These two 1980 Chevrolet pickups were said to be found on a farm in a “well sealed barn” in Canada. They are essentially new trucks with virtually no miles and are a little bit of a mystery. The blue truck is a C20 and can be found here on Hemmings with an asking price of $37,500. The brown truck is a C10 and can be found here on Hemmings with an asking price of $34,500. Both trucks are now located in Holliston, Massachusetts. What is your theory behind the history of these trucks?
The blue truck is a C20 and is reported to have only 450 original miles! There are only a few pictures of each of these trucks, so it’s a little hard to determine the accuracy of the statements in the ad. Certainly based on the photo above, the interior of this truck looks all original and amazing.
The engine is a 350 cubic inch V8 that is backed by an automatic transmission. You can see what appears to be factory markings on the firewall which look to be authentic. Certainly any vehicle can be made to look original, but these trucks seem to be the real deal. Obviously, documentation along with a detailed inspection will be warranted to verify the accuracy of the provenance.
The photo of the interior of the brown C10 tells more of a story than the C20. You can clearly see what appears to be an authentic and original interior. This truck is said to have 970 miles on the odometer and looks the part!
The engine in the C10 is also 350 cubic inches with an automatic transmission. While not as clean as the engine bay of the other truck, this one looks fairly original also. The ad states that both trucks have had fuel and brake lines purged. Here’s the big question…What is the story with these trucks? Were they forgotten inventory from a dealership? Did the owner (for some reason) buy two trucks the same year and then not drive them? Hopefully the seller has some answers. If you are going to ask $72,000 for a pair of 1980 Chevy trucks, you better have some proof they are what you say they are.
Wow. The pictures look pretty convincing. Would like to know the whole back story on these.
They are nice. As you say, if your selling point is low mileage, you need to have iron clad documentation if asking that much money. The downside is they are 3/4 ton, long beds, these are not the types of vehicles that set your heart on fire. They would only be good for displaying at shows and I’d rather have something else at that price point.
Steve R
I would almost be tempted to put one of these to work. Look at the price of a new truck, and the ability to work on the older simpler truck yourself, you could get a lot of life out of one of these. Possibly more than you might out of something brand new. New technology can become quite maddening when things start to go wrong.
Why do people change the tailgate insert to the mid eighties one? They look like crap. Like, total text book examples and they ruin a 1000 mile or less time capsule. Makes you wonder what else is prettied up. They look base Silverado packs too, no AC, cruise, guage package, rockerguards on the box wheel wells, etc. Solid 15k trucks to me if they are what they claim.
No, they’re not high performance tire-melters, or examples where someone checked every available option, or the “awesome” shortbed, but these things should be saved and displayed by somebody somewhere, simply because they’re not the kind of vehicle that somebody bought to put away back then.
Scanning for BS,,,can’t see any, looks like the real deal. I wouldn’t doubt anything in Hemmings. With as many that were sold, I suppose this is bound to happen. I guess people that actually remember buying these for $4,200 dollars in 1980, may balk at the price, but for a new 1980 Chevy pickup, this may be worth it to some.
I don’t think they are there yet. But a few more years, and they may command that price.
Manufacturers produce high efficiency cars that they don’t really want to sell because of narrow profit margin, but which help their CAFE #s. I think we just stumbled on the “longest lasting pickups” trick.
B/J Scottsdale 2017 – I looked these trucks over and they are incredibly nice. The Canadian owner also had a 1979 Chevy Van with no miles that sold at the same auction (sold for $26,400). The Blue one sold for $33k and the Brown for $31,350.
Sounds like a serious case of Barrett Buyers Remorse.
33k +10% Buy Fee = 36300 plus transportation Approx 2000 with Reliable
That’s 38,300 for Old Blue
31350 + 10% Buy Fee = 34485 plus transportation Approx 2000 with Reliable
That’s 36,485 for Ole Brown
Strange Investment Strategy….
