Why this Generation Truck?

[VictoriaHardware]

My first "car" was a '65 C10 pickup. It had a 327 w/ 3 on the tree. I don't recall a lot of thought going into the purchase- I was 14. Over time the stylng kinda grew on me. Now I love them partly because they are unusual. Look at the entire Chevrolet lineup for the early 60's and there's not an ugly one in the bunch. An era when Bill Mitchell was in charge of GM Styling.

[64tantruck]

My grandfather had a 65, when I was learning to frive he still had it in 91. He's gone now, but everytime I drive mine, I think of him

Glenn

[LIVE RUST]

One day at around 11 years old I came home from school and sitting in the driveway was a 1966 GMC 4x4 Step/Short that my older brother had bought and I went banannas. He drove it for a few years and dismantled it for resto, then put it in a pile behind his body shop. At 15 years old I was given the pile. With help from my dad and brother, I was driving a 66 GMC 4x4 for my first vehicle. This was 1983 and even back then the thing would stop people in their tracks(now that I think back it could have been from all the noise, smoke, guns in the back window and beer cans falling out of the holes in the floor). My friends and I were amazed at the how slow and powerful it was in 4 low and appropriatley named it Grunt. Thirty years later and I still love the things.

[LostMy65]

Because I miss my grandpa.
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[jesseo]

My dad gave me his 62 fleet side that he had used for years in his painting company. Was my 1st rig and fell in love. Had I knew enough to change the 4:10 rear end so I could go over 55 I would never have sold it.

[kieth]

I went to work at the Admiral Twin Drive In, in 1962, made 75 cents per hour I was 12, picked up trash, mowed, and then did it again the next day. They had a older ford pickup that we drove around to work out of but it wasn't until late 1963 that we got a new chevy short wide, 6 cylinder, 3 speed on the tree. We had a blast with that truck, popped wheelies over the ramps, learned how to drive, and just had a lot of fun with it. I am large enough that I did not like the knee knocker cab so when I started looking I wanted a 64 to 66. The theme of my build was just a little better than stock. But we did paint it the same color and while putting 11,000 miles on the 66 since finishing it I do not think I would do anything different. 1st car to really drive a lot.........Kieth

[Budman56]

same year I was born, no smog, unlimited design ideals, no car or truck built today will be around in 50 yrs but mine will be.....

[1964Chevy]

When I turn 50 so does my truck.

[TommyDuncan]

My grandpa bought a 65 new along with an overhead camper and a boat. It was passed down to my uncle, then my dad, and back and forth.

That truck became connected to almost everything we did that was fun...

...we towed dunebuggies to Pismo Beach and slept in the camper. It was made of knotty pine inside and had a smell I will never forget.

When I got my first dirtbike we took it out to the dry lake in the Chevy.

Our family car was a Frod van. We bought a big heavy boat and the wimpy C4 couldn't survive the 7 mile trip up the hill from Lake Mead. The truck had a 283 with a granny 4 speed so we had the motor rebuilt and it became the boat hauler. It was a hard boat to get on the trailer right so my dad would stand on the trailer and I could just let out the clutch and it would tug the boat out of the water no problem.

My dad's buddy had a Frod with a 390 and he would make fun of us for going up the hill so slow(4.56s were part of the boat pulling rebuild).
One day his clutch went out while he was putting the boat on the trailer. We hooked the Chevy up to his truck and pulled them all the way home at about 20mph. It didn't overheat or anything! More than I can say for his truck...

My brother kept getting in trouble so my dad sold the truck.

Fast forward to recent times...

I was trying to trade my Jeepster Commando for a 55 Chevy truck. It didn't work out but it did make me reminisce about the 65. I decide to look for a 63 Stepside because it was part 50s style AND similar to the 65. A buddy of mine just inherited a long step 63 that didn't run so I traded a KLR650 for it. Now I am gathering parts and getting ready to fix it up a little. It will make a great hauler for my 63 Nova SS convertible.
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[LostMy65]

Grandpa

[pimpston65]

i picked mine to be different then all the tri-5's that were out there and were commanding high bucks!!! i bought my 65 pickup in 98'. the 66 burban was just an easy transition because i already took the 65 apart so it was well known to me, plus i could use the 66 to figure how to put my 65 back together, hehe!!!

[MikeN]

Originally Posted by oem4me

They are old enough to be clearly vintage, not so old as to be a relic.

Agreed. These trucks make nice drivers, trucks you can use and enjoy on an every day basis.

