This week on Shitbox Showdown, after spending a week abroad, we’re sticking with vehicles made in the good ol’ US of A. We’re going to go decade-by-decade, sticking to a $5,000 price cap, and trying to find the best of what domestic brands had to offer. And we kick the whole thing off with two examples of that quintessentially American beast of burden, the full-size long-bed pickup truck.
We finished up our international week on Friday with two cars from a generally car-unfriendly place: Jamaica. Cars are more necessities than playthings on tropical islands, and the vehicles you find for sale reflect that. But I always find it interesting what vehicles thrive in places like that. The little Suzuki Swift put up a good fight, but many of you wished it had a manual transmission. Nobody cared much either way about the drivetrain in the more utilitarian Toyota Probox, and it took home a comfortable win.
The Probox is exactly what I would want in Jamaica – for someone else to drive. It’s just about the perfect island taxi. Throw your luggage in the back, climb into the back seat where the driver has the air conditioning cranked, and let the reggae wash over you as you watch the scenery go by. My wife and I are going back there in October for our 20th wedding anniversary, and I can almost smell the jerk chicken from here.
Trucks have been around as long as cars have, but it’s Henry Ford who’s usually credited with coining the term “pickup.” The 1925 Model T Pickup was the first complete factory-built truck; earlier efforts were built by coachbuilding firms on bare chassis. Pickup trucks came into their own after World War II, when drivers started using them as everyday transportation rather than strictly for business. By the 1960s, the basic template for the standard truck was set: a two-door cab with three-across seating, an eight-foot bed, and a bit of style to keep things interesting. Let’s check out a couple of scruffy examples.
1967 GMC C1500 Deluxe – $5,000
Engine/drivetrain: 292 cubic inch OHV inline 6, three-speed manual, RWD
Location: Olalla, WA
Odometer reading: 91,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives fine
The 1967-72 Chevy and GMC pickups were given the name “Action Line” by GM’s marketing team. These trucks were a step up in refinement over previous GM trucks, and set the stage for the long-running “Rounded Line” trucks that followed, which, ironically these days go by the nickname “squarebody.” The Action Line trucks are prized among Chevy/GMC truck enthusiasts, and have recently become the subject of overpriced restomods. But if you are willing to shift your own gears and put up with a more authentic experience, you can have this GMC for one percent of the price of that Icon restomod.
This truck is the most basic of basic models, with no power steering or brakes, and an inline six instead of a V8. Two sizes of inline sixes were offered, 250 and 292 cubic inches. It’s hard to tell the difference between the two, but I believe this is a 292. It drives the rear axle through an honest-to-goodness three-on-the-tree, which is something every enthusiast should try driving at some point. It runs and drives, but that’s about all the information we get. This drivetrain is about as complicated as an anvil, so anything it does need should be easy to take care of.
It’s actually in pretty good shape inside. There’s a tear in the driver’s side of the seat, and a little wear on the door panels, but for a fifty-nine-year-old truck, it’s surprisingly well preserved. I have a feeling that the glovebox is open because the latch is broken, though. But stuff like that is the kind of thing you fix on a Saturday morning while you’re puttering around.
Any old truck worth its salt has some dents and rust. Clean and shiny trucks are all right, I guess, but to me they always look kind of sad, like they’re longing to go do some work. It does need one thing before it’s ready to haul stuff, though: like many older trucks, the Action Line has a wooden bed floor, and this one needs to be replaced. The seller has not replaced it, because they thought the buyer might want to choose the wood themselves.
1968 Dodge D100 Sweptline – $4,250
Engine/drivetrain: 318 cubic inch OHV V8, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Lake Oswego, OR
Odometer reading: unknown
Operational status: Runs and drives OK, needs a little work
Ford and Chevy trucks from the ’60s get all the glory, but for those in the know, there is a stylish third choice: the Dodge D series, especially in the “Sweptline” bed style. This truck’s square-jawed front end and that long “check-mark” crease along the bed side are unmistakable and stand out in a crowd of more common Fords and Chevys. This is a later Sweptline, with a more prominent grille and only two headlights.
As is typical of pickups, the D series was available with a wide range of engines, from a 225 cubic inch Slant Six all the way up to a 440 big block V8. This one has a smallish 318 V8, backed by a four-speed manual. It has a “granny” first gear, though, so in normal driving, it’s really a three-speed. You start out in second, unless you’re hauling or towing a big load. It runs and drives, and the seller says you can drive it home if you’re not too far away, but warns that it has a vibration around 30 MPH, but not below or above that. Its carburetor could use a rebuild as well, they say, but I doubt the two are related.
The seller says this truck is missing its carpet, and has had its bench seat replaced with more modern buckets, but neglected to take a photo to show all that. Instead, we get this shot of the dashboard, and the neighbor’s cars across the street. The dashboard is in good condition, at least. I’m pretty sure I had that exact same Sony tape deck in a car once upon a time.
It has rust, and dents, and Bondo, but it’s in a great shade of blue, and it has all four original hubcaps. The Bondo is the part that scares me. Rust is one thing, but hidden or badly-repaired rust is a whole other story. I’ve seen too many shoddy rust repairs fail after a couple of years. Take a magnet along when you go look at it, and make sure it’s something you’re willing to deal with.