Could be the original owner had a dealership they closed up and these 2 trucks were leftovers and he stored them at his farm for later private sale but just forgot about them or had health issues that was more important than wondering what to do with the trucks. So then he dies and the kids found them and decided to cash in on their inheritance. Just my thoughts and I wish I had the blue & white one.
Yep, I know from personal experience that health issues can make something that is important to others completely meaningless to a person with a serious medical problem.
I have owned a couple of these 3/4 tons, and still use a 76 GMC as a work truck. I hate the fact that the cab, cab mounts, and fenders rust out, but they are a tough truck.
If I bought the 3/4 ton, I would drive it.
Bob
Glad that they narrowed it down to a well sealed barn in Canada. Can’t get much vaguer than that!
It shouldn’t be too hard to find, most of the barns in my part of Canada,(Haliburton) aren’t very well sealed, lots of them are barely standing!
The biggest downside to these trucks, other than the price, is the lack of 4 wheel drive.
Could the original owner parked them in fear of blowing up on the blue dual tank ?
Those dual tanks are on outside of frame
and in rare hits go 💥 boom!
The after years of GM lawsuit in court thought keep em lowmile 👀👍
My dads old farm truck is the equivalent of the non mint blue one and for decades had GM letters offering a high trade on to get it if the streets 🤑
https://www.autosafety.org/history-gm-side-saddle-gas-tank-defect/
“
The side saddle fuel tank design installed in over 10 million trucks – all 1973-87 General Motors full-size pickups and cab-chassis trucks (pickups without beds) and some 1988-91 dual cab or RV chassis – is the worst auto crash fire defect in the history of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Based on data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (formerly known as the Fatal Accident Reporting System), over 2,000 people were killed in fire crashes involving these trucks from 1973 through 2009. (Attachment A is a list of fatal C/K fire crashes by state since 1993.) “
From what I recall, the Government put the number of deaths at around 600, not 2000. And that was for all side impact deaths involving a fire, whether the death was caused by the fire, or the collision.
NBC use to have a weekly news magazine show called Dateline. In the 80’s, Dateline did a story about the “exploding” Chevrolet trucks, after a teenager was killed in a crash with a Chevy truck. He’d run a stop sign and T-boned a Chevy pick up, which burned. He was killed, as were the two people in the truck. To illustrate how dangerous the trucks were, Dateline decided to recreate the accident for their cameras. Try as they may, Dateline couldn’t get a truck to burst into flames. They finally rigged some sort of explosive in a truck, so they could film one burning. Unfortunately for Dateline, the charge went off a fraction of a second before the truck was actually hit, and a sharp eyed viewer noticed it.
GM hired investigators to search junkyards to find the trucks used by Dateline. When they did, they found evidence of the charge used to cause the fire, and a fuel tank that had not ruptured, in spite of Dateline’s claims that it had. NBC News ended up having to admit on air, what they had done, and apologize to their viewers and GM.
Like so many other stories involving the media, it was probably blown way out of proportion, compared to what the dangers really were.
Another type of truck with fuel tanks outside of the frame rails. I know diesel is not as flammable but just sayin
Owners that were afraid of the saddle tanks were a bit naive or foolish. Think about the millions of 67-72 Chevy pick ups and 60’s-70’s Ford trucks that had the fuel tank mounted in the passenger compartment right behind the drivers seat. Same thing with the 60’s Mustangs and Fairlanes where the trunk floor was comprised of the the top of the gas tank, with the only form of separation between it and the passengers was the foam and vinyl of the rear seat. The story of the exploding gas tanks was a case of the media hyping a nearly meaningless story for ratings.
Steve R
The fuel tanks that were mounted behind the seat in the old trucks were in about as safe of a location as you could get. They were pretty far away from the sides of the truck on both sides, nothing in sight to puncture them. And they lasted forever, because they were protected from the weather, debris and road salt. The main reason they were moved was to provide storage space behind the seat.
