The very cool Radwood car show just announced they added a new, East Coast location for this August after several successful runs on the West Coast of celebrating 80s and 90s enthusiast cars and trucks. It’s heading to Atlanta, and if I had to buy a car right now to take, I might consider this impressively clean 1988 Chevy S-1o pickup. There are so few left that still look this nice that it’s guaranteed to turn a few heads, especially with the two-tone paint job the General was splashing on every truck at the time. Find it here on eBay with a $10,000 Buy-It-Now.
The body appears to be in excellent condition, and despite the New York plates, the seller notes it has split its time between NY and Florida – which hopefully means it spent winters in the south. To really put a finer point on it, the seller mentions that this ordinary, extended cab Chevy pickup received the Antique Automobile Club of America’s HPOF award (Historic Preservation – Original Features) in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 2017.
The interior appears as-new, which is impressive considering this S-10 doesn’t have crazy low mileage. It’s listed as 55,000, which most trucks would show a ton more wear and tear by that point. While still low, it also indicates this S-10 was driven, making its first owner a magician to keep a work truck in as good of shape as this. The seller also mentions that the S-10 was optioned with rustproofing and paint and fabric protection when new, which certainly played a role in its preservation.
The paint is truly exceptional, especially in areas commonly associated with wear-and-tear like the bed. The seller says there are zero scratches in the bed, which does beg the question as to why someone purchased a loaded S-10 for over $16K in 1988 – and then didn’t use it for anything other than running errands that didn’t require loading up the bed? Regardless, it’s great to see a preserved example of a truck that typically appears in beater condition and hopefully, it will make an appearance at an upcoming Radwood show, where it truly belongs.
Sold!
Gotta be honest. Never thought I’d say this. But I really like that s-10. Can’t remember ever seeing one so nice.
I’ve gotten to both of the San Francisco Radwood shows, and they are a great time. There was a pristine ’91 S-10 Blazer at the last one, and if that truck was any indication, this would be a huge hit.
Trying so hard not to comment on price, but a deal is a deal. I think this is a 4.3, a much better motor than the 2.8 of earlier S-10’s. I liked the S-10 types ( had 3), and all good trucks, except hard to work on.( and don’t EVER get the 4 cylinder) Looks like a nice truck, but could never pay that for one.
The window sticker in the eBay listing says that it’s a 2.8.
If it was a 4.3, which didn’t come out until later in the ’88 year, it would have a sticker on the tail gate stating such.
This truck does not.
S-10s & Rangers were great little trucks for the guy who didn’t need a full size truck, too bad they did away with them. The new Ranger is more of a mid size truck not a small truck.
Jeff, if, as you say in the write up, you would consider this truck, you must not have any experience with a 2.8L S-10.
They were garbage from the get go.
If you are going to argue this point with me, please take into account I worked at a Chevy dealer in 1988 and had to deal with angry customers that bought these trucks and had a ton of mechanical issues from day one.
The 4.3L was a hundred times better.
I can’t imagine this truck being worth anywhere near 5 digits.
I would be willing to bet the at least one of the exhaust manifold is leaking right now.
Submitted for your perusal, my ’93 S-10 Tahoe, 4.3, no exhaust leaks, rescued from sitiing underneath a tree since 2011. :-)
Yes, the difference being you have the 4.3L and not the 2.8L.
This is why I said “The 4.3L was a hundred times better.”
Miguel, I owned a 1988 4.3 S-10 Blazer I ordered from the factory new back in the day, and the truck I owned had all sorts of issues (mostly unrelated to the motor). Bad paint, rattles in the back and was too flexible, as the factory when from a full-perimeter frame to a “C” frame, which was open on the inside. I sold the truck after a year out of frustration. Meanwhile, a good friend had a 1985 2.8 S-15 Jimmy with a full frame and the truck was dead reliable.