The great thing about old trucks is that they can still earn their keep. Some classics are just toys, but a truck is always a truck, no matter how old it gets. And these two are in that sweet spot condition-wise, presentable but not so nice that you’re going to lose sleep over every little scratch. Which one of them could find a spot in your driveway?
This generation of Dodge was a bit dorky and old-fashioned to my eyes. GM and Ford were way ahead in style, at least until the new Dodge came out in 1972. But I have good memories of driving a 1964 Dodge with the earlier poly-318 and granny gear 4-speed, so I’ll take it. Too bad it’s not one with The Dude package that Barney Fife endorsed.
I like those big old straight sixes. I have plenty of seat time behind a 318 and it’s a good motor, but the big dumb six really does it for me. Three on the tree: no problem. I learned in a SAAB 96 with four on the column, this is actually easier.
Not hiding any flaws behind Bondo: win. I’d convert the brakes over to semi-modern boosted brakes but aside from that, I’d be happy enough to drive the GMC more or less just as she sits.
GMC – more parts availability really the only reason. The 318 is hard to say no to, but just about any V8 from the last 70 years will fit in that GMC without much effort so….
Wanted to pick the Dodge because I had an 87 D200 but the bondo and lack of interior shots scared me away. I’ve got a similar 4 speed in my F-250. I always wanted to drive a 3 on the tree so it’s GM for me.
Interior wins it for the GMC, plus aftermarket support. I don’t like the goofy swing arm rear suspension arrangement on the Action Line trucks, but this GMC looks like less of a project and a somewhat pleasant place to be.
6 in a row, ready to go!
I’ll take the GMC because I believe that the 67-72 Chevy/GMCs are the best looking trucks out there, and you can rebuild the entire truck out of the LMC catalogue.
GMCPauls is where the real folks go.
More seriously, LMC is kinda known for having some low quality parts and because they don’t list what brand the specific parts are, it can be a real toss up. Their site organization and thus ability to find parts (when you don’t know the name) is unmatched though. Oh, and getting some info on specific parts out of LMC ain’t great. You want to know how long the rear tail light harness is, because you’ve got a Suburban and not a C10 but a Suburban one isn’t made so you’re hoping a C10 one will fit? Too bad, they ain’t gonna tell you. Gotta buy it and find out for yourself. Or just call Summit and they’ll let you know…
I’ll typically find it on LMC and then try to source it from GMCPauls or elsewhere first though. Oh, and as far as sheet metal goes, try to get AutoMetalDirect. As with most repop sheet metal, nothing fits 100%, but I’ve been happier with AMD stuff than any other brand, by a long shot.
The 67-72 Action Line is the best generation GM pickup, so it gets my vote. Too bad it didn’t last longer. They should’ve given it like 5 more years.
I voted for the little red truck.
GMC because the interior looks so nice.
Brother’s ’74 C-15 had a three-on-the-tree till he put a floor shift kit in it from J.C. Whitney.
I’m a GM guy, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Sweptlines. Unfortunately this is the worst era of Sweptline if you ask me; the early dual-headlight versions are much better, and then I’d rank the middle years with the big eyes as second place, and these as third (last).
That being said, I like the GMC front clip even worse.
I’d have to poke around for rot to make a real decision, but I’m leaning towards the Dodge here.
GMC for me. There is a VAST array of parts and upgrades available. The same stuff for the Dodge will likely be both more expensive and harder to find.
I think this is what it would boil down to for me as well. I like them both well enough, and both have their pros and cons, but finding the parts for the Dodge would make that cons list a little bit more difficult to deal with. I wouldn’t really be upset with either, as they’re both decent trucks for the era and money, but I know you could probably walk right into the O’Riley’s and grab almost everything you needed
Gonna be a boring week for me. Today I guess the GMC has a manual and white letter tires.
My dad had a 68 long bed Chevy in this configuration. The 6 cyclinder will spin the tires without much effort. The clutch is stout to work. Your leg will know it has been used. You also want to be rolling when you try and turn. It was a great truck. I love Dodge trucks, but the Sweptline is not an attractive truck to me..
Drums on four wheels with no power assist does not sound like fun. The page on the Dodge isn’t up any more so I can’t tell if it has power brakes, but I do like the look of it better.
My brother has a ’69 C10 without power brakes (though the fronts are discs I believe) and it’s totally fine. Size the master cylinder correctly, and it’s not bad at all. Heck, it’s good enough that I’ve debated removing the power booster from my ’65.
Unless you run into heat soak or do a lot of miles and thus have to replace shoes a lot, I’ve never really understood the hate drums get on these old vehicles. Low maintenance, good braking force. Just not great if you do a lot of towing, and working on them is a bit of a PITA but that should be rare.
Working on any brakes just kinda sucks. Drums are fine; the inherent drawbacks are well understood.
There’s places you don’t want them, and today’s heavy, powerful cars need better heat capacity and radiation.
Disc/drum combos are a combo of two different initial bite behaviors, as well – discs are more linear, while drums need a spike of pressure at first and then the self enegizing behavior (shoes are drawn into the drum by centrifugal force) lets you ease off/modulate a bit.
Drums self energize, so they’re not as terrible in a manual configuration as you may imagine. Manual discs require a LOT of pedal pressure, even with a resized master cylinder.