Good morning! We’re going to start out the week with a couple rough old vehicles from the ’60s. The good news is that they both run and drive. The bad news is, well, pretty much everything else.
Neither of Friday’s weird vehicles was exactly a cream puff either, admittedly. The little ZAZ may run and drive, but bare minimum functionality is about all you can expect from it. The Traction Avant will take a lot longer to get on the road, but it will be a whole lot nicer ride once it’s done.
It’s also half the price, so it’s not surprising you said “Nyet” to the old Soviet-era econobox. And I agree. I’d love to drive the ZAZ, once, just to see what it’s like, but I have no desire to actually own it, or fix it. The Citroën, on the other hand, would make a fascinating fixer-upper, even if it took years to finish.
Before I sat down to write this, I took my own fixer-upper, a 1971 MGB GT, out for a drive to give it some exercise and pick up a carton of ice cream. The whole drive was about ten miles round trip, but in that time, I had three people ask me questions about it, got half a dozen smiles and waves, and had a guy in a 4Runner take a picture. People just love seeing old cars out and about, even if they’re scruffy around the edges and badly need a wash like my MG. Having a running and driving old classic to take out for a spin on a Sunday afternoon is pretty much gearhead heaven, as far as I’m concerned.
In that spirit, I’ve found two scruffy old projects that both run and drive already, so you don’t have to mess around with waking them up. Of course, they both need some work, but it’s work you can do a little at a time. Besides, it’s fall now, so it’s almost time to park the classics for the winter anyway. Bring them back out again in the spring, and show off your progress. Let’s check them out.
1964 Chevrolet C10 – $2,600
Engine/drivetrain: 283 cubic inch overhead valve V8, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Petaluma, CA
Odometer reading: 135,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, current registration
Old trucks are popular classics for a simple reason: they’re still trucks. You can still use them for their intended purpose, no matter what else you do to them – within reason, of course. A sports car or a convertible can take you on a Sunday cruise just fine, but a classic truck can do that and pick up stuff at the hardware store, or bring home that antique hutch you found at an estate sale.
Well, at least most of them can. This old Chevy is a little challenged in the stuff-hauling department, owing to the fact that its bed floor, still made of wood in 1964, is completely absent. The steel part of the bed isn’t in great shape, either; this was a ranch truck from day one, and it worked hard. Another bed is included, and it’s less rusty, but still needs new wood.
The oily bits, however, are still functional. Not even sixty years of ranch work can kill a Chevy small-block and a Saginaw-Muncie four-speed. I’m sure it’s not perfect, but the fact that it carries current registration and was driven to its current home says a lot. And anything it may need is available from literally anywhere that sells car parts.
Surprisingly, the cab isn’t bad at all; I don’t know if someone re-did the seat once upon a time, or if they just took care of it, but it looks pretty good. The rest of it is decent, too. There’s some rust in the floor, but it doesn’t look like it’s rusted through. And see that big metal thing just behind the seat? That’s the gas tank, and it looks new. Bonus.
1968 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter overhead valve air-cooled flat 4, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: San Jose, CA
Odometer reading: 157,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Air-cooled Volkswagens have been popular classics for years as well, but what if you don’t want a Beetle or a Bus? We’ve got you covered. Presenting the Type 3, VW’s first attempt at a post-Beetle design. Still air-cooled, still rear-engined, the Type 3 was available in three reasonably self-explanatory body styles: Notchback, Fastback, and Squareback.
This Squareback is a 1968 model, the first year that the engine was equipped with fuel injection. As with other early fuel injection systems, these were often converted back to carburetors by mechanics unwilling to learn the ins and outs of the system. There are no engine photos in the listing, so I don’t know whether this one has been so converted. But the seller says it runs and drives well, and has covered 18,000 miles under their ownership, so whatever fuel-delivery system it has, it works fine.
It does need just a little bit of interior work, as you see. And yes, that is the ground you’re seeing behind the driver’s seat. This car needs floor pans, bad. Fortunately, the floors on a Type 3 bolt in, and replacements are available in either steel or fiberglass. All the interior bits are available as well, or you can just wing it and install whatever seats you want, and make some door cards.
