Patina Supreme: 1965 Chevy C-10 Longbed Pickup
Alright patina lovers, it’s time to swoon or drool as you prefer! The rest of us are just glad to see the rust hasn’t penetrated much. This good ol’ farm truck is listed on eBay with the $3,000 opening bid not yet met. It’s located in Fulton, California, in the San Francisco Bay area. It’s a long bed so it might not be worth shipping it across the country (unless you really can’t find one locally), but someone local might want to save this pickup. It’s had the necessary mechanical attention so it runs and drives and is even registered. The buyer could probably drive this truck all the way home, even across the country, but few would try it. This pickup has a six-cylinder backed by a 4-speed transmission. It’s showing the kind of crunch and scrapes you’d expect on a ranch. After the first few dents, you just don’t notice anymore.
Inside is exactly what you’d expect to see in an old ranch pickup. The seller says it’s all original except the for the speaker. It looks just like the farm pickups in New Mexico after about 10 years, so this one must have had an easy life or lots of time off the road.
This six is either a 140 horsepower 230 or the 165 horsepower 292. It hasn’t had any attention on the outside but it’s had lots of attention to hoses, belts and all the bits needed to keep it happy.
This old pickup has certainly been “rode hard and put away wet”. It was great for bouncing around ranch roads but it probably won’t be much fun in town. Perhaps the new owner will resto-mod it or perhaps just use it like it is. There’s still lots of life left in this truck. I like to keep an old pickup like this around for when people ask me to help them move something. I politely refuse but offer them the use of my pickup. I hope this truck finds a new home with someone who can appreciate it. I’d just replace the tail light lens and use it like it sits!
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Comments
Tearing the dash up to put that speaker in sure goofed it up. I had a 63 short bed some years ago with the big back glass and a granny 4 speed. Paid $300 in 1991 and it had patina out the wazoo. Wish I had kept it.
The glovebox door has been removed – that’s all. Not torn up. interesting options on this truck. 6 cyl, but with the 4 spd, optional gauge cluster, standard heater, heavy duty rear bumper.
Actually, now that I think of it, it’s optioned out for a life of hard labor in a warm climate! :) (Ad says it’s a 230, I wonder why a 292 wasn’t ordered?)
The dash is not damaged. The glove box was simply removed.
So it’s a speaker box…I get it
You hear the word “Patina” tossed around so much that it’s become a cliché. This is REAL patina. The wear, tear, and scars from a lifetime of working, same as happens to you and me. It’s not some phonied-up wanna-be barn find designed to impress those who don’t know the difference. This is the real thing, and if I could find a place to keep it around here, I’d make him an offer. Great old truck.
Oh, and by the way, short-bed pickups are for wussies and poseurs who don’t actually do any truck work.
Ahem,,,I beg to differ. I think short boxes are the way to go. I like my GMC short box, and I’m no wuss, and have the sore back to prove it. Long boxes are for folks that need to haul plywood or sheet rock, and I don’t care to handle either one ever again.
People think the word patina sounds better than weathered.
Looking at the position of the fuel pump, methinks this is a 292 sitting under the hood, and I have a liking for the ol’ Jimmy motor.
A new glove compartment door and inner box would fix the dumb speaker issue.
As far as the ‘P-word’ is concerned, my preference would be for it to mean a fresh coat of ‘paint’, but then I’m old…
Like cyclemikey, I have no issues with the long bed. It just means that I’d have more space for loading my collection of tiddler bikes.
Sadly, a lack of out-of-the-weather storage space – I’m not going to mention the number of projects currently in the garage – is putting me off putting in a bid.
It’s rust people….
I’ll have to side with Beatnik here in that it’s a 292. Angle is pretty hard to determine how long the side covers are. For all intents and purposes here, I’m saying a driver quality restoration, and DRIVE it. Nice truck. It will go a lot of places, and you can still do a lot of things with it…
Definitely a 292, it’s the only 6 cyl. with the bypass hose from the thermostat housing to the water pump.
