A Series of Fortunate Events To Find A Unicorn

I had always wanted a truck growing up, and I’ve owned a few in my lifetime.  I would always want that new truck almost every year when the new models would come out (I just hated the payments that came along with it).  So one night I tell my wife that I want to sell my new truck to get an old truck.  Of course she said I was crazy.  So my selling point to my wife was I was going to find a truck that didn’t need any work to it.  “Mmm Hmm”, she said.  So, being the crazy that I am, I ended up selling my Silverado and searched for my C10.  My list on what I wanted in a truck wasn’t long at all.  Only because I knew that I was going to change it up to make it my own (completely contradicting what I told my BEAUTIFUL wife) .  So I searched….and searched….and searched, and in the summer of 2019, I found a truck that I thought IO could work with.  It was originally a California truck that has only been in two states.  It was in really good shape, short bed, had a crate 350 motor, appeared to be a Cheyenne, and most important part was, it had AC!!!  Living in Bakersfield, CA that was definitely a must have.

I ended up talking with the previous owner (at that time), he pushed his selling point on it being a short bed, Cheyenne model, and it being a clean truck you can throw an LS into and the value would jump even more.  I kept pushing that I didn’t have all his asking price, it still needed a little more work to be a great truck, and I was buying this truck sight unseen (which I never recommend).  So three days goes by of us texting each other, him telling me he has other offers higher than mine and me saying I needed a couple more days to get a little more money.  We finally made a deal and he ships the truck from Arizona to California for me.  The truck is beautiful!!!!  (Not like my BEAUTIFUL wife though!!)  I do my walk through and it is in a really good condition to the point that I felt really good making the purchase without seeing it beforehand.

The only issue that I had with it was, it had the most desired Houndstooth bucket seats, which I loved, but I had a three year old that I needed to fit in the truck with my wife and I. So, through an online selling site, I sell some dog bowl hubcaps to a guy (who is now a really good friend of mine).  He gives me the info of the guy that found a bench seat for him and upholstered it for him.  I meet up with this guy, we make a deal on trading my bucket seats for a nice custom bench seat.  About a month goes by, he and his dad show up to drop off the bench seat.  The dad then asks if he can take a look at the Spid ticket in the glove box.  I of course say yes.

He opens it up and then tells me, did you know this truck isn’t a Cheyenne?  In shock, I say really?? He says, yeah, I think you have yourself a truck that is more rare than that.  A unicorn he called it.  He then shows my the Spid and the “Special Promotional Package C” which meant this truck was a Highlander.  And since most Highlanders were two-toned, mine was more rare being a solid black truck.  A “hotbox” he said.  Now, knowing what I had, my decision to upgrade everything and anything I could on this truck took a back seat to rethink the situation.  After about four months of debating, and reaching out to a couple car builders/mechanics, I ended up deciding to make this truck my own.

So, three years later, I have done almost all the upgrades you can imagine getting this truck ready to convert to an LS3 (without having to cut any of the frame). It sits parked in the garage, readily available for anything I need to get done.  It’s definitely a driver truck and no where near a show truck.  Then again, I really never wanted a show truck.  People ask if they can touch the truck and I tell them, I’m all for you leaning against it if you want, I’m sure this truck has seen worse in it’s day.

As I replay this whole adventure in my head from time to time, I think about how everything was about timing and luck.  Starting from my decision to get a C10, getting my wife’s opinion on it, the searching, the going back and forth with the previous owner, meeting my friend who told me about the guy that can get me a bench seat, to finding out the rarity of this truck.  A perfect situation to be called a series of fortunate events.

P.S After my wife drove the truck for the first time, she doesn’t want me to ever sell it, and says I’m not as crazy as she thought.