Poor country boy in the big city

NOT QUITE PERFECT 10

In the shadows of the never-ending construction boom that is North Williamsburg I found this:

A plain as day 1965 Chevrolet C-10 pickup. No fancy trim, or any trim at all for that matter! No reverse lights. Black window surrounds. This is the truck you got if you went into the dealership and stuck to your guns while they tried to convince you that you needed some options. This is the truck for the customer who argues for an hour about the "destination charge" built into every new vehicle price.

The chrome that does exist on this truck is restricted to the gas cap, the door handles, and the front turn signal surrounds because they couldn't be ordered any other way. The emblem and wipers aren't chrome per se, just some plain metal. I'm pretty sure that skinny tailpipe leads to the base 230 inline 6 cylinder, possibly with the three-on-the-tree manual transmission.

All this doesn't mean it's lacking style though! The trapazoidal window opening and overall roof treatment on this thing is great, as is that body length inward crease. The aftermarket wagon wheels are vintage and look cool on just about any truck.

Plain painted white bumper and grill that doesn't even say CHEVROLET across it like almost every other 1965 Chevy truck. It's almost like your cheapness reaches a point where the dealer says "Fine! We'll build it but we don't want our name on the front".

The location of this emblem is the only surefire way to identify this as a '65. The three model years from '64-'66 are identical on the surface except for this lone detail. That antenna is in the correct location for the year, so maybe there was a single option box checked off after all.

Well this makes hauling things a little inconvenient! It looks like this beast was given dual exhausts at some point, so maybe this is a super undercover hot rod with the bed removed to save weight? More likely the rusty metal was removed and is awaiting replacement.

The color on this rig is either Desert Beige or Fawn (I like Fawn because it rhymes with yawn). The tailgate hardware has been removed so I'm guessing it's either bolted or tack welded into place, not that there's currently any reason to lower it.

This economical choice will turn 50 next year which is a remarkable feat for any vehicle currently registered and on the road. It's simplicity certainly helps its cause as there isn't anything modern to break on it at all. Another factor in its decent current state is probably that whoever buys a truck this basic probably did so with frugality in mind. This is exactly the sort of person who maintains their vehicles and treats them with care. I tip my cap to whoever this original owner was, walking into some rural dealership in dirty overalls, reluctantly taking a couple hours out of a perfectly good work day to do so, because the results of their caution remain to this day.