[62stepside longbox]

My dad had one for his first car and I saw pictures of it when I was a couple years old and knew I wanted one. The body is very distinct, you can tell a 60-66 from a mile away. Unlike anything newer, they have real character and both the styling and the trucks themselves were built to work and withstand time. They aren't like the muscle cars where if the oil filter is wrong people will notice. No matter what you do to these trucks, wether it's a restoration or a pro-touring, people will say " hey, that's cool".

[kepi]

I've always wanted a truck, not a car, and I wanted one from my birth year. When I started looking at trucks from 1966, the Chevys and GMCs were the best looking. They have the most unique body style and I love the look of the short step-side. I chose a GMC because it was more rare. Then I found out how rare when I started looking for small GMC only parts like headlight bezels and emblems. Now, I like the fact that you don't see very many of them around, but all of the older guys at car shows remember when they, or a friend, used to have one and they wished they still did.

[joe dirt]

for ir it had a lot to do with the fact that my step dad gave me his 63 chev that was rundown pretty bad and didn't have a motor or trans and was buried in the sticker bushes on his property,..i was only in middle school, so I couldn't afford to fix anything or work on it,..but I continued to buys stuff for it and dream about it for years,...heck it was my first truck I never even got to hear run....he sold it about 5 years ago with all the stuff I picked up for it over the years....20 years of kinda owning that truck that I couldn't even see due to the sticker bushes was gone!!!!...ive owned a few 67-72 trucks that were pretty nice, but they never filled the gap,...when my 61 came along I was able to snatch it up....I instantly got that warm feeling in my heart that I had 20 years ago when I had dreams of that old 63 in the field...I sometimes picture myself in my 61 as if im cruising in that old 63...crazy right?...lol

[bigwin59]

When I pulled the 62 c10 out of a field my son wanted it. Flash forward 2 years it will be his 1st truck. Hopefully it will go to paint in a few weeks. We took out the inline 6, replaced with a 350, gave it a 700r4 trans, powder coated the wagon wheel rims, separated the brakes and putting in a tilt wheel and bucket seats. He put his build on instagram c10build_flatwhite.

[LostMy65]

With the hood up, it's so easy to access everything.

[Johns 66]

For me it was an old country road, I was 6 years old standing in the seat of my uncle 63 Chevy Stepside....windows down, wore out glass packs, 283 with a nice cam and he buried the needle....the sound of those ole glasspacks were music to my ears and from that moment on I was hooked.....all those years ago ( 43) and I can still hear that sound....love it love it love it....and besides...whats cooler than this...the second pic runs a close second..but I'm a truck guy at heart

[dieseldude4bt]

My first truck , my Grandfather bought it for me when I graduated from high school for $300


It's changed over the years




But I still have it 35 years latter.

[LostMy65]

The last of the curves.

[studeclunker]

My Dad had a 1960 Apache C10. He loved his truck and it came to him from the factory in a nondescript brown. Dad repainted it dark green with a white roof. Our '56 wagon was also the same colour. It was funny how the log truck drivers always thought they were forestry vehicles and so were always very courteous to us.

[65chevysub]

Originally Posted by Johns 66

For me it was an old country road, I was 6 years old standing in the seat of my uncle 63 Chevy Stepside....windows down, wore out glass packs, 283 with a nice cam and he buried the needle....the sound of those ole glasspacks were music to my ears and from that moment on I was hooked.....all those years ago ( 43) and I can still hear that sound....love it love it love it....and besides...whats cooler than this...the second pic runs a close second..but I'm a truck guy at heart

Nice 56. Our best friend has the exact same car, color and all that he built from a torn apart race car. When I saw yours, I thought he had bought a Chevy truck as well.

[65chevysub]

Originally Posted by kpc01

I like the different lines and just the overall look. When I finally decided to get out of the "newer" stuff I looked at a lot of older vehicles. I knew I wanted something different. The hood setup, the body lines were important, also the fact that theres sites like this that make it somewhat easy to get information and parts for it. I ended up with a 64 Suburban and I can't say I've ever seen one in person aside from car shows and meets.

I couldn't agree with you more. I have a 65 Suburban, and at the shows I go to, the stories I hear about how this guy had one that he used for his job, or this lady whose dad had one when she was a kid. I love it because it's "original", not a jellybean like everything today. The new 2017-2018 Suburban looks like a Hearse now...too square.

[pimpston65]

i liked this era cuz the tri5's were everywhere. and the 67-72 were getting up there in prices too...

[64 Stepside]

It's the first gen C10. It rhymes.