I’m with you, my friend. They can do what they want underneath, it’s a bit far-fetched to think, in this day and age, someone restoring this would keep the original setup. I only hope the outside stays original, like your picture. Since Studebaker was fading, these were the nicest looking trucks you could buy in the 60’s.
Who’s got more patina gravitas? This or the Ford 4×4 from last week?
https://barnfinds.com/free-range-4×4-1965-ford-f250/
Now there’s a work truck for you! After
fixing that banged up right rear fender,
and upgrading the mechanicals for
modern use, I’d put it to work hauling
scrap metal by day, and newspapers
by night. I’ll bet with that 292 and a
4-speed tranny, this truck would be
a hard worker too. My hope is that
the person who gets it doesn’t turn it
into a trailer queen. After all, what good
is a pickup if you’re afraid to use it.
Not sure exactly what *you* meant by it, but I see this comment all the time, that vintage cars/trucks have to be “upgraded for modern use” or some variant of that sentiment. But why? This isn’t a vehicle from the Brass Era, for heaven’s sake. It has sealed beams, not acetylene lamps. It’s got a good engine and trans that apparently run just fine. It has brakes that, if repaired to factory condition, are perfectly adequate to the task of stopping this light truck with moderate power.
It’s fine the way it is. Modification for “modern traffic”, etc., has just become a widespread fetish, in my opinion. It’s not like anyone in their right mind is going to use this truck to commute to work on the 405.
Thank you!!!
I sure agree with you. Maybe it’s because I learned to drive in trucks of this vintage (or older), but I have no qualms of taking a truck like this (fixed up) across the country and back. It will cruise quite nicely in the 60s which is where I like to drive even my modern vehicles. The only thing I would consider would be a dual braking system, and that would be for the sake of those other than myself who would be driving it. My wife has a ’57 Poncho that she loves to drive (and drives it too). I’m seriously considering installing a dual system with disc brakes in front, and a booster. I would feel a lot better, especially when she decides to head over to Glacier Park with her girlfriends….
I have a 65 GMC of this body style and type, Long bed too.. We call it the Old grey mare. I used mine from farm use (hauled a lot of hay, grain and baby calves, and a few pigs) to hauling parts and motorcycles all over the western US to swap meets & events. With 25 years of ownership and close to 100,000 miles I personally put on the truck, Mine is awaiting some upgrades.
Brakes, are not that great. See that little single pot?? Non power brakes and drums that actuate when they feel like it. Panic stops are not fun!
No power steering. Not a problem on the freeway but not fun in town or with a load.
Fuel tank behind the seat. Not a great idea. No big deal if it never leaves the farm, but an upgrade to a camper special dual tank system from a early 80s truck is in the cards.
No overdrive, I can drive better if I had an overdrive trans, less motor wear, less gas consumed and a pleasant experience.
Mine will cover many more miles, but its worth saving the old stuff and being able to use it, not look at it in a museum.
what gives??? the link to the ebay auction is a similar but totally different truck??? Link broken or a switcheroo? The linked one is nicer it looks like, but what the heck??
“Patina”. My wife knows nothing about vehicles however we have taken up back yard gardening together. We were going to plant a vine type plant in our back yard. We needed a treless for it to climb on. We had an old metal one that we had not used in years and it had been left outside for several years. I got some sand paper and started to clean it up so I could paint it. She stopped me 5 minutes after I started and said that she wanted it left as is because she like the “patina” that was on it. The “P Word” has apparently crept into areas other than cars. LOL
Actually, IMHO, I think it went from home & garden decorating to cars and MC. Its been a staple for a long time in a “Rustic look” for certain types of homes, man caves, and even businesses. In fact its big business to get that right kinda look. Gardening it has been around there for even longer. (If old vintage issues of gardening and landscaping magazines are any indication). It just kinda morphed into vehicles as well.
As a young guy growing up, we made do with primer spots and aged stuff while we made the engine and other parts perform but it was a bit embarrassing to have rusty body panels or faded paint unless you were running a sleeper street racer. But now people go to great lengths to make their cars look that way.
But thats the way I see it. But would not be unheard of for me to be wrong
63-66 is my favorite body style. I’ve been lucky enough to source 2 shorty’s.