First Impressions

[3757chevy]

My wife's Grandpas on both sides had 67-72 trucks, her mom's dad=72 GMC red and white. her dad's dad=68 longhorn light green metallic both 3/4 ton.

[JMC1965]

12 years old (in 1977) driving a 1969 C10 down to the fresh water spring in east Texas to fill up containers of water. My grandfather laughed at me the whole way as I tried to figure out the 3 on the tree

[197D_C10]

My dad had a 67 with 3 on the tree. I learned to drive in that truck when I was 12 yrs old.

[stevenfromtexas]

Dad bought the pickup I'm building now when I was 10. I remember barely being able to push the clutch in to slow down so my brother and dad could keep throwing hay on the trailer. Dad backed into the barn one night so we could unload the hay in the barn and got stuck. He was trying his his best to "rock" the pickup to get it out. I was doing what little I could to push. this went on for what seemed like hours....filling the barn with exhaust and what I know now to be huge levels of Carbon Monoxide. I've never had another headache and felt so bad since then. hahaha prolly whats wrong with me now

[72 tigger]

My dad bought a 70 C20 in 1973 and I drove it the next year at the age of 8 (we lived on a farm). My first impression when I drove it was “boy, this sucker is hard to turn and stop “ (manual steering and brakes). At least it was a automatic. Always liked this style

[Kennuck]

I was 14 my dad bought a new left over 69 in 1970. That's me in the back in the striped shirt.

[TCCGRIZ]

1976 ,I was 5 sitting on my dad's lap steering his 1967 orange short box step side .
I miss my old man .

[Myoldtruck]

Dad had a oil delivery business back in the day. The one truck was a 69 C50, 327 and 4spd. I was 16 back in 83, have alot of good memories of dad when we would work together. Me bouncing off the seat, no seat belts in that truck.

He taught me how to drive his 68 chevy van with 3 ott when I was 12.

[hotrodder]

My Dad had a body shop and our shop trucks were a 66 chevy and a 72. The 66 was a more of the shop truck I guess. The 72 was red and white, custom. Man that was a beautiful truck. When my Dad passed away I drove it behind the hearsh to the graveyard. I hope when I go my daughter will do the same for me.

[70 shorty]

My first ride in a similar truck was my uncle's 63 shortbed fleetside, 283 powerglide truck. this was probably in the late 70's. I remember it well even though I was only in elementary school. My first ride in a 67-72 was in 69 or 70 (I can't remember) shortbed stepside that a church youth group leader had, and I remember riding in a middle jump seat because it had aftermarket bucket seats. It was a 3spd on the floor, white with gold wagon wheels. The first time I drove one was just moving it around the yard, and it was a 71 or 72 longbed fleetside 6cylinder 3 spd moved to the floor. The first real drive in one was the one I own.

[dan42]

In the spring of '79, I got a job working on a cattle/dry farming ranch while I was in college in San Luis Obispo, and the rancher had a beat up '69 short bed step side that I think was his truck originally, and he handed it down to the ranch hands. It was light blue and a little rusty, the front end was completely worn out (don't go faster than 45!) and the body looked like it had been used for a pinata, but it always started and went wherever you wanted it to go. Fell in love with them right then and there.

[FirstOwner69]

Oh boy... here I go almost disclosing my age again!

In late November, 1969, my wife and I were hunting for a truck and camper in southern California after seeing many heading north from California for the Utah deer season in mid-October on what was fast becoming I-15. We were young, no kids and both employed, so we figured we could swing a new truck and camper. About November 15, we walked into the Chevy dealer in Yorba Linda (Barton's) and drove a new leftover maroon 1969 CST/20 with buckets, A/C etc. and decided that was THE TRUCK we wanted. We signed the purchase agreement (attached) on November 20 and bought the camper the next day. Frankly, it's the only 68-72 I've ever driven.... and still (rarely) drive after the frame-off restoration I completed in 2014.

[Boog]

It’s easy to see why you were attracted to that one.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

Oh boy... here I go almost disclosing my age again!

