I spent a summer driving one of these when I was in high school, and I liked it quite a bit (once I got used to the three-on-the-tree gearshift). Bouncy, squeaky, and rattly, but not much to go wrong and plenty of style.


Back in '63, the base C10 Stepside cost $2,009. That got you the indestructo-grade 230-cubic-inch I6, which would get the truck up to highway speed even with several old refrigerators in the bed… eventually. The '63 Ford F100 Flareside was priced at a near-identical $2,002, but the real truck steal of 1963 was the Dodge D100 Sweptline, which could be had for just $1,823.


Here's another multiple-DOTS block; the '69 Skylark Custom is just down the block. The '84 Porsche 928 and '64 Dodge Dart wagon are just around the corner, too.

You hear a lot about the Toyota Land Cruiser, but don't forget that Nissan also made an off-road truck back in the day! That's right, we mean the Nissan Patrol, and you can get this '69 (go here if the ad disappears) for under a thousand bucks. Well, that's the asking price; reading the statement "i have it parked behind my house in Norwood and sold the house so I need to n move it" and checking out the photos makes us think the real price might be a lot lower. It ran when parked "a few years ago" (probable translation: 1995), and Colorado is pretty dry- probably not much rust. How hard could it be?

Let's look at the question of which vintage 4-wheel-drive to get in a different way: say you're an African warlord and you need to move your stash of gold bars and AK-47s across the border before some up-and-coming regional strongman takes it away from you. What vehicle do you want to use? No, you can't have a Toyota Hilux- that's against the rules of this game. That's right, you'll take an old Land Rover! So when you're scouring the mossy, mildewy wilds of coastal Oregon for a nice off-road machine to take on the kind of camping trip that resembles the Bataan Death March, what's it going to be? You got it- this '1960ish' Land Rover (go here if the ad disappears). Sure, it needs everything replaced a little TLC, and the rust problem is terminal somewhat severe, but it's only $350! In a single sentence, the seller maps out the road in front of the next owner of this fine British machine: "Has motor where it should be but tranny parts are in back seat of vehical & does not run." See, the motor is where it should be! Easy project, for sure!

>

This truck is clearly a work truck, one of several associated with a Victorian under serious renovation, but it also appears to be in mid-restoration. Let's hope it doesn't stop going to work once it's fixed up.


Check out this beautiful dash layout, with its Space Age decorative touches! The column-shift manual! I'm pretty sure this is an F-100, but the body emblems appear to have been removed for the new paint job.

CARMAX ADVISES HOW TO AVOID FLOOD-DAMAGED CARS

RICHMOND, Va. (September 29, 2008)—In the wake of a destructive hurricane season that brought flooding to many areas of the country, CarMax, Inc., (NYSE: KMX), the nation’s largest retailer of used cars, is advising consumers on how to avoid purchasing flood-damaged vehicles.

“Consumers should be aware that some businesses and individuals may try to sell salvaged and flood-damaged cars without revealing the vehicle history,” said Gary Hickman, purchasing manager for CarMax in Houston, Texas. “Flood-damaged cars that are not structurally or mechanically sound could be repaired, re-titled, and sold to unsuspecting buyers.”

CarMax’s car-buying team offers ten tips for identifying a vehicle with possible flood damage:

1. Check for a moldy smell inside the car and feel the carpet for dampness
2. Ask questions about an older car with a brand new interior or carpeting
3. Check for rust under the brake or gas pedals
4. Look for dirt or rust under the dashboard and floor mats
5. Inspect the bolts and screws under the seats for evidence of rust
6. Check the undercarriage for excessive rust
7. Check inside the trunk under the carpet in the spare tire well area for rust, dirt or sand
8. Look for corrosion, water marks, or a thin brown line on the exterior of the vehicle
9. Check to see if the electrical system works
10. Check the VIN number with AutoCheck or Carfax to see whether a flood claim has been filed or a salvage title has been issued on the vehicle

CarMax provides a free AutoCheck vehicle history report for every used vehicle. CarMax’s team of approximately 900 car buyers nationwide is trained to detect whether a car has frame or flood damage. CarMax will not retail any car that has flood or frame damage or an odometer or title discrepancy.

