It was time. As the end of the decade neared, Chevrolet’s tough-ass line of pickups, the 3100, had grown old. In 1959, Chevy introduced the C and K series of trucks. Owners reported it rode as much like a car as a truck.
“C” meant light-duty, rear-wheel drive. The “K” designation meant four-wheel drive. If you bought a base-model C10, you got a machine with a six-cylinder engine not a whole lot different than those that had powered its predecessor. An upgrade got you a small-block V8 – the 283, a power plant so ubiquitous that it didn’t need introduction nor explanation.
The C line would go on until 2000, when an even roomier, smoother-riding machine rolled it aside. As another new decade (and century) bowed, the C left the stage – taking with it some of the no-nonsense details that defined mid-century trucking.
And yet those old haulers remain. This long-bed, built in 1963, was last registered in 1987. It hides behind DT Speed Lube in Middelbury, Vt., 1,120 miles northeast of Atlanta.
(Photos by Junkyard Correspondent Marva Brackett Godin)
It Was Running When I Parked It 