In late November, 1969, my wife and I were hunting for a truck and camper in southern California after seeing many heading north from California for the Utah deer season in mid-October on what was fast becoming I-15. We were young, no kids and both employed, so we figured we could swing a new truck and camper. About November 15, we walked into the Chevy dealer in Yorba Linda (Barton's) and drove a new leftover maroon 1969 CST/20 with buckets, A/C etc. and decided that was THE TRUCK we wanted. We signed the purchase agreement (attached) on November 20 and bought the camper the next day. Frankly, it's the only 68-72 I've ever driven.... and still (rarely) drive after the frame-off restoration I completed in 2014.

Awesome truck and story!

[joeydurango]

Some great stories on this thread - good idea Tim!

My first ride was in a 69 or 70 C10 LWB, when I was about 10. My family was money-poor (but experience- and relationship-rich), and we always drove total POS vehicles. One cold winter night we were making our 1.5-hour drive home from visiting the grandparents in the city, and our car broke down somewhere between suburbia and the sticks. Thankfully we were close to one of my dad's fellow ironworker's homes, and my dad hitched a ride there. He came back a while later driving his co-worker's brother's Hugger Orange C10. All of us (four kids plus Mom) piled into the bench seat, and homeward we drove. Somewhere along the line my dad decided he wanted to see what the truck would do, knowing the owner was somewhat of a motorhead... so the right foot went down, all barrels opened up, we went screaming down the road, and I was hooked. I've wanted one of these trucks ever since. Finally made it happen in 2013, and on my second one now.

Funny thing about the guy that owned that C10 - he swore up and down that when he acquired that truck, it got 80mpg. According to his story, word got out about that and one day some suits with wrenches showed up in his southern Indiana garage. They pulled off whatever doohickey was in place of the stock QJ, left him a QJ in its place, and he never got better than 12mpg again. GM/oil companies conspiracy!

[allchevy58]

My dad bought a new 1972 C10 stepside, in 1974 I got my permit, he let drive from Reno to southern California. He sold it when he bought a new 1976 K10 which I still have.

[jbailly]

The '67 C-60 Dump truck my cousin's had was my first introduction to these. I never drove one until a buddy in high school had one

[Rufas]

My first experience was when my Dad purchase his 1970 GMC 2500 new in 1970

What it looked like when he had it.

Now

[Chevyland]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Gramps had a 1970 cst20 custom camper, two tone hugger orange and white. I rode in it all the time as a kid and loved the symmetrical glovebox and gauge cluster.

That basically my same story
My grandfather’s was medium red and white.
Chino, California
To me, the interior dash board is one of the best designs ever!!
On any automobile
When I started my company in 86 the first truck was a 72 custom
And for over 25 years all I drove was 69-72 trucks
So many were drove into the ground
Now most have been upgraded
The one on the left is the last one standing
I bought the other 69 dump shown for $1500
Beat it up for around 20 years, it Never broke down
I ended up selling it a few years back for $1400
I guess renting a dump truck for 20 years for $100
Was a good return on investment
Thanks, grandpa

[tim71]

My first time owning this era of truck was 1992 when I purchased a 71 short bed C10 at the Super Chevy show in Indianapolis. There was a large crowd around the truck and the owner (with title in hand) was intent on selling his truck that day (that hour actually ). I made him a slightly less than reasonable offer and he accepted. The truck was great fun to drive and I owned it for 3 years until I decided I wanted a corvette. Since I've owned a 72 Blazer and currently own my favorite, a 71GMC short bed K1500 that I restored. Oh yea, my first impression was that theses trucks look great and are fun to drive.

[LEEVON]

I the 80's we had a neighbor named Wayne. He worked in GM truck plants for over 30 years and was retired. He had a '72 Cheyenne Super blue/white short bed 4wd with every option and a bunch of add-on stuff like CB, tissue holder, etc. He walked it down the line himself. He would let my Dad and I borrow the truck to make dump runs. When it came time for us to find a project for me, we must have looked at 100 old vehicles...and when we saw my '71 blue/white short bed, she was the one. Bought it in 1994 at age 14. Dad was convinced they were the next big thing in hot rods, he wasn't wrong.

[Rufas]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

Oh boy... here I go almost disclosing my age again!

In late November, 1969, my wife and I were hunting for a truck and camper in southern California after seeing many heading north from California for the Utah deer season in mid-October on what was fast becoming I-15. We were young, no kids and both employed, so we figured we could swing a new truck and camper. About November 15, we walked into the Chevy dealer in Yorba Linda (Barton's) and drove a new leftover maroon 1969 CST/20 with buckets, A/C etc. and decided that was THE TRUCK we wanted. We signed the purchase agreement (attached) on November 20 and bought the camper the next day. Frankly, it's the only 68-72 I've ever driven.... and still (rarely) drive after the frame-off restoration I completed in 2014.