[Carmax]

Sometimes you need to do a little Field Expedient Engineering to keep your doors shut, once you've turned over the odometer a few times. This truck has plenty of harmless surface rust, with every indication being that it's still about as solid as it was when LBJ was president (though the interior was a lot nicer back then).


Why did this truck's original buyer decide to go with The General's two-door rather than International Harvester's four-door, in spite of the Chevy costing nearly 20% more? Well, the Chevy could be had with the good ol' reliable 230 or 292 six, and the two-door just looks sportier. Still, with the passage of a decade or four, the IHC looks pretty good as well. Which would you have bought?

Jalopnik Snap Judgment: Obviously, gas falling below $4 a gallon is having some effect — unleaded suddenly seems like a bargain, and the short-sighted are likely convinced the energy crisis is over. But we think it's pretty humorous that Lutz is touting the recovery of the truck and SUV market just as GM is in the midst of a huge and well-advertised "employee pricing for everyone" sale. Of course sales are seeing an uptick; that's what incentives do. So, while we're happy for GM that they're able to clear some excess inventory, we're not quite ready to say the truck and SUV sales slide has bottomed out. [Bloomberg]

I'm chillin' in Austin this week, and one of the major hiking/Mountain bike trails here is the Green Belt. The house I'm at is right on it. Less then a 5 minute walk down the path is this 40s-50s(?) International Dump truck. Straight 6 and all. How it got there? No f-n clue, there is no reasonable way now days to get there with a truck. The only way it can be pulled out is by backing a crane down a 30-45 degree slope for a few hundred yards with anywhere from a 3 foot to 50 foot drop off, and hoist it out.

Just about the only working bits is the door, steering wheel, and the clutch moves, everything else has rusted into one solid piece, but still a solid truck... I was climbing all over it to clean out rocks for pics and to move around to get better pics. Has a massive straight 6, though I personally don't know what it is, I'm sure you would. The pics are under a CC 3.0 license

Most of the time, when I see a jacked-up 4x4 with big mud-slingin' tires in a context as distinctly urban as this, it strikes me as a silly vehicle. Not so with an International Harvester!


This Scout might not be a '72, but the grille is a '72. No doubt some parts have been swapped here or there, so there's no telling at a glance.


If it is a '72, the available engines were a (non-AMC) 304 V8 and a 196-cube four-cylinder. Base price with four-wheel-drive was a mere $3,340, midway between the $3,588 list for a Bronco wagon and the Blazer's $3,145 price tag. I'm pretty sure the vacuum gauge dangling from dash was a non-factory option.

Give it a coat of camouflage paint, install a water-cooled Vickers machine gun on a crude mount in the bed, and fill all available space with jungle/desert/mountain/urban fighters and maybe some looted livestock, and you'll see the Hilux in its natural element. It also looks good with a nice shiny paint job, parked in the battle-free East End of Alameda. In fact, this may be the cleanest 25-year-old Toyota truck I've ever seen; most others around here have seen 800,000 miles of hard use hauling plumbing supplies and drywall.


When you've got a Warlord Duty 22R under the hood, the hundreds of thousands of miles just fly right by. There's a much rougher '83 parked a few blocks from this truck, so residents of this neighborhood have the opportunity to see before-and-after examples of this legendary truck.

Ford claims to have re-engineered the number three crossmember, allowing it to provide more torsional and lateral rigidity, providing the extra strength needed for the increased rating. And we're not surprised Ford is crowing about it: With the importance of contractor and work-truck sales in the face of a diminishing consumer pickup market, capability is again going to be the deciding factor in a lot of truck purchases. [PickupTrucks.com]

It says something about Alameda that a solid 38-year-old Ford pickup doesn't even seem all that special at first glance; you see them all over the place here.


