This gorgeous, orange, low-mileage time capsule is a 1977 Chevrolet K20 Suburban Silverado and it looks like a winner, and is priced accordingly. It’s listed on eBay with a current bid price of $11,500 and there are still two days left on the auction! It’s located in Clackamas, Oregon and it looks like a true fly-in-and-drive-home type of vehicle. At probably 10 mpg it may be cheaper to have it shipped, but the life experience would make it worth doing the former.
This is a seventh-generation Suburban and being a K-Series, it’s a 4WD model. The K20 designates it being a 3/4 ton so it’s set up for your towing or heavy hauling. This is one fantastic looking vehicle, in my opinion. This Superwagon is a pretty versatile vehicle, with three rows of seating and lots of head room, not to mention a lot of storage room, this will make a heck of a camping vehicle. Load it up, throw a small motorcycle on a front rack, pull your trailer or boat, and go!
Silverado was the top trim-level above Scottsdale and Custom Deluxe. If you’re going to get a classic or vintage vehicle, you may has well get the best one in the highest trim level that you can find; that would be this one right here. But, it’s not perfect, there will be a few trim items to tidy up before you hit the car shows. This is all-original paint, only having traveled 37,492 miles in the last 40 years.
The interior looks about as perfect as you will ever find in a four-decade old vehicle. There will be enough room for quite a few of your son or daughter’s sports teammates along with their gear in the back of this huge Suburban and they’ll all be comfortable with the rear heat and AC. The underside looks amazing, too.
This Suburban has Chevy’s optional 400 cubic-inch V8 which would have had 175 hp, and yes, it looks great, too. Wyoming must not use salt on their roads, the seller says that this is a Wyoming truck. Either that or it was never driven in the winter. Would any of you have a use for a Chevy Suburban? Or, have any of you owned one?
This towing an Airstream would be so….right.
I LOVE IT!!!
The barn doors are IMO way easier to access the rear floor when hauling.
3/4 Ton proven reliability.
My 1987 350 cu in1/2 ton 2wd has 429k mileage, my 1999 454cu in 3/4 ton 2wd has 194k mileage.
I just have to justify why I need 3 Suburbans.
I know!!! I need a 4WD!
Very nice original truck. To replace it with something used but newer would be north of 40K. New, forget about it. However,… there are some things to note. Rubber door snubbers (bumpers) and drip rail moldings show orange paint overspray indicating that it has had some body/paint work in the past. Also, it MAY have seen a winter or two, as it’s equipped with an engine block heater. Sorry for the nit pik. Overall, it looks like an exceptional truck.
Super cool! Occasionally you would see a 4wd with duallys and fender flares. My uncle had a “75 rwd….I remember a “family” trip….4 adults, 7 kids and luggage!
Someone with more knowledge please correct me but isn’t the the extremely rare Halloween edition? Elvira was in the add campaign? Right??
Don’t see air conditioning belt ? Nice Burb thou
I see it now
This site is starting to affect my work productivity. I may have a sickness. . .
i think it is contagious.. (cough,cough)
I’ve been sick since I signed up a few years ago! Hmm,I wonder if I still have a job?
Beautiful and ever so tempting. Another great find.
We sold a lot of Burbs between ’75 and ’81. We could have sold a lot more if it wasn’t for a bunch of misinformed twerps in the government bureaucracy who decided that we had to sell more small cars to equalize the mandated fuel consumption regulation. Like trying to sell ice to Eskimos.
The 400 SBC tended to be a controversial engine throughout its run. They worked just fine in vans and cars but 4×4’s weren’t so good. A lot of bottom end failures for some reason. Then I went and ordered my ’79 4×4 with one. I must have gotten one of the good ones because I got 300K miles+ out of it.
A lot of people complained about fuel economy, or lack there of. I used to raise the fuel metering rods 1/2 to 3/4 turn then tweak the advance curve which usually brought them a couple more MPG’s. Of course what usually happened was the customers pushed the gas pedal closer to the radiator, which made them complain all the more.
’75 through ’79 were some of the best GM trucks ever made before the regulations took over……
Forget car shows I would use this daily, the color scheme alone turns me on to wanting it.
Be still my overworked heart !! <3 <
sold !
Gotta have it….NOW !!
Our family bought one new in 71 or 72 in Gresham Oregon, Was a GREAT vehicle, simple and easy to maintain and reliable. I did not care for the later ones, especially the 1980s versions, they became bloated and overdone. The motors were easy to wake up and dial in. I used to do a lot of carb convesions. Choice #1 was a edelbrock performer manifold and a Holley 600cfm 4 barell with vacuum secondarys. Tune it up, tweak the ignition a bit and instantly pick up 4 mpg and sometimes more. Choice #2 was simply bolt on the holley using an adapter to the stock manifold.
