1986 Chevy C10 – Jeremy T.
Growing up as the youngest of three brothers and the smallest kid in the neighborhood life was, let’s say difficult. Without harping on childhood trauma too much ‘because honestly it wasn’t all that bad’, I wanted to tell you about why I built my 1986 C10 and what it means to me.
I have always loved the style of these trucks like so many others, however I also have an emotional connection to them as well. As I said, growing up I was the smallest kid in the neighborhood which came with its own set of challenges. The one thing that I did have going for me was that the biggest and oldest kid in the neighborhood (Vinny) took it upon himself to look after me whenever he was around, he became my protector of sorts. When he turned 16 and bought his first vehicle it was a two-tone black and grey C10 long bed pickup with a manual transmission. This meant that now not only did he have a truck to ride around in but the whole neighborhood had a truck to ride around in as well. This freedom to venture out away from home without our parents was something that none of us had experienced. Now because this was the 80’s we could still get away with all the kids jumping in the bed of the truck to go get ice-cream or whatever, everyone just had to duck down if we passed a cop is all. With me being so young I wasn’t allowed to ride in the bed, which at first was a letdown but I quickly found it much more enjoyable to ride in the cab anyway. One of the fondest memories that I have was Vinny teaching me to shift the truck while he was driving. He would push in the clutch and tell me what gear to shift to.
Years later Vinny went on to become a police officer and was unfortunately killed in the line of duty in a vehicle accident. I never forgot all the great times that we had growing up and how he was always there to “protect” me and others, I guess that’s why he ended up becoming a police officer.
Now that I’m older and purchased my first home I found that I could really use a truck for projects around the house and the inevitable run to the home improvement store. When I thought about it there was only one truck that I wanted. After searching for about a year, I found a good candidate, just the right price and condition, not perfect but a good start and could be driven immediately. A couple years later I asked my girlfriend to marry me. Now engaged we thought it would be nice to restore the truck and have it at our wedding. With the fiancé on board we brought the truck to get a fresh coat of paint. While at the body shop, I ordered a whole slew of parts from LMC including an entire front end dress up kit. The biggest issue we were going to have was the fact that we were getting the truck back from paint the night before we needed to leave for the wedding weekend. So, with the help of some very good friends, who I owe a big favor to, we stayed up till 2:00 am putting the truck back together. We were up at 6:00 the next morning to finish it up and get on the road. We made it to the venue without incident and the truck was a great addition to our wedding.
As with most other owners, there is always more things we would like to do to the truck. Over time we will accomplish small projects on it, but the greatest thing is driving it around on a sunny day with the windows down. I have bought and sold quite a few vehicles in my life so far, but I’ll never sell this one.