For the base '70 F250 Custom pickup, you paid $2,780 and got a 150-horse six-cylinder engine. The Camper Special package added big mirrors, heavy-duty alternator and cooling system, and some extra gauges. You could get the 300 six or your choice of V8s in 302-, or 360-, or 390-cubic-inch displacements if you started eyeballing the options list.


This truck appears to have the Boxwood Green two-tone paint job; the "Custom" badging went on all the non-platform/stake F250s that year.

In '56, your half-ton Chevy pickup came standard with the 140-horse OHV six for the list price of $1,670. If that wasn't enough power for you, the 265 small-block was available.


Is that a propane tank? If this truck burns 'pane, it should be cheaper to operate than it would be on gas.


Now that we have a nice '56 Chevy truck to go with the nice '56 Ford truck we saw a few months ago, we have no choice but to have a poll to determine the readers' favorite.

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Pics taken at C.I.A. Salvage, Limerick Maine- May 5, 2008. I'll leave it to you to wax poetic about the cars if you so choose and/or make jokes at rural Maine's expense, etc.
1) 1946-48 Dodge sedan
2) hood mascot of same
3) 1952 Kaiser Manhattan
4) same
5) 1955 Kaiser Manhattan
6) 1957 Ford firetruck, January 08
7) same, May 08
8) 1960s Falcon Clubwagon
9) 1964 Imperial Crown Coupe- one of 5233
10) tailpanel mascot of same
11) rear side view
12) 1966 Plymouth Belvedere II- 273 V8/auto, For Sale sign on windshield
asking $2K
13) nose of same
14) rear 3/4 of same
15) 1967 Chevy Bel Air
16) 1968 Olds F85
17) nose of same
18) 1968 Mercury Monterey
19) 1968 Plymouth Valiant Signet
20) 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger
21) nose of same
22) 1969 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S
23) badge
24) 1970 Dart Swinger
25) rear view of same
26) 1970-71 Dodge pickup
27) 1970s Opel- I don't know anything about these, maybe you can fill in
the year etc.
28) 1972 Plymouth Scamp
29) rear view of same
30) 1974 Dart Swinger
31) 1974 Buick Estate
32) same

"GM recently canceled two GMC product programs. The next-generation GMC Acadia program is the first program to be cut from the product plans at GMC. Originally the Acadia was slated to stay on with the next generation lineup of Lambda crossovers...however, that has obviously changed.

The next GMC product program to get sliced was the GMC Lambda SUT program. GM is currently working on two Lambda SUT's to combat the truck market with higher fuel efficiency. Chevrolet and GMC were both going to get a variant of the Lambda truck around the 2011-2012 time-frame. However, like its Acadia brother, this GMC has too bit the dust within the product plans at GM. That leaves only the GMC Theta program running (to replace the Pontiac Torrent) between now and 2012."

As you can see, Alameda is quite close to downtown San Francisco; as the crow flies, it's about five miles away. If you're not a crow and decide to drive your truck over there, however, it feels like about 100 hellish bumper-to-bumper miles. Fortunately, there's a ferry from Alameda to SF, and they sell beer on board.


In '68, you shelled out $2,541 for a base GMC 2500 pickup, versus $2,547 for the Chevy equivalent. Either way, the standard engine was the tough 250-inch inline six, with the 292 six and a variety of small- and big-block V8s available for those with extra bucks. I'm thinking the 292 with three-on-the-tree sounds like a good setup.


Even if gas prices hit 10 bucks, there will still be a place for simple, reliable pickups like this one. Houses will still need to be built and landscaping gear will still need to be hauled.

Say, how about a poll to start the week? We've seen quite a few pickups from GMC and Chevrolet in this series, and we want to know which one is the crowd favorite. Will the mid-60s trucks split the vote? Will the '71 Chevy with the rare "double cab" option take the win? Vote, and vote some more!

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

In a remarkably candid statement revealing where dealerships actually make their money, Poncho Redfern, president of San Francisco-based Thomason Auto Group, said

"...you can't outrun it in F&I. There's only so much you can honestly earn in that department. This wreaks havoc on the bottom line. We see people with $10,000 in negative equity.