Now, to really improve these is what I did to 2 of them was a good RV cam upgrade, Replace the plastic timing gears and crappy chain with a Cloyes double roller, Edelbrok manifold & holley, good thick wall headers and Thrush turbo mufflers, Rebuilt the HEI with the Summit racing kit (Upgrade coil, adv mech and Better quality cap and rotor with brass terminals) and then added a MSD 6A multi spark with good plugs & wires and that was decent fuel economy and TONS more power especially the Torque which is where you need it.
Right out of the box the Holley with vacuum secondarys would outperform the Quadrajets,, I know many who love the quadrajunk but I got very consistent results with the Holleys. Sure,,,I had double pumpers too,, but the vac secondarys worked really well and ONLY came on when the motor needed it as opposed to the double pumpers. (Gulley washers).
I am NOT in the market for this one, But I live in Clackamas Oregon
Thrush Turbo .Mufflers! WOW, must have sounded great…….
Gone! Somebody got a nice one! Love it!
Seller ended auction early,. Unknown what it sold for. However you could CALL him (Robert 503-309-8558) and ask??? I think the seller SHOULD be commnended on one of the best documented and photographed vehicles I have seen in a long time. Many sellers could really learn a thing or 3 from this guy on how to properly list a vehicle.
That being said I noticed a few things:
1) LOVE the old CB radio, I have one for my 65 GMC. Love that!
2) Please call Robert and tell him to retouch the tire dressing on DS rear tire, missed a spot and my OCD is really acting up today, It bothers me a great deal
3) Sellers other items I know exactly where they are at. At a small industrial park right off Hwy 212 in Clackamas (East of I-205) Not far from the Fred Meyers warehouse. Bet you can see these guys at lunch time at Deans Diner
4) I am wondering if they are a unlicensed car flippers as they have a LOT of other vehicles for sale.
5) The suburban was photographed in SE Portland off of 35th, Laurelhurst neighborhood? Beautiful old school neighborhoods. I recognize some of the houses but at first I thought Lake Oswego or River Road until I saw a street sign.
6) There CLEARLY is some excessive detailing going on. Looking at the original pix, much of the undercarriage has been resprayed, Lots of missed spots and black paint overspray, IE: Frame rails, rear Diff, springs, etc. Somebody spent a LOT of time detailing this but you can spot it if you look.
Ahhh in ’77 my wife and I bought one as the “family car” it was a good purchase, of course though in 1977 I still had my ’67 Apuculo Blue Mustang Coupe parked in the garage, I parked it there in ’73.
I’ve always loved Suburbans. People who have seen me on this site know that I operated a standby ambulance service for more than 20 years in Lubbock. In the ’80s Suburbans became our “staple”, also adding Type II vans in the mid-80s, when Texas began to require the use of high-headroom ambulances. In the early ’70s we operated a couple of International Travel-Alls and then added our first Suburban, a standard roof ’70 model in 1980. In 1981 we added two more, a ’71 standard Suburban and a ’73 high top Suburban. During the ’80s,as I note above, we began to add van ambulances. Our last Suburban was a ’70 high top that was unique. It had been converted by a camper-manufacturing facility in Seminole,TX. Prior to that it had been a low top Suburban ambulance that had been operated by the Hobbs, NM Fire Dept. We never knew if it was converted when Hobbs had the truck or later. We got it from the City of Tatum,NM in 1987 for a whopping $750. The 1971 Suburban listed above became our workhorse! It had been built by the Gordon K. Allen Co. in Dallas: parent co. of the short-lived Modular Ambulance Corp. whose ambulances appeared on Emergency! back in the ’70s. We got the truck for a whopping $500 from a funeral home in Dallas that had discontinued its ambulance service in 1972 when the truck was only a years old because they were no longer part of the city/county ambulance contract. As I said, it became our workhorse. While we primarily serviced sporting events in and around the Lubbock area, we covered events all over the South Plains, West Texas and the Panhandle: amazingly spending an entire week during Spring Break of 1973 in the Dallas area, covering a weeklong motorcycle racing event at the Dallas International Motor Speedway in Lewisville. Quite an event that kept us busy. I understand that there is a single ambulance builder in Canada: Crestline, that still builds ambulances on Suburban platforms, a number of which are exported overseas. Oh for the good ol’ days!
