What got you hooked?

[WHYBYNU]

Do you ever stop to think of why or what got you hooked on driving or building or just owning one of these trucks. I have thought about it for years and there is not a real good answer.

I grew up in a small town in Arkansas and remember these trucks that my father and grandfather both drove but on Friday& saturday night up town you would see the guys alittle older than you driving an old truck that had n-50's on 12" rims sticking out the back and 12" glass packs louder that hell and all you could think was how cool you will be when that is you.

I know times change and styles change weekly but the love for our trucks seem to be stronger than ever some of us one 1 some own fleets! We spend waay to much time and money (so my wife says) on them it makes me wonder why do we really do it and whats it really amounts to is'nt just a truck (HELL NO IT'S PART OF THE FAMILY ) I'm wondering what got you hooked ? Was it child hood memories, Was it going to car shows or rod runs or your big brother or sister, what was it ? Lets take a moment to share this thought can you say share great I knew you could. Lets hear some stories.

THANKS
JOHN

[71blksuper4x4]

For me, it was the 80's. I was around 3-5 years old at the time, when my dad fixed up his 72' 4x4 and ever since then, it had me hooked. I remember walking around it when I was little. I couldn't even see inside the cab. From then on.... I knew that I wanted to have one of these bad boys. Here is the pic of my dad's pickup.

[jamie72]

must have been the 72 fac bb cheyenne,i had (have)
when i was in the dating years,i got in soo much trouble in that truck,just had to love it..

[Eddie H.]

I was in high school when these trucks were new. At that time I thought they were the best looking truck on the road.

I still do.

Some things never change.

If Chevy would build these trucks new again with a modern fuel injected engine and overdrive trans. They would sell them faster than they could be built.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Well I know im younger that most on the board and cant tell stories about LS6 BB cars and crusin on saturday nights till th elocal fuzz made ya go home. What really started it for me was my step-dad he was into dirt cars and needed a truck to pull the race car around with, so he bought what he said was the last of the best built trucks......That was a basic 72 1/2 ton lwb chevy ugly green and tall tires in the rear and shorties up front....My dad restored that truck to an 80s cool ness and i helped all that a 5yr old could .......I got pics of me and my dad working side by side just as it should be,I guess thats when i formed a bond with the truck and a man who was at the time a step dad to me but soon became my dad....When i got into high school he told me that the truck was mine if and only if i got my DIPLOMA no excuses so worked my a$$ off and got the truck.....I drove the truck for 2yrs untill it really needed to be restoered agian....So i tore it down and then my wife became pregnant and i put it back together so i could bring my so home in it and that was the last time it was on the road 3yrs ago....My truck has taught me alot over the years and one day i hope to pass it along to my son...
Well that enough ramblins from me...

[Canada20]

nothing as heavy as you guys.....always kinda liked the look of them and when a father of a freind offered to trade me his for a case of beer.....

Greg

[lukecp]

I was driving a '91 S10 4x4, which i was going to fix up and lift, but i got hooked on these trucks instead. One of my friends got a '71 GMC, and i loved the way it looked. I then decided that i wanted to drive a truck with 8 cylinders and started looking for one. I looked for 5 or 6 months until i found mine.
I dont ever see myself selling the truck. I have too much blood, sweat, and way too much money in it .

[teeitup]

I was 14 just got my DL and my dad owned a Chevy dealership, he gave me a choice of a 69 GMC or a F***. I took the GMC and put some tires and wheels on it and a radio, it had a 6cyl, 3 speed. Just kept getting different ones over the years. Then a good friend of mine died and I decided I wanted to fix up a 4x4 before something happened to me in my lifetime. So I bought the 67 swb 4x4 and fixed it up, glad I did. Then I found this truck page and hooked me more! Now I keep getting more trucks! Randy

[Dan72cst]

I was four years old when my grandparents bought a new 71 K5. I can still remember sitting "way up high" in the back seat flippin the ashtray up and down and whinnig that my brother was jabbin me in the ribs. Just didn't get any better than that.

