Lets See Longhorns

[Longhorn Man]

Oh man.....I just re-read your question....you wanted more pics of MY old Longhorn...
Well, here is a link to my longhorn site...the page with my old rig...and a link at the bottom to the death of it. http://www.longhorntrucks.freeservers.com/photo3.html
Oh, I just counted all my Longhorn pics....154 pics all in all....not counting pics of my blue one, nor the gold one.

[Longhorn Man]

casey...yes, it was aimed at the camper market.

[No3Fan4Ever]

Originally posted by 6772king
hey no 3 what did the GMC version say on the bedside????

6772King,
The GMC says nothing on the bedside other than Sierra Grande at the rear;
It does say "Custom Camper" above each door handle

[71-longbed]

probaly another dumb question ...whats the first year of the longhorn and were they just 8 foot beds or were some larger than that

peace

[crazy longhorn]

the first yr for the Longhorn ,I beleive was 68. They all had 8' 6" beds, & are on a different chassis than the other pickups(same chassis as a 133" wb 30 series dump truck). Andy (longhornmail) can give you more info... specs, options ect. crazyL

[wlee]

The Longhorn was a way for GM to use up some of the 67 1 Ton Stepside frames and was aimed at the Camper market - Here's a shot of my old beater that's been here on the farm for 24 years. She's scheduled for a complete resto this spring.

[wlee]

Here's a beauty that sold on Ebay a while back

[wlee]

Another view

[wlee]

And a GREAT Bed shot!

[crazy longhorn]

wlee....."longhhorn was a way to use up some of the 67 1 ton stepside frames".........do you spose Gm had enough 67 frames to build longhorn trucks through 1972? crazyL

[mastx]

Lets see if this works!!

[wlee]

Well . . . I suppose Andy could tell us the whole story, but I'd think it was a "test" of the market in 68, and the trucks sold well enough to keep 'em coming through 72

[crazy longhorn]

I would like to hear a little more about the 9' step.....I have never seen one. As far as I know the longhorn is on a 133" wb 30 series chassis (same as a short dump truck), but without the duallies. I would have thought the 9' step was the same deal....but not sure crazyL

[wlee]

I've not seen one of the 1 Ton stepsides either, but know a guy with one of the beds. I have a link to a website that talks about the use of the 67 frames for the Longhorns . . . if I can find it, I'll post it.

[crazy longhorn]

That would be interesting to read wlee, I havent found too much info on the old "long booger"....but didnt really look too hard, I was hell bent on building a hotrod truck from the go! I looked for a long time for a short stepside, but got a good deal on this well worn ,but solid So Cal longhorn. I looked at it like a parts truck when I got it, & had really planned to shorten it .......till I started checking on prod #! Well, to make a long story short that is the smoothest riding ,longest 1/2 ton truck I have owned. I can turn the truck around in 2 lanes of pavement........& have done it quite by accident a time or 2 crazyL

[wlee]

I couldn't find the link I was talking about, but I had saved the page as a Word file. Maybe somone here will recognize it & tell us how to get back to it.

Longhorn
In recent years seeing the unusual Chevrolet Longhorn or similar GMC Custom Camper (1969-72) has become a very rare occurrence. These oversize pickups were built for work and thus there is a very limited survival rate. Most of these models seen today started life as they were advertised carrying a vacation camper. They were usually more taken care of during their beginning years and the camper protected their wood bed from weather. The creation of this large pickup relates to GM’s trend of keeping costs low on what is suspected will be a low volume vehicle. With limited parts investment and by using pre-existing components, this new truck was born in 1969. The chassis for this new model had already been in existence for two years. It had a 133" wheelbase and was used under the 1967-68 1 ton stepside pickup with leaf springs. Most of the componets of this new fleetside box had also been used on the earlier pickups. To create this new longer fleetside bed, GM simply produced a pair of six inch vertical bed extensions to place between the pre-existing sides and front bed panel. This filled the gap created, in the bedsides, between the 127” and 133” wheelbase chassis. An expensive metal floor was not a part of this new longer fleetside pickup. A traditional wood plank floor with metal bed strips kept GM’s cost at a minimum. To draw attention to this larger pickup, the Chevrolet division included “Longhorn” die cast chrome letters secured at the rear of the sides. GMC’s designation was “Custom Camper” and these letters are on each door above the chrome handle, not on the bedsides. To make it a little confusing, GMC also used these Custom Camper emblems in the same location on their heavier 3/4 ton, 127" wheelbase pickup. This to could be obtained with either a wood or metal bottom bed. When the deluxe upper trim was ordered on this long bed, the six inch extension was placed to the rear of the bed. The joining point was therefore not in line with the vertical bed extension joint. By altering suspension components both the Chevrolet and GMC could be ordered with either a ¾ or 1 ton rating. These special trucks were available during 1969 through 1972. They were not continued with the introduction of the new 1973 body style.

