Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Let's celebrate the Auto Show with an old-school Chevy truck!
Who would have thought, back in the early 70s, that GM's most profitable vehicles- and the focus of its best stylists and engineers- a few decades later would be body-on-frame trucks? That more Americans would be commuting in them than hauling stuff in them? This Custom Deluxe might not be a great choice for a comfy, bounce-and-rattle-free commute, but it's got more luxury touches than did the plain ol' Custom. That's right, the base 1/2-ton Chevy pickup in '71 was named the Custom, which should have meant that a team of pinstripe and airbrush artists made gave each one unique custom touches after it rolled off the line… but in practice was just marketing magic.
This truck lives just across the street from the 1919 Ford Model T Touring. This isn't the first of The General's 1971 trucks we've seen in this series; this big-block Chevy pickup, this super-clean '71 Blazer, and this '71 GMC pickup may also be found on the island.