[casey]

I thought of this quite abit myself trying to figure out how I got hooked on vehicles. And the point in time that I think it happened was, when I was about ten, and my teenage neighbor stopped to give me a ride when I was walking home one day, well I think that was the turning point. Before that I thought a vehicle was just that just transportation.But when he pulled up in his 58 bonneville and said hop in that was it , have you ever looked in side of one of these chrome boats. The inside had chrome every where, had nice tinted green glass, when the car bug hits you words can't discribe what you feel, and I'll never forget that floor shifter he put in that thing, It had this clear red top on it,I thought that was so cool, and when he stepped on the gas and those cherry bombs started to rap, That was it, that was the begining, started building car models, dreaming of the day I could get my first car, you know what it was, you won't beleive this 64 pontiac customsport thats the canadian model 327 stock 4spd and tach 700.00 16 yrs old and I thought I was the coolest dude around. been a gear head ever since, Hears a few 67 chevelle 3 70 chevelles ss 55 belair 68 california special 64 bonneville 64 impala 57 pontiac 72 chevelle ss the list keeps going always selling one to get the other yeh I'm hooked, now I have my beautiful 71 4x4 a true gear head

[crazy longhorn]

I love the curves on these old trucks......kinda like your bestest girl freind.....know what I mean vern

[Reumster]

I'd say that the Traders Trendsetter got me hooked. It sparked my interest the most.

[No3Fan4Ever]

I also was in high school in the early 70's and these trucks were pretty cool back then just as they are now; and realizing about a year ago how much I missed working on my old BB chevelle I became more interested in these trucks because I didn't want to pay the outrageous money everybody wants for a beater chevelle
Tim

[weasel29gm]

My uncle got a new red 69 lwb for the farm. I always got to drive it in the hay field, thats what got me hooked. Then dad got a 67 step that he kept forever. So i just got used to havin' them around. I got my 72 lwb in 81 and drove it 2-3 yrs. Then I started lookin' for areal good one no rust, straight, sharp etc. And I got the 69 swb and like they say the rest is history I've never parted with it, that was in 86. These trucks has a stickablity about em'. Someone asks what kind of truck you got when you tell em'. Yea I remember,my dad or grandpa had one. Or go to a show and watch folks walk by other trucks to look at a 67 -72. It don't matter if there stock or custom they turn heads when are showed or drove. 55-57's and the 60 & 70's muscle cars will what Chevy will be known for, but they never make another truck like a 67-72!!!!!!!!!!! Yea I'm hooked, line and sinker LOL!!!!!!!

[Palf70Step]

I really wasn't into trucks most of my life. Fast cars were another thing. When I got back from being in Japan for 10 years, I bought my first truck...a Ranger STX. Fell in love with trucks then. Times goes by and I had been wanting to get back into a project to occupy myself. I was originally looking at the 47-55 era trucks as a project. Then I came across the board and my 70. Got hooked. Love them. Like many others, this one isn't done...Heck not even relly started, and I'm looking at another one soon (for my 4 year olds future the story goes). Something about them, that when they grab you your stuck.

[krazy_texan]

what got me hooked was when my father bought my first one for me, we had just moved back from overseas and i did not have a vehicle at the time and we had been looking at vehicles and had chosen to buy a 71 ford 1/2 ton with a 351 clevland that was really nice but on his way to buy the ford about 2 blocks before there was an old man with an orange 71 custom/20 for sale so he stopped, test drove it and bought it for $3500 and picked me up from school in it that afternoon completly surprising me

[WORNBRAKES]

It all started when I was kid. My dad an all of his friends(except one who had a 2nd gen blazer) had one. They used to all meet at Danny's to work on them. When I was about 4 years old, I took apart my dads wheel hub before he cought me.
Later when I was in High School, I was troubled and wanted to drop out. Dad told me that if I stayed and finnished school, he would give me his 72 Blazer. A year later he sold it to pay off his taxes. I was upset at first but then I understood his situation. A few months later he bought a 71 Blazer off of my uncle. It a bit nicer than the 72 my dad had before and he told me that I would get that one. About 6 monthes before graduation, he wreacked the truck into a tree and then a house. It totaled the blazer.
I graduated 6 years ago and still have not got a blazer from him. I guess you can say that he owes me one. Since then I have had 2 68's a 69 and a 70. I plan to own a few more but the next one I buy will have disc brakes. Maby a 71 or 72 Blazer.

[Ackattack]

When I was about 12, my dad got a 69 SWB that orange with primer when he got it and my mom and sister thought he was nuts. Well he fixed it up real nice and eventually sold it (darn it). That's when I started liking these trucks. Then when it came time to get my first car, I told my dad I wanted one of these trucks, and he told me that it'd cost too much to fix up and keep running and so I got a 88 mustang 4 cyl. I hated that car, and after a year and a half, I sold it and got the truck I have now. He was right that it costs a lot of money to fix them up, but its worth it. I've had my truck more almost 6 years now and I'm still not quite finished with it.

