Pick of the Day: 1986 Chevrolet C10 Silverado

There’s a big difference between laboratory and real-world testing. Automakers spend millions of dollars developing technologies and vehicles and they even test them on public roads, but there’s no guarantee of what will happen when consumers get ahold of them. When Chevrolet was working on the all-new C/K truck line for 1973, it used computers to simulate the components that would be used in it. Engineers moved the front axle forward 2.5 inches to stretch the wheelbase and opted for curved windshield and window glass to cut wind resistance. The new cabs received 528 more square inches of glass to improve outward visibility and additional hip, leg, head, and shoulder room to make passengers more comfortable. Chevy even gave the overhauled C/K line a new internal designation: Rounded Line. Little did they know that it would eventually be called the Square Body and that it would become an icon of the vintage pickup market. Our latest Pick of the Day, this 1986 C10 Silverado, is a descendant of the ambitious ‘73 model and is available at a dealership in Webster, Massachusetts. (Click this link to view the listing)

One major catch of real-world vehicle testing is that it has no mercy. The elements (and birds who just finished lunch) don’t care how shiny the paint is. Strangers will leave their shopping carts in the grocery store parking lot without taking a second to consider they might hit someone else’s vehicle. Luckily, the clock on this C10 Fleetside got reset with a recent frame-off restoration that included a fresh coat of factory-correct Apple Red paint and a matching spray-in bed liner that sits under a new black vinyl tonneau cover. The factory 15-inch Rally wheels have also been refinished and tucked into the wheel wells with a four-inch front and six-inch rear suspension drop that does a great job of making this three-box design look sportier.

As the Service Parts Identification tag indicates, the cabin originally came with Burgundy Custom Cloth upholstery and the convenience of power steering, a Comfortilt steering wheel, cruise control, and air conditioning. The only significant change seems to be the swapping of the original AM/FM radio for a Retrosound AM/FM/cassette unit.

It’s a different story under the hood. The space once occupied by the factory-installed LE9 5.0-liter V8 is now filled with a rebuilt 5.7-liter V8 that sends power to the rear wheels through a 700R4 four-speed automatic transmission. The upgraded engine draws from dual fuel tanks and breathes through a new Flowmaster stainless dual exhaust system.

It’s unknown what the previous owners of this C10 discovered by driving it daily, but it’s apparent that someone along the line realized it was worth restoring. Now it has fresh paint over its not-so-rounded lines (sorry, Chevrolet), a larger rebuilt engine, and a cool new stance. For $39,900, it’ll get a new owner, too.