Thumbs are back! (new version) Thumbs up for Skip and his story,. In the early 1980s on delayed enlistment for the Air Force ( A year of staying out of trouble which is a remarkable feat for me) I lived in Lewisville for about 8 months and worked in the area. Never needed any ambulance services,, but that was a very interesting time and many interesting vehicles in Texas at that time.
Only 1/2 the thumbs are back.
Not quite, Dave. The way I see it, if you don’t get a thumbs up, you probably would have got a thumbs down. Pretty clever.
Hey Doug: Thanks for the thumbs-up! Too bad you’re not still in Lewisville. I’d get you to look for something for me. In the late 70s or so the people who promoted the motorcycle races in Lubbock that got us to the weeklong Lewisville races I mentioned, bought a ’65 International TravelAll ambulance from a private ambulance co. in NM. At the time they had either outrightly bought or bought into DIMS, and borrowed the interior equipment from us to outfit the ambulance. They had promised us that if they didn’t keep the Lewisville operation we’d get the truck; so we never worried about our equipment. However, they eventually sold the track, leaving the ambulance there. And when I raised hell about it they simply shrugged it off. We just politely upped our fees to make up for what we lost…and that they couldn’t argue with. But I’d like to know whatever happened to the old International.
I have become an accidental fan of older ‘burbs. I now own an ’89,a ’92, and a ’98 K20 4WD. I really think I need this one as well! So much character in these old trucks.
Once knew a guy who had a 1977 or 78 3/4 ton Suburban, blue with tan inserts, 4 wheel drive, 4 speed manual transmission…… Used it in his ranch but was also his daily driver. Rode stout, but tough as nails. Used it in the fields for building fence, hauling everything; had rubber mats, would wash it out every week or so, put the seats back in and go to town with the family.
Great trucks and I always prefer the small block. I owned similar ones and some like this …..a little newer one that had been part of the presidential secret service fleet…..what a great truck. The issues with there are two, the later injected engines get a huge boost in fuel economy and the torsion bar trucks ride 200% better, shift on the fly transfer case is nice too. So the next generation is a great improvement and can be purchased for the same money.
This thing brings back many memories. 30ft camper out back, 2 canoes on the roof, mom dad and 5 kids stuffed in the back. Then 1200 mile trip to Maine. What fun we had. It was a big block and dad always said it would tow a tank, and pass anything on the highway except a gas pump! Love it.
137K Miles.. look at the odometer its all misaligned that’s been rolled over.
Cool. This takes me back and totally screams Porter Paints balloon chase rig! Theirs had diagonal orange stripes over the tan sections.
This is an exceptional example. These were terrible rusters, and not many survived the north. I think, for the time, this was the nicest, biggest, go almost anywhere station wagon you could buy. Keep in mind, as nice as they were, 4 wheel drives ( on dry pavement) with the live axle up front, gave some unexpected handling surprises, especially pulling a big boat or camper. That Realistic CB was sold by Radio Shack, ( who I hear is going under for the 2nd time, goodbye Radio Shack) and was a so-so cb. I had a JC Penny ( who is also going under) cb that was made by Sony, and it did a good job, but was no Cobra or Royce. Great truck, but single digit gas mileage pulling something ( gallons per mile pulling something in 4 wheel drive) but this sure got the family to their destination, with class.
could have gone by autozone and bought a lens for taillight,think they still are still in the HELP parts area
My folks had a few ‘burbans over the years…
82 C20 with a detroit 6.2 diesel “red block”. I inherited it and got 300k miles out of it before parting it out when someone offered me $1200 for the engine (!)
87 C10 with a 350/ 700r4 150k miles when he found the 96
96 C10 with a vortec 350/ 4l60e. 250k miles traded on a new 02 1/2 ton with a 5.3/ 4L60e. My mom and dad drove it it a few years til he got out of the travel trailer towing hobby and traded it for… an 04 Honda Odyssey (gasp!) Put 160k on it, original trans eve, changed fluid every 50k miles, traded recently on a 10 Odyssey I found with 31k miles.
Saw a ‘Burb that looked exactly like this towing a camper, on our way to Florida, about a month ago. Could there be two in the country?
What a beautiful truck!
When I was a sophomore in high school, my Dad brought home for my Mom, a 1973 C10 Suburban. It only had the two bench seats. It had the 350, and a three on the tree, standard transmission. It was so quiet, my Mom was always trying to start it, while it was already running. Great truck, and pretty good fuel mileage, right around 15-17mpg.