77 Chevy Sport and 62 C10, my first trucks back in the 80's and 90's

[78 Chevyrado]

Found some old photos of me when I was 2 n 3...  1982 and 1983 with my dads 77 Chevy Sport truck.  Ended up being my first vehicle.  had no stripes by then but still had the rollbar and aux switch on the dash where the fuel tank selector normally is.

In the first pic the 78 C20 I have now was inside the middle door of the garage.  Just waiting.   

That's the same house I now live in.   

[78 Chevyrado]

1985 Had the chevy sport and other interesting cars back then.  1969 mustang, 1954 Hudson Jet Liner, 1978 Lincoln Versailles.  Had just had gotten rid of the 1964 Impala SS the year before.

We always had interesting cars!

[78 Chevyrado]

Grandad back in the late 60's with his 62 C10.  Found this negative and used my scanner and pc to make it a normal pic as best i could.

This actually was my first truck.  He gave it to me when I was 12.  I started taking it apart, then mom n dad let me take it to our house in the neighborhood and spent a whole summer obsessing over it but it was so far gone there was no saving it.  I couldnt do it back then...  But its the first truck i ever had that was mine and i took apart every single part of it and learned so much from it.  I could pull the front clip off that truck or replace it in 20 mins i got so good at it...lol  Ended up scrapping it when I got the 77 when i was 15.  Had the bed off it for 20 more years as a trailer...

When we first drug it out of the barn he hooked the chain up to the dumptruck and drug it out.  I was steering the old 62.  The dumptruck stalled and rolled back toward me and poked a small hole in the hood with its frame.  I knew i was dead.  I knew i was about to die.  then i didnt...   That was scary.  made it up the hill tho.

[Shifty]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing! 

[VileZambonie]

What happened to the 77? Did you sell it?

[78 Chevyrado]

What happened to the 77? Did you sell it?

I traded it in at the ford dealer in Athens in 2002 or 2003.  I was having to drive it over 120 miles a day to work and back daily, I couldn't afford that at age 23.  Well I got a thing in the mail from Athens Ford for $3500 off of a used car.  That was the tipping point.  Went up there and found my 2001 ford focus ZTS and traded up.  Focus was (IIRC) $12,000 and had 35k on it.  Got about 2K for the truck and had that $3500 coupon.  I never looked back, got my little focus and it's been the best car I've ever had as far as reliability.  I still had it when I got the 78 C20, but when I got the Brown Impala, I gave it to my mom. 
She needed a new car and she just wanted our little focus.  She always liked it, and she still drives it now in 2026.  She got it painted 2 years ago.  Been the single most reliable car we've had and it looks like brand new.  When she got it painted I found online a whole bunch of NOS parts for it to make it brand new again for her.

Now the painful part.  I'll always remember driving away from the dealer in my new car, and seeing my truck in the rear view mirror as I drove away.  It felt like I had left a GOOD dog behind. 

On the plus side, trading up at that time made my life a whole lot better.  it improved everything for me getting 32mpg.  So i dont regret it but it sucked when i was doing it.

First pic is 2009 my car n truck.

Second pic was when I lowered it an inch or so and yellowed the tires.  It was a cool little car.

Third pic is in 2023 after mom got it painted and I put new brakes on it, installed the 7" Alpine touch screen radio with an amp, new speakers and replaced all the lookey worn parts with Ford NOS Stuff.  I even found an NOS chrome exhaust tip for it and new inside rear view mirror.  Both came from the UK.  (those cars are popular there like camaros and mustangs are here, so lots of parts) Serviced every single fluid, new brakes, new tires, new belt. 

It's not lowered now, Dad found a set of SVT springs and such and had all the work suspension parts replaced.  It drives very nicely.  It's dirty looking in the picture but that car is like brand new looks wise. Just can't kill it.  I won't stop running.

I love that little car.  I went for the 2018 impala premier I have now because I wanted the extra room.  But that lil focus been our most reliable car I've ever had.

[78 Chevyrado]

2001 vs 2024.

2001 was my old 77 C10

2024 is my 78 C20

Both trucks in the same spot 23 years apart.  I noticed I have the same front tag on both 

Used to have the same hella driving lights on the 78 that I had on the 77 but since I got those LED headlight bulbs I took em off because they don't do anything to help the light show.

[78 Chevyrado]

Back in the day I did yellow letter tires on my focus because I'd just redone Dad's yellow tires on his 98, NASCAR F-150  I liked it on the black so I did my car tires to match.  Dad's truck came factory with yellow letter tires so when he buys new one we have to make em yellow.

You buy yellow plasticoat in a can and apply it with a syringe.  Tire must have existing white letters or they will turn brown in 2 months.  This lasts.  nothing else does.  This is the only way to do it for long term.  Doesn't crack.

If you're interested, Here's a video after he got it ceramic coated by RestoreFX 2 years ago.  got almost 300k on it.  There is swearing in the video.  Just an FYI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ1CREE_XCs


Dad never liked plain cookie cutter trucks.