it just might be, I think the price is OK, in fact it might be a very good buy. Look at the price of older trucks, and the nice ones are 25K plus.
With only 9k miles, why would it have a modern dual exhaust system… gotta wonder!
Love this. A perfect throwback.
But why would you spend 25k on it, unless you were going to store it for a few years and hope someone else give you 30k down the road?
I’m having a problem with this truck. I believe the inside of the bed has been repainted. The bolts that hold the bed on are painted. The under carriage is painted and the frame bolts are painted also. From the factory none of this should have been painted. Nice truck but I believe there are more mileage on this truck as stated. Remember you can easily access the odometer and change the mileage with a small flat head screw driver.
A buddy of mine had a 1974 with a 350, three on the tree, manual steering and, like this one, manual brakes.
Why not buy this over a 2018 and save 30 g’s . Oh you won’t a tv screen to tell you how to get there, or wifi. But you will get a TRUCK!
Why not buy this over a 2018 and save 30 g’s . Oh you won’t get a tv screen to tell you how to get where you’re going, or wifi. But you will get a TRUCK! Hey eggsalad, can you really buy a new truck for 25K. Deal me in.
jeff – In Dec 2016 My Nephew Purchased a new 2015 Chevy 1500 crew cab in Dallas, TX and got $12,000 off MSRP Total price out the door $26,500. Leather and plenty of options, not a bare bones truck, even had the tow package included.
And he loves the fact that when he checks the NADA value, he always gets higher value for low miles. Also, if he told you it was a 2016 you might not be able to tell it is a 2015.
The difference is the new truck you buy will be worth a lot less in a year…..this truck will be worth more in one year!
As nice as it is at this point it’s useless if you add to the milage or scratch up the box the value is going to drop like a rock.i had the 1970 model with 3 on the tree and i found it easy to shift. Remember 3 on the tree has been around a lot longer than this truck. My 51 dodge has 3 on the tree which was common place back then in fact it was pretty common back in the 30’s and 40’s too. I like this truck but not at this price mostly because I’d want to do truck things and it would devalue quickly.
Nice truck but not 22k nice. I think 12k would be a fair price.
I think it was probably special ordered by it’s first owner. A Cheyenne with 350 and factory A/C, and hampered with non-power brakes and three on the tree would be a hard sell to the general public at that time. With the addition of power brakes, along with a 4 speed or TH 350 automatic, the truck would appeal to a lot more prospective buyers, both when new, and now.