Newbie in the UK just got a '64 stepside from Texas

[disasterbus]

Hi all,

I was recommended to this site by my old mate Grizz who has a '66 C-10 Fleetside overe here in the UK.
I've been a big fan of his truck since he got it and have been half thinking of getting something similar for a while.

I've never owned an American vehicle before but have owned lots of old and unusual European vehicles - mostly VW's (Beetles, busses and Beach Buggies) and quite a few old Mini's.

This week I saw an ad on eBay for a 1964 C-10 stepside for sale 5 miles from where I live, which is about 30 miles outside London. As it was local I thought I'd have a quick look and before I'd really thought about it I'd struck a deal with the seller and I'm picking it up tomorrow. This is the truck....



Probably a bit late to be looking for advice as the deal is already done but Grizz tells me there is a lot of great info and help available on this board so please forgive me if my newbie questions sound a bit stupid

The pick up has only been in the UK for a month, I'm buying it from the guy who imported it. The story goes that it was a Texas truck from new until 2008, when it was sold to a guy in Nevada. He drove it aroundfor a few years then stripped it all down for a total body off re-build. This took him 3 years and the engine and transmission were stripped and re-built, all new brakes and suspension and interior trim plus all the lights and rubber seals were replaced. It really doesn't look like a 50 year old truck underneath....



it's only an I6, not a V8 but still seems to go really well and sounds almost as cool as the V8....



The paintwork is 'fake patina' over incredibly straight and solid metal, I can't believe how good it is. I wasn't sure about it at first but it's definately growing on me.

Sadly the owner in Nevada died just a few months after finishing the 3 year re-build and anoly got to drive it for a few months. The truck was sold by his family after he died.







Sorry the photo's aren't great - they are the ones from the eBay ad but hopefully you get the idea.

First thing is to order a fitted outdoor car cover for it to keep the English winter weather off the truck. Can anyone suggest anywhere that sells them in England (or Europe) or somewhere that will ship to the UK?

Thanks in advance, this looks like a great forum!

[70LonghornCST]

Welcome to the forums. Great looking truck!

[1ATony]

Love that truck!

[Lokin4AReason]

welcome to the party .....

[disasterbus]

When I bought my truck it had only been in the UK for a few weeks and the dealer didn’t know anything about the history of the truck. There was very little paperwork with it except a copy of the last US title.
I wrote to the name on the title document and asked if they could tell me anything about it and included a picture of how the truck looks now.
I got an e-mail back from them today. They were really surprised it had ended up in the UK as they sold it through an auction in Iowa in January 2014.
They were able to tell me it was originally a farm truck from Dallas and she still had the original salesman’s business card with the price of the truck written on the back.
It was sold new for $1632.89 including state tax and registration fee and an optional heavy duty rear bumper by Tom Wicker at the Earl Hayes Chevrolet Dealership in Dallas and it was white originally.


The truck was then sold to Miss Jessie C Ballard who also lived in Dallas and she used it for many years to tow her horse-box.
Jessie then sold the truck to the last owners in the 1990’s. They lived in McKinney, Texas.
The last owners did a total body off restoration over several years and have sent me many of the bills etc for the new parts fitted. They had the frame stripped and powder-coated, all new steering, suspension and brakes, new interior, the transmission and engine were stripped and re-built with a new head as the old one had a crack. After that they hardly used the truck and in 2008 moved to Iowa, taking the truck with them and just putting it into a barn where it stayed until January this year when they decided to move house and to sell the truck.
They were thrilled that their old truck has a new lease of life over here.
This picture is how it looked after they restored it