Tuesday, November 13, 2012

1960 to 1966 Chevrolet and GMC truck mega photo slideshow


As someone who attends a lot of car shows, and also as the owner of an ugly old ’63 Chevy C-10, I tend to notice trucks like mine when I’m out and about. This generation of trucks was around from 1960-1966, and they sold a bunch of them.

I think they kind of went off the radar for awhile. I know I used to think they were pretty ugly old trucks, and not many people seemed to be focusing on them as restoration candidates.

But time has been pretty good to them. You’re starting to see these trucks around more and more all the time, and reproduction parts are getting plentiful. If they keep coming up with things, it won’t be long until you can build a new one out of a catalog.

Over the years, there were many subtle, and not-so-subtle changes throughout these trucks lifetime. The 1960 and ’61 models are the only ones that came from the factory with the “eyebrows” in the hood, similar to the oval pods found on a ’59 Chevy car. The grilles are a bit different between the two years, and ‘60s have the bullet-centered hubcaps carried over from the ’57 – ’59 models, while the ’61 caps had a flatter design.

In ’62, they went with the more subtle rectangular parking lights in the hood. ‘62 also was the first year for two headlights instead of four, and they were housed in a unique “sad eye” bezel and grille setup.

‘63s like mine had another new grille, with round bezels around the lights. The bigger news was underneath, as ’63 was the first year for coil springs under the front suspension as opposed to the torsion-arm setup in the earlier models. Out of the box, the new suspension probably didn’t ride as soft, but it lasted longer and wasn’t nearly as hard on tires.

The big change in ’64 was the flat windshield that replaced the old knee-knocker curved glass of the earlier models. This necessitated an entirely new dashboard layout as well. The grille was fitted with a finer mesh, and the headlights sat in a slightly squared-off housing.

From 1964 until the last of this style rolled-out in 1966, there were very few appearance changes, save the style and placement of the side emblems. Of course, engine choices changed and improved along the way, and there were other subtle differences, but all-in-all, this style endured for quite some time.

I must admit, the main reason I am even posting this story is to share my slideshow. There are some 400 photos down there, all of ’60-’66 Chevy and GMC trucks that I took at local car shows. And you’ll see them in every condition possible. From the beautifully restored, to the questionably customized, to original crust buckets like mine, every style is represented.

To see the entire photo album, click this link!

4 comments:

  1. Good post. Do you have any idea about the new Chevrolet EV? I wanted to look for information over that car.

    Regards

    .A-

    auto movers

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  2. Yep, have always liked these ; actually any Chevy truck pre-99, but this body style has always been my favourite. Had a 63 long/wide, same colour as our hosts, that I sure shoulda kept. Oh well, when I get rich and famous, a light blue with white top [and preferably big back window 66 ] WILL be in my garage!
    Thanx for the post.

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  3. Great pictures! Thanks for posting them!

    Scott

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  4. Thanks for all the comments from the real people and the spam guy. :-)

    ReplyDelete