[Fred T]

I grew up with them. Dad bought a 56 Furd in 60, a new 64 c-10, a used 68 c-10, a used 69 burb. My own first pickup was a new 74 c-10.

[70cst]

I accidently found my 70cst. I had been looking for a mid 50's Chevy Truck like my Dad use to have and I was looking in all the truck magazines but with no luck. I also purchased various Chevy Truck books so I could check on options and price ranges. Then it happened. I was in Knoxville, Tn. and I bought the Wheels & Deals Truck issue Vol. 12 Issue 34. Then I saw her on page 32. For Sale: 1970 Cust. PU. AT. AC. PS. PB. Green. Factory BB. Orig. Motor. 80K Miles. FAC. Buckets. TACH. Very Solid. RUNS & Drives out good. $3000 Celina, TN. This issue had just been delivered so I called and Mike answered. I asked a few questions about the truck and asked if I could stop buy and take a look. Mike said he was closed but he would still be around for a couple hours so he said come on by. I saw her...I fell in Love...I put a deposit on the truck and came back three weeks later to pick her up. I drove it back home and on the first stop for gas the starter went out. But that's another story. This truck is the car I could not afford as a teenager and I also graduated in 1970. Mike told me later he had over a dozen calls that night asking about the truck. He said he wished he had a dozen more to sell. That's my story. The "Circuit Rider" lives. 70cst

[landon4421]

I bought one. I bought my 1972 4X4 SWB. I have always liked the way these old trucks looked. After owning one it kind of grew on me. A buddy of mine had a 1969 4X4 SWB in high school. I would have to say that was when i was hooked. It took me like 12 years to find the one that got it all started. Now I'm a junky, but hell I could have worst habits.

Here is one I got las night. HotWheels 1969 custom.

Landon

[ckhd]

My first 'car' did. It was a 1969 K10. That pickup was pretty neglected by the time I got it, and I had to do a lot of work on it to get it back in shape. That's what got me hooked.

Luckily, I was bright enough to never sell my first 'car'. It's currently (slowly) getting a frame-off resto. I ought to be finished with it about the time it's celebrating it's 50th birthday!

[skyhawk1]

My son got me started. For some reason he wanted a 69 4-WD. Well one day he and a couple of his friends brought home this heap of junk (really) there was 2 pickups and a big ole trailer full of nothing but parts and most of them were junk. We worked nearly a year and came up with a very nice 70 4-WD. Of course I had to have one so I bought a 71 2-WD and restored it, then a 72 4-WD and then a 72 Suburban. I do however remember standing on a street corner in Alameda CA in 1969 (while I was in the Navy) and seeing some really sharp trucks go by. I really didn't think much about them after that except that trucks were just trucks. Oh well, I love these old trucks just like you guys do and I drive them every day. I've got 3 real nice rides and no car payments. Oh one more thing, I got a little crazy a couple of months ago and decided to trade my 72 Suburban in on a 03 Z-71 Suburban, but when the salesman said my payments would be between 600 and 700 a month for maybe the rest of my life (I'm 54) I said no way! I wonder how many new Suburban owners that have stopped to get gas somewhere and had people walk up and want to look at there Burb? I've had young and old stop me and ask me something about it. I even had one little 10 or 12 year old girl come up to me at a mall and say "that's a pretty truck." Ok I'll quit going on and on. I will try to post a pic of my son's truck, my first project.

[Bob Chayer]

When I was a child my dad flew the both of us to Detroit to pick up one of the last '72s there was . It was Sea Foam green and my dad had to build a box for me to sit on so I could see out. We had some great times fishing and what not in that truck. I learned to drive in that truck and was able to date the hottest girl in school because I was the only one that could drive her Saab 96 with a 4 on the "tree". (learned that in the Green Hornet!) My dad owned and loved that truck until a couple of years ago when some jerk in a F*rd T-boned him. The guy could not understand why my dad was so upset and either could the insurance company (It's just an old truck and this is more than its worth.). We found dad a '68 to replace the 72 but it was not quite the same.

Some say my suburban is super ugly, sucks down the gas, is not "environmentaly friendly", and is a serious ark but I hope my son has the same great times with his dad in an old Chevy as I did!

WOW did this bring back some great memories....I think i'll call my dad tonight down there in Fla!

[GMCjunkie]

I saw my burb for sale, didnt even really know what it was at first... HAD to have it.....2 months later,, she was mine... The rest is history.... whats not to love???