The Story of Big Steve

My grandpa retired from GM in Doraville back in 1973. The day before he retired he ordered this 1974 Custom Deluxe C20. During his tenure at GM, he was also a pro wrestler in GA. He was part of a tag team called the Dalton Brothers. He was Steve and his partner was Tim, from Clay County Missouri. All of his buddies called my grandpa Big Steve. After retiring from GM and wrestling he got into the grading business and this was his work truck. I remember riding in the truck as a kid when he would take me hunting or fishing. One winter back in the 80’s he helped me split wood and I would load that truck up with cord after cord and he would deliver it for me until I had enough money for my first rifle. The day he retired from the grading business, he also retired the C20. He would occasionally drive it to keep the battery fresh but then all those years of taking atomic elbows and boots to the forehead took its toll. Sadly, in 2004 he passed away 5 days after his wife, my grandma passed. My dad inherited the truck and it was more yard art than a truck. I think he spent more money on transmission fluid than he ever did on actually repairing anything on the truck. Three years ago my dad passed away unexpectedly and after 3 years of an estate nightmare, I got the call to come get the truck. When I loaded up the truck I immediately went for glove box to see what treasures were inside and boy were there some! A half used bottle of Stetson that my grandpa would splash on before coming home. But what I found next was just short of incredible….The order form from when he special ordered the truck back in 1973!!!! Complete with a delivery receipt and warranty date…..October 11, 1973. Almost 46 years to the day! I couldn’t believe that after all of these years those documents sat in the glove box of a working man’s truck…my grandpa’s truck, just waiting for me to discover them! Now, being a working man’s truck there are some things that were replaced over the years that I found in his notepad. The grill and headlights are from a 1980 C class. The bed and tailgate were also replaced in 1989. I just got the truck running which was a miracle for me and I cried like a baby when I took the truck out for my first drive. The smell of his Red Man Chewing tobacco spit on the vinyl floors never smelled so good. I still have a ways to go cosmetically but mechanically the truck runs like Custom Deluxe should! So without further ado….I would like to introduce you to Big Steve!