Being 6′-5″ tall, my nickname in high school was usually a variation of “shorty” or something similar to that. That’s what I’ve always called these shortbox pickups – shorty. This shorty, or more formally, this 1973 Chevrolet C-10 Cheyenne Super shortbox pickup is in Eads, Tennessee and can be found on eBay where it’s red hot with a current bid price of $7,400 and even at that the reserve isn’t met!
You could see from the first photo that this truck needs work, but you probably thought, dang, that doesn’t look that bad, I could do that. Then this photo comes up and your checkbook just winced. I’m not sure what’s going on with the RF fender but clearly it’s been replaced at some point and things didn’t age quite as evenly as maybe they could have. There is also a decent amount of rust, but even though there doesn’t appear to be rust-through it still looks ominous to me. The underside had a heavy coating, but again maybe that’s just surface rust that can be treated.
The seller says that this “was Grandpaws pride and joy that he enjoyed tooling around on his farm in until he was no longer able to drive, Special ordered 1973 Chevy Cheyenne Super 10 short bed fleetside pickup truck project, Could very well be a 1 of 1 with these options, I have NEVER seen another one like it, Purchased new from McCurry Chevrolet Company in Heber Springs Arkansas and has remained in the area ever since”. The old one-of-one trick.. in my best Maxwell Smart voice. This truck does have some nice features and options as seen on this tag.
Other than the crack on the top of the dash and what looks like more lurking rust in some of the cracks and crevasses, the interior looks pretty solid. It has “Working heat and non working air-conditioning, Facroty AM radio, All dash gauges including clock, roll up windows and manual locks and FACTORY BUCKET SEATS AND CONSOLE (option A50) something you hardly ever see”.
This is Chevy’s 350 cubic-inch V8 which in 1973 would have had 155 hp and that’s with a 4-barrel carb. It has what they think is the “original 350ci engine/4bbl carburetor that does run, Turbo 350 auto trans shifts through all gears as it should but has no reverse, powersteering, powerdisc brakes, Grandpaw was in the process of installing a new mastercylinder and powerbrake booster but was not able to complete due to illness”. What’s your top offer on this shortbox Chevy?
Ha! Thanks, pal, this is getting better all the time. And to think I was all upset about the current prices of classic trucks these days,,,well, I still am, and I’d sell mine today for half this.(crickets chirping,,,yeah, I thought so) Mine is in much better shape, and you can back up.( and has a cap) With the dismal mileage I get, I can only imagine an a/c on ( which I don’t have, thankfully) which I’d almost bet “needs recharged” [sic], got to be gallons per mile. The sellers of these trucks, for whatever reason, are clearly a notch off when it comes to pricing. Don’t pay more than $3g’s for a beater like this,(that trans will cost $2g’s alone) and maybe $5g’s for a nicer one. Believe me, they’re good trucks, but they aren’t that nice.
Hey Howard ! If you would pay $2g for a tranny for this, I’d like to sell ya a few. Basic turbo 350. Heck. Rebuild em for $500 if you pull it and drop it off. On a truck like this, you don’t even have to jack it up ! I love you armchair mechanics on here ! Ha ! Thanks for the laugh. By the way, my brother’s ’75 LWB got 15-17 mpg on the highway. 12 around the country.
I love backyard mechanics. I also rebuild trannies in the garage, and could do it for 5 bills. However, if someone takes it to a tranny shop, 2 G’s is probably about right. It would be up here in the land of bend over…. (Canada)
1973 thru the last year of the body style (I forget the last year) were so bad to rust. Too bad. No way I would give that much for this truck…..just sayin’..
Fac-rot-y radio … rot = rust which it does have lol
If it was a 4×4 he might get close to his high bid so far but not for this 2 wheeler with rust, some bidders are smoking illegal substances and hitting on ebay for fun.
Top offer? $1,200.00 TOPS! Even at that I think I’m being very generous.
I wonder how many of the bidders noticed that reverse was out? If a transmission has no reverse can you really say it shifts through all gears as it should? Last I checked, reverse was considered a gear. Sounds like a rebuild is in that Chevy’s future. When I was a young stud, I had a ’50 Dodge that I blew reverse out of and pushing it out of driveways and parking spots got old real quick. Ended up selling it one night in a bar for an Old Dutch beer.
No way this is worth over 1500 needs a trans rebuild and a body because this one is a rust bucket even under the hood. I can’t believe anyone would bid over 7000 and still reserve isn’t met.
