Short box classic pickups are becoming harder and harder to find, which tends to make them more valuable. Sure, you can turn any truck into a short box, but shortening a frame, moving suspension components, and re-working sheet metal is beyond a lot of fabricator’s skill and/or budget. Finding a genuine short box project is a great starting point for a project and this 1971 Chevrolet C10 is no exception. It can be found here on eBay with a current bid of nearly $3,000. It is said to have spent its entire life in The Lone Star State and is being shipped from Leander, Texas. There isn’t a ton of information in the ad, but there are some good photos. Take a look at this one a little closer.
The engine is a 283 V8 that the ad describes as “runs and drives.” Hopefully, it won’t need much work. You can see it has had a few maintenance items done including plug wires, distributor cap, and upper radiator hose. Assuming the engine is strong and reliable, if this was your project, would you leave it as-is or replace it? If you’d replace it, what would you drop in its place? Then engine bays in these trucks are large enough to support pretty much any size engine.
The interior looks decent. You can see someone has obviously replaced the seat cover recently, but the rest looks pretty original. The door panels have some surface rust, but they don’t look too bad. The seller says there is some rust on the lower part of the doors, floors, and wheel wells, but since it is from Texas, hopefully, it isn’t too bad.
The truck has obviously been exposed to the elements over the years. Some of the trim is gone and obviously the paint is severely oxidized. If the rust issues aren’t too bad, this could be a cool patina ride and driven as-is. It could definitely use some suspension work to get it sitting right. Add some nice wheels and tires and a decent power plant and you’ve got a sweet short box. What do you think?
To me, there’s no such thing as “nice” or “cool” patina on any vehicle. Patina belongs on bronze statues, not vehicles. Just my opinion. If someone else likes it, more power to them.
Bronze statues are art, just like this truck.
Lol. 283? Doubtful. Probably the venerable 307.
So much rust, so little time.
Again and again, I just don’t see the infatuation with older GM short box pickups. Condition aside and it’s not that bad at all, this is about what I think older GM pickups should go for, and one test drive will convince most it’s so. While at one time, these were as common as clouds in the Badger ( just kidding, GO PACK, if we ever get there this year, that is) today, any truck like this north of I-80 is pretty rare. I think it’s a great find, just don’t expect new Silverado features. This about as basic a truck as you could get. From a time when this was all you needed.
BTW, here’s MY shortbox GMC this morning,,,earliest snow on record. In the Rocky Mountains, how odd,,A quick reminder how useless 2wd pickups are in the snow.
Good Lord, what a rust bucket! Keep it covered in snow so no one will see it!
PatIna or not I can’t believe this C10 is just $3k
I’d be there in a flash if I was in US.