[crazy longhorn]

Thats odd, the article lists 69 as the begining of the longhorn....if you look on Andy's longhorn page the first 1 is listed as Mar 11, 1968. From the sound of the article, they used the same frame under the 9' step & the longhorn both.......ill still bet its the same frame that chevy used under a 133" base 30 series truck crazyL

[6772king]

thanks guys DAMN LONGHORN I keep telling mooneyes that i done the disese that i have with 6772 has gone far enuf then you have to post a damn 4x4 longhorn. looks like mooner was right, hay 1st time for everything LOL thanks for all the pics longhorn

[racedvl]

How about a 1968 annv. Longhorn!

[Longhorn Man]

Never seen that articl, but there are a few things wrong in there.
Like stated by crazy longhorn, march 11th of 68 was when the first longhorn rolled off the assembly line. The reason for most of the misconseptions about 69 being the first year is becouse the GM books for early 68 (printed in late 67) showed nothing about it. Later literature showed it in the line up. If you look on my Longhorn site, you'll see I have pictures of 5, 68 longhorns...6 really, but one of them is only the rear 1/4 and side marker light.
GMC trucks were not labeled as Custom Campers, just 133 inch fleet sides. I have seen a few original GMC 'longhorns' and they had no scars on the doors where this badge would have been bolted on. The Custom Camper was just a very common option placed on the Longhorns.
That article is a little misleading on the frame too. It IMPLIES that they used left over frames...not really. They used the same frame 'mold' as they did in 68. (67 was not the same since they had to update the chassis for the big blocks) This is the same chassis used in all 133 inch one ton trucks...including the one ton step side. (I've seen one in person and they are kind acool in an ugly way)
As far as Gm 'testing' teh market with the longhorn...that is the first time I saw that one...could be true, but I see it as very unlikely. The Camper market was booming in the mid to late 60's and they built this truck to go under the largest slide in campers on the market. I'm sure the bean counters at GM knew the market was going to continue to grow...other wise they probably would have lost $ on it if they just went year by year. But that is 1/2 speculation, and 1/2 what other articles say...so anything goes on that.

[No3Fan4Ever]

The article that wlee is talking about can be found at Jim Carter's web Site

http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cgi-bi...01720913634903

Here's a picture of the door of the 70 GMC

[wlee]

Thanks Andy! I knew we could count on you to set us straight

I found the article (thanks to No3Fan4Ever) at Jim Carter's website . . . had to poke around a bit to find it - here's a link to the page:

http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cgi-bi...29607117678472

If anybody wants a 9' stepside bed for your Longhorn, I know where one is (or was, at least)

[No3Fan4Ever]

That article does indicate that GMC's version of the Longhorn was called the 'Custom Camper' and that they also put that designation on some long wheel based trucks also;
I'm so confused............

[mtdave2]

wow that blue and white longhorn is awsome. how much did it sell for? is the link still activce? id like to read it

[wlee]

Originally posted by mtdave2
wow that blue and white longhorn is awsome. how much did it sell for? is the link still activce? id like to read it

As I recall the truck didn't meet the reserve - don't know if it sold or not. I copied all the pictures from the auction if anyone wants to see al of them let me know & I'll post the rest. Lee