And the gas tank was directly under the driver’s seat on Jeeps until the late 70’s…
Early example of fake news. I used to have a vcr tape detailing the NBC failed attempt-they used a model rocket engine to try to ignite it, plus using an aftermarket gas cap. Still didn’t explode. I have had several of these C/K trucks (still use an 83 K20 as a parts chaser) Have absolutely no qualms about using it or letting any of my family drive it. Super trucks, would love to have the blue one.
I use the not stock 454 to accelerate enough, so that at the very worst they just hit the back bumper. :-)
I will drive mine until I croak.
I have the dual saddle tanks, and have no problem with the location.
Bob
A Sincere Thank you, for your research, and for Sharing it with all of us…Very much appreciated, and definitely takes away any Interest, I had in C10 pickup.
I have an awesome Son, who loves Chevy pickups of all ages, but I
would do everything possible, to talk him out of buying a truck of this era, to use as a daily driver, let alone cruising with our precious
granddaughter…
Thanks again classic Steel, for the Info, Denny
You better just take a bus or walk, pal.
Interesting examples but not worth $35K a piece. It’s not like the 80’s where the epitome of GM Truck Design and Performance, especially these plain Jane 2wd models.
Well, they are 38 years old, no matter how you look at it. If you subtract those years from 1980, that would have been a barn find of 1942 trucks in new condition.
My bet is it was a farmer who had a good crop year and bought to save on taxes, did’nt really need them but better than paying govt. Lots of stories on Canadian prairies about tractors, cars etc hidden away in barns for same reason.
I have a friend that, whenever he had a good year, used to buy a new combine.
Bob
Whisky Tango, I am a CPA, and have farming experience and worked with farm taxes for years… I think you have hit it right on the head! This totally makes sense! And another post above says this owner also had a new van. These were all purchased to be used, not for a collection… great thinking!
I had a 77 C10: rubber floor and vinyl bench seat, AM Delco, no headliner, big back window, 305 2bbl automatic. Sunflower yellow and cream. Shortened. Dog dish hubcaps. Paid $1500. Drove it, dogged it, upgraded suspension and swapped the 305 with a 383, hauled rocks, sod, trees. Sold it for $3500.
I saw it a couple years later at a show. Had a 454, bagged suspension, vintage A/C, bucket seats, custom headliner, same paint scheme. Listed for sale at $18k.
Great looking trucks !! That being said, why only 5 photos per vehicle? Why not any pics of the underside? Why not share the backstory on them? When selling something with a high price based on the low mileage and originality, why not more info? Just a pet peeve of mine when someone is advertising a classic vehicle, give us plenty of pics and information!
I’d say they are worth $18,000.00 each max and only because some of the older trucks that have been on the road since the date of manufacture are bringing $15, which I think is ridiculous. If the purchaser put 10,000 miles on it he would find it worth one heck of a lot less than $37K.
Lambrecht wasn’t the only dealer who kept left over inventory at the end of the year. Some units got squirreled away and some of them were forgotten, while others were kept in a good environment for enjoyment later. I remember when Cadillac announced in 1974 that it would no longer produce convertibles. This wealthy Texas rancher (74) ordered the last five to come off the assembly line so he could drive a new Cadillac Eldorado convertible for the rest of his life. No one can properly answer those questions except the person who put them away in the first place. I might add that the brown one has the same color scheme as my ’79. Our dealership got a new unit like that back in ’78. I liked it so I ordered mine the same way. Within a year we must have sold 10 more like it, and in 1980 another 8-10. So much for being unique….
I don’t want no fireball truck.
That’s scary stuff on them gas tanks .
I would have to move them to a safer location like behind the seat 💺👀 on the earlier
models and tread safely smoking my ciggies 🤓
I remember the recall, there was a reinforcement for the tank. Don’t know if solved the problem though.
As for the tank behind the seat, they had a tendency to shear off the fill pipe in a rollover crash and fill the cab with gas.
No way, at the end of the day what you have is still a C10 & C20 1980 Chevy Pickups. Yes they are a heck of a find, I guess my question is what do you do with them? At that $ my only option would be to set and look at them.