A dealer does not have enough room to help the customer out of it."

Attached is a Truck I found in a Canadian Tire parking lot in Oakville Ontario, Canada while I was on lunch getting a
fan belt for my car. I Had to take a picture of it with my cell phone. The Chinese writing caught my eye and the fact
that it looks like it came out of an old Jackie Chan movie, With bad dubbing and all.

Didn't want to get to close just in case it really was Jackie Chan's truck and he might kick my ass for laughing at
it... Never know.. haha

Gotta love the welded on hand made.... cow catcher on the front? WTF is that about?

The story would have been even better if the guy tried to pay for the truck with the cash he stole, on the spot, with the salesman. [Edmonton Journal]

The report also mentioned cancellation of a future Hummer product and the potential shuttering of a brand, though no concrete evidence has emerged to clarify whether the Hummer product cancellation and brand closure were one in the same (Hummer) or whether Hummer might be allowed to die on the vine while another weak brand, such as Buick, was closed outright or moved off-shore. [Automotive News (Sub. Req.)]

Editor-in-Chief

This weekend the world record for jumping a truck was set in Plattsburgh, New York when Chris Morena jumped a Dodge pickup over two tractor trailers end to end... and then some! Total flight was 193 feet. Here's the word from Gene, who shot and edited the video (he used four cameras).

It took place at Airborne Park Speedway and was part of a special show called Carmegedon which featured trailer races, demo derby, the usual smash em trash em stuff. The highlight of course was this World Record Attempt by Chris Morena who was driving for Brian Carson who put on the stunt portion of the show. The truck was bone stock off a local dealers back lot, it got a full roll cage, Chris's racing style seat and harnesses as well as a big chunk of metal welded in the far back of the bed to keep the truck kind of level in the air.

I talked to Chris prior to the jump and he said he had plans to land on the SUV and Minivan in the middle of the white cars, as they would offer the most shock absorption. The direction of the jump was changed from the plans on the night before to allow him a better chance at getting enough speed, he figured 65-70mph would do. He said the worse then that could happen would be to land on either side of the cars on the ground as it would really rock his world. Then he went on to overshoot all the cars and land on the ground anyway LOL. The jump was going to be 160ft but ended up going 193ft and as far as anyone can tell, it is the world record for jumping a production truck.

Thanks Gene!

World Record Truck Jump - Watch more free videos

The standard powerplant for the '69 C10 was the General's reliable 250-cube inline six, but you could get the added grunt of the mighty 292 or any of the usual small- and big-block Chevy V8s.


We see another fine example of California-style rust here; it's taken nearly 40 years to get to this point. Most likely the cab interior smells like mildew during the rainy winter months, but so what? It still hauls stuff!


Though one must wonder how expensive gas needs to get before all the 30- and 40-year-old Detroit-built work pickups are retired in favor of newfangledy fuel-injected ones that have leather-trimmed cupholders and get (somewhat) better mileage. $6/gallon? $7?

Editor-in-Chief

This was the craziest thing I saw Sunday at the All Mopar Spring Round-Up in Issaquah. It's a '37 Plymouth pickup with a 500 cubic inch Cadillac engine out of a FWD Eldorado—in the bed. Just check out that exhaust. Gary, who built this radical rod, has had it up to 120 mph and has plans to take it out to the Salt Flats later this year. More pics after the jump.

It turns out that this truck is owned by the guy who runs the Alameda Naval Air Museum, and all the costumed folks hanging around (including a guy in full Indiana Jones gear and some fur-hatted Rooskies) were getting ready to attend the grand opening of the newly restored Alameda Theater, which had been closed for 30 years and was showing an Indiana Jones premiere. Sure, this International normally lives in a museum, but I caught it parked on the street- it's fair DOTS game!


Why Red Army soldiers plan to ride to the movies in a truck done up in USMC colors is a bit hard to figure out, but the costumes were quite good and this truck looks reasonably complete.


I'm hoping that military-vehicle expert (and my ex-coworker) Clinto can give us some more details on this old soldier; I'll need to head down to the ANAM later on and see what other vehicles they've got.