No way is it worth that!!!! Like everyone is saying. 1500 give or take alittle is tops !!!! BUT some dum crasy will bid and give more. I have exact same truck I am restoring. Off frame , all new panels, lots of new parts, engine, trans. New, and I dont even think I,d see too much more than that if I,d sell
Actually, this truck is pretty rust free.
I’d really want to have a close look at that transmission. I’m kinda thinking about automatic transmission failure due to electrolysis. There was a bulletin on that in about ’77. What you should always be vigilant about is the auxilliary ground off the battery that connects to the header. So often it breaks and no one knows about it until the transmission fails. Your headlights/park lights end up grounding through the rear suspension and up through the transmission to the engine. That causes all your bronze bushings in the transmission to plate themselves onto the shafts and drums turning inside of them. I remember the day after we got the bulletin, we got a pickup in with a THM 400 that was hooped because of that auxilary ground. Aside from that I like this truck. Of course a single cab pickup without a sliding rear window seems to be missing something (my ’47 Ford even has a sliding rear window). It was always convenient to reach the beverage cooler in the bed (Now who said we drank anything but soda?).
Great comment Geomechs and I found out about the auxiliary ground by a transmission guide…front pump bushing welded and puked because of a bad ground. Good info. These were great trucks but returned to nature fast due to recycled steel. Rustproofing didn’t help. Good luck everything is available to make er shine again.
I remember some of these simulated wood clad haulers in my neck-of-the-woods back in the day. There was a light blue one that frequented the service station where I worked. I’d almost forgotten them till this popped up.
Possible low number production with the wood sides, short bed and bucket seats (likely pulled off the Blazer production line). Meh. Not only did these rust off the showroom floor, the tranny had a couple strikes against it. The other was that silly GM governor that regulated the shift points of the automatic which just about killed the gearbox if the vehicle was used in inner-city traffic. Cute little pickup, not sure I’d want to look at that mustard-colored dash all day. :)
Where I am in Texas, 70s GM LWB are cheap as dirt but the short beds hold their value. I have an ’77 GMC K10 manual that’s nicer than this, esp engine, I would laugh at 7k.
These were the pickup I grew up with and everyone of them was a rust bucket in the end, the best thing I can say about this one is all the root is in the right places, notice how there are no pics of the rocker panels, guess why, they might not even be there anymore. If the 350 is decent and if the trans was decent it’s a 1k pickup. As it sits it’s 500$ tops. It’s a rust bucket and not worth putting much into, it’s end of life is near!
At least the second person here that looks but does not see. If you look at the under side shots, you will see surface rust.
This IS NOT what a rust bucket is.
Pugsey I think what you meant to say is, the pretty rust is free! All kidding aside, the rust present does appear to be surface rust, I don’t see any rust through in the typical places ( dog legs, rockers, floors ). I still think it’s going to take a lot of time and money to bring this to acceptable condition so I don’t see $7500 here. I’d be in at $3000 or less. Unfortunately this will probably wind up slammed to the ground with 30” wheels and 1/2” sidewall tire. W would love to see it done as built as I’m sure not many were done like this.
Don’t get me wrong. Just because it’s rust free in the sense of us that know about rustorations, I agree, the price is out to lunch. I just can’t believe it was bid so high.
“Clear title in my name which has already been applied for?” What a lame statement. The seller is in my state of Tennessee….we go to our local county clerk and git ‘er done! No waiting. Big deal if this is a Arkansas title being transferred to a family member in TN. Why not sell when you have the title in hand? Sell it with the legal document required, fella! Also, notice the damage to the passenger front fender and bumper. Enough to push the bumper back and crinkle the fender. The whole front clip may have suffered from multiple “old man maneuvers” over the years and hence fresher paint and no rust behind the fender wells. Surface rust looks like this truck was driven for its whole life over gravel/macadam/oiled roads like where I live.
Easily the worst trucks gm ever made, they rusted like there was no tomorrow, the doors sagged, the cheap hoods folded in half, and they were ugly as hell. Their arch rival was twice the truck and then some.
Says a Ford lover….ha…….
They had a lot longer time to rust as they were so reliable and just kept going and going……
So, I guess you must have not oiled the hood hinges, eh?
Funny comments….
Yeah, that’s why they are selling for mega bucks today, even totally ragged out after 40+ years.
I’ve had a 72 C10 fleetside and now drive a 76 C30 dually with NO body rust ever and lots of original paint. Loved them both. About 16 MPG and that 350 will haul anything.