Long Lost Love

When my parents first started dating, my dad had a 1972 Chevy Cheyenne short bed. My mom wanted that truck so bad. My dad ended up selling it to a friend of his who crashed it. My mom was mad. Well, I did research on this style of truck and found hundreds of 67-71’s, but the ‘72 was eluding for about 15 years. One day I went to my buddy’s shop and there it was parked in my usual stall. A ‘72 short bed. Needed a little work, so I asked if it was for sale. It belonged to the gentleman who had a shop behind him, to which he replied, “Everything is for!” I bought it on the spot. I got that truck home and went to work, interior, carpet, wiring, painting engine block and had a pinstripe artist paint, “Happy Anniversary Mark and Kim” on the inner fender inside the engine compartment. The hardest thing was hiding this truck on my side yard for over a year until the reveal. On reveal day, I ordered a new bow tie for the grille and boxed it up. My brother and I parked the truck down the way as I had my wife tell my parents to come outside and open the box. When my dad opened the box, he immediately recognized what it was. We then pulled the truck in the driveway and his eyes lit up. When we got out of the truck, he said, “That’s a nice truck, I had one just like it. Who’s is that?” I tossed him the key and said, “It’s yours, don’t sell this one!” It was the first time I’d seen my dad cry. It was a proud moment for me and my brother to give back to our parents and see the pure joy on their face when they sat in it. He pulled that truck on his beautifully maintain front lawn and had an impromptu photo shoot with the new toy. And that’s the story of my first C-10 restoration. I just acquired a ‘69 long bed that will be a complete frame off restoration, but it won’t be as exciting as revealing that ‘72 to my parents.