The standard engine on the '65 Chevy pickup was the good ol' reliable 230-cube six-cylinder. Hey, wouldn't it be fun to swap in the Pontiac OHC version of this engine? OK, not as much fun as putting that engine in a Nova.


I had the use of one of these trucks for a while, and it was my first experience with a three-on-the-tree gearshift. Once I got the hang of it, I felt pretty cool.


It ain't a pickup if the bed ain't got no crap! Shovel, busted-up pallet- standard-issue Real Truck Stuff.

This might be a '42, but the short production run that year (in the month or two prior to GM switching over to vehicles that went "boom" instead of "vroom") means we're probably looking at a '41. You Chevy truck experts who can tell us more, please do so.


Either way, this truck is one of the oldest DOTS vehicles yet, either third-oldest or tied for fourth. The really impressive thing is that its owner uses it for everyday transportation; the guy who goes grocery shopping in his '45 Jeep must be jealous.


For '41, your Chevy truck came with a 90-horse six equipped with those newfangled overhead valves and a not-so-newfangled, not-so-pressurized oiling system that involved spritzes of oil aimed in the general direction of the connecting rods (actually, this system worked pretty well, but it still seems somehow wrong).

I'm not 100% sure that this Dodge is a '62; it might be a '63. Year-to-year changes were pretty subtle for work trucks back then. This example has the classic California body rust, which generally takes decades to get all the way through the sheet metal (unless you live right near the ocean, in which case the process happens much more quickly).


Sheet of plywood, air cleaner element, random junk? Present and accounted for!


The standard engine in these trucks was the 225-inch Slant Six, with the 318 A engine available for those who wanted more power. Imagine a truck this size today being sold with just 140 horsepower, two doors, and no chrome- unacceptable!

Today we're going with a somewhat different format, because today's tipster (and Project Car Hell Tipster T-shirt winner), UDMan found both cars sitting on trailers in upstate New York and photographed them himself:

I took these pictures at a Fabrication Shop called Tom's Hot Rod & Fab Shop, in East Syracuse, NY. (315) 701-4441. They were sitting on a trailer in front of the shop, and they were at a show a couple of weeks ago. I took a look at them, and there is still a lot of work to do on them, but are actually rebuildable (well, I couldn't do it, but a lot of guys on here could).

Then there's the 1937 Pontiac Sedan, with a 91 Caprice Police Package LT4, with AOD, New IFS Suspension, New Steering Column, New Power Rack, Wire harness from the Caprice, Original Lights, New Glass Included, Power Seats (Front and Rear!), Billet Dash (though I didn't take a look inside), Miscellaneous parts with the car, Shift Kit, and Rosewood Steering Wheel! Minimal Rust, needs lots of finishing. Has Title, and only $12,990 OBO.

It's a 1929 Ford PU, with a new chassis, a Mustang II Front End with Rack & Pinion Steering, Front Disc Brakes, Ford Rear End, 350CI Chevrolet, Turbohydramatic, all rust has been expelled, patch panels come with the truck. Carb will be included. It needs finishing.... $10,500 OBO.

I've seen this beast several times (on sunny days), but never when I had my camera with me. So, of course, the day I've got it with me, it's later in the day and the sky's threatening rain and snow.

It evidently is owned by the guy who owns the repair shop, and the story I got from a couple of the guy's who work there is as follows:10-12 years ago, the owner (who's a big Diamond T fan) started wondering what a Diamond T roadster would look like - if they had built one. The story was that they really had, but no pictures could be found. There evidently was an outfit called either Close Enough Engineering or Close Enough Cars here in Seattle, and they started with the nose of a 1947 truck, used the front fenders to fabricate the rears, used the gauges, dash, I believe he used the frame, and the wheels and axles. A Chevy V-8, handbuilt metal body (wood for the rear), real Brooklands windscreens, and a holster for his pistol mounted on the firewall in the cab. It could use a little TLC under the hood, and the wood needs to be varnished again, but it's driven pretty regularly during the summer.