That's a great looking truck and a great story.

[special-K]

My first visual impression was when they were the brand new change from the previous style that I loved, which was also when I first saw a Camaro and the two combined were pure WOW! Actually, the change in the Fullsize styling went right along with those two as well.

My first real life visual impression was the brand new medium green '67 K/20 my next door neighbor buddies' dad drove. The family had a big masonry contracting business and all the trucks were Chevys that color. He had a '65 K/20 before that. I've been a K/20 nut ever since.

My first driving impression? That can come in another thread. But I was a teenager through this period, being 17 in '72, and these were just Chevy trucks they were going to make forever back then. I had a particular fondness for these from the git, but back then a cool old Chevy truck was a '50s, these were everyday trucks, and the '60s trucks were just the older trucks you still saw everywhere. Saw a lot of '50s trucks still working, too. Especially po' folk. I remember seeing '50s pickups mounded with watermelons or piled high with scrap metal, bumper almost dragging, making yet another trip for cash. I also remember, no matter what year in time, old Chevy trucks being either looking run hard & put away wet/still earning keep or in crazy good shape for it's age. There were a lot of original owners of these trucks, say about the WWII generation, who bought these trucks new and treated them like gems. Many garage kept low mile like never before or after. Many kept these trucks as the last truck they ever needed. These are all things I especially appreciate about these trucks

[Coley]

Ok...I'll contribute too.
My first truck at 16 was a '54 Chev 5 window 1/2 ton with a 324 olds/hydramatic combination....which was a fun, but somewhat unruly truck and transportation.

I wasn't fully aware of the 67-'72's back then but 2 things changed my mind relative to wanting to get one of them.
The first was a fellow worker of my Dads had a 71 or '72 Chevy with the eggcrate grill...and I loved the look of that truck.
As well a friend of mine always drove his Dad's (ochre/white) 71' GMC and he took me around for a few rides in it from time to time.
I was really impressed at how easily it drove and rode with a lot more creature comforts than my '54....plus it was a much nicer looking truck.
He said they would take $3500 for it...which I didn't have....but that truck always stuck with me.

Well, I didn't end up with one until '91 when I was living in Toronto and I walked by a beautiful '72 blue/white highlander on the way to a concert....and it just floored me.

Little did I know I would end up buying that very same truck about 2-3 months later (I have a pic of it somewhere)....and happily selling my Jeep CJ7 to do so.

All good
Coley

[cornerstone]

When I moved out of my house to go to college, and soon after made friends with my future wife, I grew close to her uncle. Loyd Stephens was lineman for "Ma'Bell" as he called it, and I admired him for his hard work ethic combined with a quiet happy nature. Loyd bought his 72 longbed c10 in solid ochre, and ordered it from the local dealership with manual steering and no AC. When the Texas summer hit the following few months, he had the dealer install an underdash AC system, which never did really cool the truck very well. He was a meticulous mechanic and ran a small engine repair business out of his garage. Loyd kept a list of all the service the truck received, from tire pressure changes to carb rebuilds, in precise cursive. He loved his chevy truck. Laura (his wife) wasn't allowed to drive it because of some incident that involved a dent and a luby's cafeteria parking lot. I never got to hear all of the details, lol. Loyd had a few acres and was always having to run to the dump to unload all the limbs he would trim to keep his place looking nice. That's when I first was introduced to the truck. I specifically remember the heavy, solid feel the door had when I closed it. It had the stock 350/4 barrel and was powerful and quiet, much like its owner. When he was getting to the point of loosing strength I converted it to power steering, and he thought it was the best. Eventually Loyds Alzheimer condition worsened to the point that he needed to stay somewhere with round the clock care. Even so, he still would ask about his truck. When Loyd passed, in 1998, I was so glad that his wife, and my friend, Laura was willing to sell me the truck.
I drove the truck as a daily driver for a couple of years but eventually caved in because of the lack of cool air blowing from the vents. I'm now in the process of making it a worthy daily again, and lovin' it!