So, I had been looking for a 1977 Chevy Cheyenne short bed just like my grandpa had when I was little boy. So, I had been looking around in my town and all over the place. I had found one that had no motor or trans and they were selling it for cheap. I messaged that I would come buy it and they never messaged back and it had already been sold. And the hunt began again. I remember seeing what looked like a darker gold and white Cheyenne on Facebook marketplace when I was doing my research. So, I found the the truck and I looked at the pictures, and it was a 1976 Cheyenne. They were asking $1,000 dollars for it. I decided to ask them if they would take $500 for it. They responded with yes. But here is the kicker, there was someone else that was going by that week to pick it up. So, I was a little sad, but I was very interested in this truck. I messaged them that I was very interested in this truck and I was looking for a Cheyenne and I had one get sold from under me. And they responded that they would message the other guy if he was still coming to grab this Cheyenne and they would give them an hour. I had messaged my buddy Juan to be ready to grab the trailer from his friend. I was at work when I was making this deal. For that hour I waited, I was pacing outside waiting patiently and nervously to wait for their response.
When I finally got the message that they never messaged them back, they told me that the truck was mine if I wanted it. I was so damn excited. I called my buddy Juan at his work to go grab the trailer and we were going the next morning.
So, the 3-hour drive to get it was snowy, cold and mountainous. When we finally got there, the tires were rotted out. The front tire was blown out. Luckily, it had a spare tire, aired it up and put it on. Trying to get it on the trailer was a job on its own. As we were pulling it onto the trailer, we popped the rear tire. So, we had to pull my spare off of my truck and put it on. Come to find out, center hole is too small, but we managed to get it on. While were doing that, the owner went to get a tracker that he owned and decided to push it onto the trailer. We should’ve done that from the get go.
We drove all the way back to Reno and dropped off the truck at my work place. The next morning, we offloaded it from the trailer and pulled it into the shop. I went to work on the interior, it was rotted out and nasty. I had pulled the bench seat and there was a lot of junk and change. Well, when I started to pick the change, the very first coin I picked up was a penny and the year was 1976. And this is how she got her name, Penny. I still have the penny in my ash tray. Everyone in Reno that knows me at car shows or the cars and coffee on Sunday’s love my truck. They usually see my truck more than they see me. Some of my friends will message me and ask me if I was driving in Penny.
I’ve had Penny for 6 years as of January 10th, 2025, since 2019. A month before my 40th birthday.
I do plan on rebuilding her and changing the color like my grandpa’s ’77 Cheyenne. The brown and beige two-tone colors.
I will be putting a 400 sbc motor back in. The first owner had pulled the 400 and put in a GM Goodwrench 350 in. I have replaced NP203 transfer case with a NP205 that I found in a junk yard. Rebuilt the transfer case. I’ll be upgrading the transmission to a 700R4. I know it will take some time to restore, but I will enjoy driving Penny until I’m ready to take it down to the frame.