I would almost bet that they might have been dealer trucks for test drives. Notice how the Blue C20 still has wax writing on the firewall from the factory…a vehicle sold to a customer would presumably have that removed upon delivery. 1981 Chevy trucks had a new front clip, so it would make sense for a 1980 dealer truck to be used to represent a new truck for one year only, if that, and only driven during that time.
First time poster, BTW!
Yeah, my Dad told me a story he’d heard from a friend of his that bought
two zero-mile ’48 Chevy sedans from a local railroad line after the cars were
discovered in one of their freight cars in 1970. Both cars were still wrapped
in their original wrappers with paperwork stating that their destination was
either Oklahoma or Nebraska (I forget which one now) but it sure made for
a great story. One was a Fleetine fastback, while the other one was a full
dress Fleetline Sportsmaster 4-door sedan with nearly every option you
could get that year. Sure, I went over to look at them, and they were indeed
a fantastic find for the day. The owner of these beauties spent a lot of money getting them to run and drive again only to lose his ass when he
went to sell them. Moral of the story: these low mile cars aren’t all they’re
cracked up to be. You’ll spend a small fortune to revive them and a large
amount of alimony when your ex wife leaves you because you didn’t buy
her that new SUV she had her heart set on. Would rather spend the money
on a good size down payment on a house! Just sayin’!
Well, they are 38 years old, no matter how you look at it. If you subtract those years from 1980, that would have been a barn find of 1942 trucks in new condition.
I thought GM Canada has records stored for classic vehicles that were manufactured and sold there. If my memory is correct for once,if you could get the VIN you may be able to document the history. I love seeing like new examples of cars from my childhood.
Yes, you can, but it costs. I wanted to trace my 64 Vette, and I have the contact information somewhere on my computer. If someone is interested, I will have a look for it.
Bob
A stunning 1975 Chevrolet C20 with 5900 miles recently sold for $26,250.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1975-chevrolet-c20/
I am surprised by how quickly truck prices have increased.
Based on the few pics shown, these are certainly legit trucks.
The 1980 model year had several unique differences which most lasted only one year because of the ’81 redesign:
– Square pattern grille one year only
– Square headlights one year only (round on lower models)
– Lock up torque converter for the automatics
– New dark blue interior color to replace the previous lighter blue
– “Hobnail” cloth pattern for this one year only and which was the same material pattern used in the Firebird / Formula and Trans Am deluxe interior
– Gauge faces and needles changed to new colors and type face
– “Aero” fold away mirrors option, however there may have been some late ’79’s that this was introduced
– 4 speaker stereo option not commonly seen. The front speakers were 4×6 and mounted in place of the door map pockets. The next year the speakers were in the dash up front
– Dual outlet tailpipes after the muffler to one side on some models
– 4×4 “K” trucks had manual locking hubs, replacing the full-time system for this one year
Imagine if one of these was a K10 Silverado Shortbox 350 and loaded with the options such as factory tach, etc.
Too bad there are not more pics of these trucks and of the glove box RPO codes sheet. Hopefully the next owner(s) will keep them original and well preserved. These trucks are stunning to see. Wonder how bad the cooling system, seals, etc are after sitting so long.
These are old trucks that are non safe with no air bags plus bad gas tanks .
If you buy em you store them or drive them which flushes your money.
The honey moon soon parts and your left with an old truck!
Why would one want them ??????
I would be very careful of these, if there are no before pictures. These trucks could have been used exclusively for around the farm. In that case the mileage wouldn’t be that high. The 1980’s interiors wore like iron and don’t show much age. A good body man could have cleaned them up very well. They may have low mileage, but that doesn’t mean it’s original untouched (which would make it worth the price), if they were used and touched up (they would be worth half the price), someone has to do some paint testing, especially in the bed and wheel wells.
All the people saying that these are only worth around $15000. they were sold at auction for $26k and $31k respectively, so at least 2 people thought they were worth $25k and $30k. So that is what they are worth.