This 1986 Chevrolet Silverado K Series pickup is for sale in Markesan, Wisconsin, priced at $17,000. The seller, Gary, posted it here on Facebook Marketplace today on behalf of the widow of the truck’s original owner. The listing describes this truck an all-original, 40-year-old 4WD truck that starts, runs, and drives well after being stored at his farm, though he’s candid that some of the truck’s history died along with its owner. He calls out specific needs rather than hiding them: cab corners and inner fenders that need repair, a cracked dash pad, and an air conditioning system that needs a recharge. Many thanks to Lothar for sending us this listing.
The photos of the rear wheel opening show rust working through the inner fender, and the dash pad needs replacement. Otherwise, the truck presents well for its age, riding on steel wheels with chrome trim rings and newer BF Goodrich Long Trail T/A tires, wearing a factory-style lower body pinstripe, and carrying its original AM/FM cassette radio and owner’s literature. Inside, the brown velour bench seat and simulated woodgrain door trim show honest wear rather than abuse. The seller reports 115,000 miles, an automatic transmission, and the factory 305 cid Chevrolet’s small-block V8, under the hood. This truck’s tan-over-brown color was listed as Doeskin Tan, a genuine Chevrolet truck color from this era, paired with the brown cloth-and-vinyl interior.
Chevrolet’s “square body” C/K pickup ran from 1973 to 1987, and this truck represents the tail end of that run, after GM gave the front end a more aerodynamic reworking for 1981 that lowered the hood, exposed the windshield wipers, and swapped the old script fender badges for blockier lettering. Throughout the 1980s, the C/K was consistently the second-best-selling vehicle nameplate in America. The Silverado model sat atop Chevy’s truck trim ladder starting in 1975, when it replaced the Cheyenne Super as the top model, and by the 1980s it brought carpeting, extra sound insulation, and brushed-aluminum-look dash trim to what remained a fundamentally simple work truck underneath. I own a 1986 GMC Sierra Classic similar to this.
Half-ton C/K buyers in 1986 could choose a standard 250 cubic-inch inline-six rated at 130 horsepower, an optional torque-focused 292 cubic-inch six, or step up to V8 power with a 305 cubic-inch small-block making roughly 150 horsepower, a 350 cubic-inch V8 good for 175 horsepower, or even a 6.2-liter diesel. Every gasoline engine that year still relied on a carburetor, since GM didn’t bring fuel injection to the full gas lineup until the 1987 model year, so this truck’s 305 almost certainly wears the factory Rochester four-barrel rather than any form of injection. The 305 paired with a three-speed or four-speed automatic, as this truck has, was one of the most common combinations Chevrolet sold in half-ton Silverados that year.
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