Cowboy Cadillac: 1978 Chevrolet K30 4×4
In this day and age, many of us have watched in amazement as pickup trucks have become increasingly opulent and priced at levels that make little rational sense. $70,000-$90,000 isn’t uncommon for a truck loaded up with options, and that’s still not the top of the pricing pyramid. But as history goes to show us quite often, nothing we see today is necessarily new – such as the concept of a fully-loaded pickup that costs more than some luxury cars. Find this 1978 Chevrolet K30 4×4 four-door pickup here on eBay, where the “Cowboy Cadillac” has attracted bids of $10,200 with the reserve unmet.
The thing is, I’d rather pay the current bid price for a bruiser of a truck like this one than the high price tag on a rig that while admittedly loaded with better tech and horsepower, is likely to be totaled by the insurance company after a minor fender bender. You see it quite frequently if you spend any time in the wrecking yard where a seemingly near-new vehicle is quickly put out to pasture once the cost of replacing all those sensors, screens, and airbags makes fixing an otherwise repairable vehicle a non-starter for the insurance company.
The seller believes that the indicated mileage of 44,280 is original to the truck, which is believable given the clean state of affairs under the hood and in the passenger compartment. The Chevrolet is equipped with a 350 V8 that is paired with a four-speed manual transmission, another aspect of the old-school rig that you will never find in a newer model pickup truck. Other equipment includes an NP205 transfer case, Dana 60 front axle, and Dana 70 rear axle with 4.10 gearing.
As you can see, the interior is in outstanding condition for a rig of this age. Now, these were pretty robust in terms of materials, so it’s not entirely surprising to see a cabin of this vintage still presenting as well as this one does. Recent maintenance includes installing a rebuilt carburetor, fabricating a new true dual exhaust, fresh fluids, and new Crosswind M/T tires. Overall, this “Big Dooley” pickup appears to be an honest example of a truck that sat at the top of the heavy-duty truck food chain back in the day.
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Comments
Nice truck but you need to clamp your fillings in place before you venture off down the road; you’re about to experience one rough ride.
We sold a lot of 1-ton Dualies back in that time, but they were mostly 2WD. A 1-ton 4×4 was rare. They did increase in popularity when the 80s came around. Lots of them still on active duty out west where the tin worm isn’t nearly as prevelant.
Right about the ride. Anyone who has only driven newer trucks is in for a treat. “1-ton” was about the amount of weight it took to plane these out. Not to mention the bias ply tires that took a mile or two to become “round”.
Lost me with the 350. A dually of this magnitude would be weak and get terrible fuel mileage. Had a friend test drove a regular cab, 350/4 speed over the weekend in 89, new body, was back at dealership bright and early Monday morning. Didn’t even test drive, he bought a black, 4 door, 4 x 4, 454 powered C-30.
Said that 350, he had to push harder on it to get his stock trailer moving and keep it moving and ended up burning more fuel than his old 74 Chevy 1-ton. The 74 was also black and still runs around his farm with the 89.
Big block wasn’t offered on 4wd until 1980 or 81.
You are indeed correct about the 350 vs the 454. I special ordered one of these (2wd) and specd the 350 thinking better fuel economy, wrong! When loaded to max GCVW mine delivered about 5.5 mpg. A friends with the 454 consistently delivered 9-10. Better power to weight ratio with the big block.
I’ll settle for no less than dual front wheels as well.
There was a truck similar to this in the movie Cannonball Run back in the ’80’s.
A friend’s dad in the mid/late 1970s used to drive these. They’d be all loaded up too and he used it as his daily. I think he got a new one every three years or so. It was a big time oddity in our suburban neighborhood back then, as trucks were mostly considered for work use only, though you could see the coming trend with all the luxury options these were starting to get. He was way ahead of his time!
Bought an 86 3+3 one ton dually from a dairy farmer in Corning CA back in 2000. 454 with dual split mufflers, 75000 dairy farm cow crap covered miles. Cleaned it up, scared people all over the bay area and tahoe with it for a couple years, drove it home to Idaho and sold it for 5x what I paid. Been there, done that, fun. GLWTS!
Evel Knievel, you’ve got yourself some competition!
We had a 1 ton dually on our bed farm with a manual transmission and unfortunately it had a 350 in it. Don’t get me wrong but that 1 ton was far capable of o whole lot of things that that little 350 could provide. It made it to about 65k and it was done, we replaced it with a BBC and never had another problem.
Would like to see the camper this carried at one time!
Just sold my 84 one ton dually crewcab 4X4 with every option, had it since 91. Bought it with a bad 6.2L diesel and swapped in a built 472 Cadillac. Best pulling truck I ever owned until I bought my duramax. Very little rust as it was originally from California, now having sellers remorse as it was part of the family. My 3 sons learned to drive on it.