If you want affordability and quality in the old car market, the best place to look is trucks. Overlooked for decades, worked to death in their prime, and neglected out behind barns and garages around the country. But sometimes they were treated as something special, lived easy lives, and landed with owners who knew that they were more than just tools. In particular, this 1970 Chevrolet K10 4x4, with its short bed and regular cab, has probably always been a cherished toy rather than a working class machine and it shows. Subject to a comprehensive freshening a few years ago, it’s the kind of truck that everyone can admire and delivers on the rugged promises made by its go-anywhere look.

Totally redesigned in 1967, Chevy trucks were all about looking good as well as working hard and even Chevrolet advertising at the time said that “It’s time trucks stopped looking so trucky.” The results speak for themselves, a line of pickups that were as handsome as they were durable and they remain among the most popular of all Chevy trucks today. By far the most popular version was the regular cab 4x2 with a long bed and waaaay down the list is the short bed, regular cab 4x4, of which only a relative handful were produced, and by relative, I mean about 30,000. In truck terms, that’s rare. This particular 1970 Chevy C10 4x4 led an easy life in warm, dry Oklahoma before it was given a full makeover that addressed all the major systems on the truck. It was stripped down to its frame and cab (the cab has never been off the chassis) and everything that could be restored was addressed. The bodywork in particular was beautifully restored, and while starting with good base stock certainly helped, the extensive restoration photos show a car that was stripped and rebuilt from the metal on up. Gorgeous Sherwood Green paint accurately replicates the original finish, with just a hint of olive and gold in it to really give it depth. You can see in the photos that it’s incredibly straight and the gloss is spectacular thanks to a recent wet sand and buff. The bed is in excellent condition with no real evidence of hard work or abuse and it wears a beautiful grille, fresh chrome bumpers (the front bumper has built-in fog lamps), new chrome door handles, and aftermarket tubular step plates that make getting into the tall truck a lot easier.

An all-new original-spec interior was installed at the same time, accurately re-creating the OEM look. The seat covers and door panels have western-style tooling meant to recall the look of a saddle (because that’s a manly thing and trucks are manly) and the new black carpets offer the correct weave and nap, plus a heel pad for the driver. The paint work inside is just as nice as the bodywork and modern speakers have been neatly installed in the lower door panels but blend in nicely. The original instrument panel and gauges are in excellent condition and these trucks offered some of the most handsome gauges ever fitted by the factory, all of which are fully functional. The original AM radio is long gone, replaced by a JVC AM/FM/CD stereo head unit that actually sounds quite good thanks to a lot of additional sound-deadening materials inside the cab. A sliding rear window helps ventilation, creating pleasant breezes without hurricane-force winds inside, even at highway speeds. You’ll also note the chrome shifter on the floor for the 2-speed transfer case as well as the original 4-wheel-drive operation decal on the face of the glove box.

It’s powered by a rebuilt 350 cubic inch V8 with the usual upgrades, including an Edelbrock intake manifold, Holley 4-barrel carburetor, and a few dress-up pieces to make it sparkle. Everything was new at the time of restoration, including the alternator, radiator, water pump, and ignition system, so it runs and drives superbly. A period of storage has resulted in some of the bare cast iron parts such as the exhaust manifolds and master cylinder developing some surface scale, but it’s purely cosmetic and could be easily cleaned up on a weekend. It’s got a great V8 rumble from the custom dual exhaust system, which uses Flowmaster mufflers and twin turn-downs just under the rear bumper so it stays out of sight. The TH350 3-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly and while we haven’t tested it in harsh off-road conditions, the transfer case shifts easily between high and low ranges. The rear axle is a GM 12-bolt, which is virtually indestructible, while the front axle is a familiar Dana 44, and we believe there are 3.73 gears inside both ends, which gives a good combination of acceleration and cruising with those big tires. The chassis is in good original condition with no major issues, clean floors, and solid rockers. A modest lift kit with modern aftermarket shocks was installed during the restoration, so it has an awesome stance and the big 31x10.50-15 Goodyear Wrangler tires on factory Rally wheels look fantastic.

You don’t see many 4x4 pickups of this vintage, and even fewer in this condition. There’s far, far more than the asking price invested in the restoration, so you can reap the benefits of someone else’s work and get a fantastic truck that’s a lot of fun to drive.