The rest of the body looks pretty solid, though obviously the paint is shot. But patina is a thing, right? Personally, I’d ditch the roof racks; I’m not a fan of modern-style racks on older cars. Find one of those period-correct chrome jobbies, and then maybe it could stay.
Yes, they both need some work. But the bones are there, and they can both make it home under their own power, and that’s not nothing. They’re both easy to find parts for, too. So what’ll it be – a good old truck, or an uncommon air-cooled VW?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
Is there something I’m missing or isn’t that Chevy a real bargain? Running and registered V8 four on the floor classic truck for money that could get you like, a rusty old Corolla maybe?
C10 . No regrets. Would make for a great restoration project.
No “both” option? Either would be pretty cool, and parts are available for both.
This was easy: I like the C10 a lot better. I still kinda like those VW’s though…I can’t believe the Flintstone style ha ha
We had a Chevy truck of that body style in a dry powdery pale green color. I still remember the way the paint marked my clothes if I brushed up against it walking by.
We used the hell out of that truck to tow a concession trailer to county fairs, mud bog races, various festivals and similar events.
It’s a great choice, but I still picked the VW.
I voted for the VW cuz they are cool but in all truth, I would take the truck, at least at these price points. Damnit is it too late to change my vote?
I’ll take the heavy metal Chevy.
Chevy gone already.
Darn
Really wanted that.
And only 70 miles away
And I have a pile of just the right kind of wood from an old corral.
And it would go with my “I lived in NYC for 40 years and all my clothes are black “ wardrobe.
Darn!
Chevy for me. The VW is more expensive AND is in rougher shape. And apparently the VW’s floors have big holes.
Since I own a Notch and have replaced the pans, I feel entitled to choose the Chevy PU over the square. The reasons are simple. The pans would cost $1000 to 2000+ depending on partial or full pan sections and then installing them is not a piece of cake.
And then the interior….NOT cheap either, And who knows what other rust is not seen
Once done, I would have a 68 Square that is worth maybe about $2000 or more less than what I have invested.
At least with Chevy Pickup, I can install the replacement bed and can drive around knowing it will always be a beater Chevy PU.
Squareback all day long, but then again I still have the ’67 squareback I bought in ’78, so a bit biased. And I already have two trucks. When the author mentions bolt-in floor pans, that is the entire floor pan, which I am not sure are available. Half pans for welding in are available. A section of which I need to have welded in to fix the battery place hole. BTW, the battery is on the passenger side, which is ususally worse than the driver side, so in this ’68 is probably gone.
That Chevy a’int bad. Aside from a wash inside and out I’d keep it as is and use for a summer hardware run vehicle
C10 – Still easy to find the parts, also manual and v8 are a bonus.
Eh. Not every manual transmission makes the vehicle it’s installed in better.
Yeah, but in a 64 Chevy truck, having a manual is a very big plus.
Why? My ’65 K10 had the 4-speed and there was nothing fun or more useful about it over an automatic.
When you’re pulling a heavy trailer and have the bed full of supplies, a manual is far better going up and down the hills, as long as you’re willing to limit your speeds and shifts to reasonable choices.
I also thought the manual was much better when pulling boats out of the lake than similar era automatics.
That old monster also pulled several stumps out of my grandfather’s property when newer automatic equipped trucks couldn’t. A winch would’ve been a better choice, but we didn’t have one and couldn’t afford one at the time in rural Pennsylvania.
Having a manual lets you say “this shit WILL happen now!” in a way you simply couldn’t back then with an automatic.
You’re doing none of those things with a 60 year-old 2wd pickup.
If I had the need to do any of those things now, a Chevy small block powered truck is still one of the best tools for the job. I wouldn’t hesitate to use an old truck for truck things, just because it’s old.
And there are literally decades of newer, more capable, and safer Chevy small-block powered trucks than this 60 year-old with its four-wheel drum, single-circuit brakes. This thing’s heavy-lifting days are long behind it.
I do still prefer a truck with a low gear First on the trans, however this being a 2 WD v8 it does have the benefit of being somewhat of a candidate for an old school Bang Shift sport truck as well.
Nothing quite the same as Dropping the clutch at a stop light to be honest. Yeah it is not likely as repeatable for drag racing, and you can’t sip you soda while driving. But I still prefer it.
