This 1976 GMC Suburban represents the other side of the coin as it applies to owning a full-size vintage square body. It’s the two-wheel-drive version, which means it’s ideal for simply cruising low and slow without any need to venture where the pavement ends. Yes, that somewhat defeats the purpose of a Suburban, but cruise-ready SUVs don’t come up for grabs all that often. The seller notes that the Suburban runs and drives nicely and features a numbers matching 350 paired to a 350 automatic transmission that shifts nicely. There’s some mild rust that most anyone can live with, and the Suburban is listed here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $7,600.
It’s not hard to see this is a two-wheel-drive model, just by virtue of the ride height. Now, I know some folks will disagree with me, but I’d be inclined to lower this beast just a touch more. But truth be told, it’s also completely perfect as-is. The most preserved paint with some rough spots; the tidy chrome bumpers; the original steel wheels and hubcaps; it’s just a great look. The seller does plant the seed that this is a great choice for an air ride conversion, which I think strikes the appropriate balance of lowering it further if you’d like, without being locked into the slammed look should you want to return to a more stock-like appearance. The power rear tailgate window is a nice feature, too.
The interior is a serious bright spot, as the patina’d exterior might suggest that the cabin is in rougher shape. The dash doesn’t appear to be cracked and the fake woodgrain around the instrument binnacle looks quite nice. The same fake wood on the door panels is also more than respectable, and the carpets look dirt-free. The interior features rear factory air conditioning, which will need to be converted to R12 and charged, but it is a rare feature to have. Other options worth noting include power steering, power brakes, and tilt wheel, and the seller notes that all the gauges and the AM radio still work. The Suburban does have a clean title, and all the VIN tags match.
The 350 certainly isn’t exotic, but it will run forever and be quite cheap to maintain in the meantime. The best part is you can go either direction – a mild hot rod with headers and exhaust, or simply leave it alone and perform very basic maintenance. Mileage is indicated as 51,864, but the seller doesn’t confirm whether it’s original. The truck teeters a bit on the line of possibly being a low mileage example that needs a cleaning, or a truck that has been around the block a few times and just been maintained to a high level. Either way, the Suburban looks like a great cruiser that can be used as-is or upgraded tastefully without distorting the preserved condition.
Nice truck, dubbed, the biggest American station wagon you could buy. The old man , after burning out several wagons( almost literally) and a Travelall, he got smart and bought a used police Suburban to pull our trailers, then a newer one like this, with much better results. Again, same old thing. These had very poor metal ( I think read somewhere, GM bought a lot of scrap metal from Japan in the ’70’s, that was ironically ground up ’65 Chevy’s, and such) and most rusted away. Great find here, I say it’s got a jillion miles, and I hope that 350 , like mine, runs forever. Not bloody likely, though, without question, the best US V8 motor ever made.
Better deal with that rust fast. Other than that, a sweet looking vehicle.
I’ve owned 3, 4wd 85, 2wd 96 & 2wd 97 suburbans. My fav was the 2wheel drives. Drove like Cadillacs. Looking for another.
Very cool! I learned to drive in one of these. Had to borrow a buddy’s cavalier to take the driving test though. No way in hell I was parallel parking this beast.
Gotta love the color combo, doesn’t get more 70s! 😁 The condition of the rear floors is impressive for an MO vehicle – to the point I suspect it didn’t originate from there…? Wish seller could provide a pic of its SPID label.
Not sure whether asking is optimistic, however try finding unmolested RWD ‘burbans somewhere else. Great uncomplicated vehicles if you can live with its thirst for gas, but being a RWD helps alot