You can build anything out of anything, but the point is how this thing sits right now, it is a truck in the traditional, agricultural implement sense. First gear may not even be synchronized. I can’t remember if mine was. It was so low I usually started out in 2nd.
generally old manual trucks, especially 3/4 ton and up had that super low first gear. it was designed to really allow you to pull stuff without destroying the auto trans alternative or the clutch itself without stalling out. We always called them Granny gears. But the hard thing to find in an old vehicle is the various linkage bits to make something a manual trans. It is a preference, but in this case my preference will always be full control over the shifts.
I’m at the point where that this isn’t the highest priority. Which is why my GTI is a manual, but I haven’t gotten around to converting my Chrysler Pacifica yet…
I have a Scout 2 with manual, 13 Challenger, Manual, 68 Camaro Manual, 87 CJ7 GM v8 with Manual. I would very much like to swap the 4speed auto in my 08 H3 Alpha, but finding the rare manual trans parts is a bear. also they only made them with the 5 cylinder. but I could probably grab the somewhat short SM465 old school 4 speed manual similar tot he one in my jeep and fit it in the hummer with some 90’s 1 ton GM parts to make it row. I would consider that during a Straight Axle swap for sure. the control of a manual on steep slopes is definitely the better option over brakes and overheating an auto on those cases.
I actually would consider a 4 cylinder turbo Bronco simply because they offer the 7 speed manual in that engine option.
Why a 4-speed in the Hummer? If you’re going to the trouble, get at modern 6-speed.
Maybe you baby your old trucks. I don’t. Mine do work all the way to the junkyard. But if it were mine, I’d upgrade the brakes, just like we did to our old Chevy. I don’t remember if we did disks on that one, but I do know we installed a dual circuit system.
Yeah, I wouldn’t be buying one of these old trucks to put it to work. My K10 had already been upgraded to power-assisted dual circuit brakes. My plan was to replace the front axle with an open-knuckle, disc brake axle, but never got around to it before selling.
I’ll grant you that single circuit brakes suck, but it’s a pretty simple job to put in a dual circuit setup. Drums are fine if you live in the flats, but disks are a simple swap. Remember it’s the tires that do the stopping not the brakes.
Slush boxes are an abomination.
Had a type 3 fastback, and just seeing pics of ANY type 3 sends chill up my spine, worst vehicle I ever had. Just horrible.
I had a same-year Fastback. My guess is that the fuel injection on these was terrible. A bigger engine with twin Dell’ortos took care of that for me.
That was a major part of the problem, the fuel injection was a mess. It would smoke too, I mean like a fog machine, just pour out of the exhaust. My dad was a diesel engineer, and spent hours and hours trying to fix it, but finally gave up.
My mom’s first vehicle was a Squareback, which inspired many a tale regarding its appalling lack of reliability. She sold it for scrap for $50 in the 70s. So, though I still have a soft spot for air-cooled VW’s (having learned to drive stick on a ’60 ragtop Beetle), I have to go with the surprisingly well-priced Chevy.
I am a sucker for a 64-66 Chevy truck, so I will always vote for that. It will never matter how rusty or clapped out it is. I cannot be objective here.
I like them both, but a running driving V8 4-speed Chevy pickemup for $2600? Yeah, I’ll have that.
The C10, it’s a great platform to build on. You can do a work truck, restoration, or retromod and have a reliable classic.
Truck today. I always liked the looks of the C10. So a little work, wood, sanding and varnish. I do like those old squarebacks but am just not up for the floor (and whatever else has rotted) resto.
And the truck listing is already gone. No surprise there.
My parents owned two different fastbacks when I was a kid. Just the sight of one takes me back to the smell and feel of the seats and the weird designs it made on bare legs. I was all prepared to vote VW but I owned a Honda Civic that had a rusted out floor and I’m not prepared to go through that again. The only thing holding the seats in was the carpet!
I’ll take the truck and swing by the lumber store on the way home.
The Chevy is probably a better deal, but I voted for the VW. I’ve always liked how they look, and it’d probably be pretty economical to drive.
You wouldn’t even have to put gas in it. You could just Flintstone it everywhere you need to go! Extra bonus; the motive force would still be air cooled.
Chevy work truck in a hot minute. Heck, I’ll immediately drive it to the building materials store and figure out a way to strap the necessary wood to it to get it home and cut and install.