Practically Used Homestead Wheels

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John Vivian's Wheels

My own vehicle to drive into the next century? I'm taking my own advice and refurbishing a Chevy pickup, It's one I bought new in 1978, the last year before emission control & I put on a cap to protect the bed, and remember telling Nat Varnot when he sold it to me: "I'll be buried in this truck:' I haven't had the need yet, but time did pass and road salt and sea water took its toll till rusted doors and fenders failed State-of-Maine inspection. Then a power steering hose and the brake booster went so it wasn't even safe as a woods truck. It sat out back for a year or two, but only has 85,000 miles, so is getting a new life. Below is a generalized restoration estimate. Mechanic's labor is overestimated in both time and cost-at a generous $50/hr. and is included in totals. I put DIY where I'll do all or same of the work.

I'll have the body work done immediately and do the rest when I can afford it. I factored in $1,000 for truck and $400 for rubber into the total. Do clutch and radiator work while the engine is out? The total is $7,000-about what a #1 `78 show truck would sell for now. I could never get that much for this one, but I'm comparing it with cost of a new version: $22 ,000. Maybe I'll rebuild again and detail it for show when late-'70s trucks become classics in another decade.

Plain Vanilla Cars

If you need a small, sturdy, and economical car for commuting, consider a Chevy Chevette/Pontiac 1000. With full frame, rear drive, and bulletproof Pontiac "Iron Duke" four-cylinder engines, they're miniature examples of Detroit design at its best. They weren't introduced till '76, so all have emissions controls, but they are simple, reliable, and cheap at $100 to $800. I know of one Iron Duke that ran for a thousand miles with no oil pressure. Early Chevettes had problems, and junk yards are full of them—providing plenty of parts for the mid-to-late '80s models that will run forever if you correct minor problems quickly. A clutch will last 100,000 miles if kept adjusted. They're great little snow cars with spiked snow tires, but put concrete blocks in the trunk for traction.

The dowdiest but sturdiest passenger vehicles in the world are the 2 1/2-ton cabs and civilian sedans and wagons produced by Checker from '60 through '82 without a design change. Nothing about them is magic; they are just simple and extremely rugged. Cadillac-expensive when new, a typical #3/#4 sedan of any model year sells for about $2,500 and a wagon for $2,700. Don't even consider an ex-cab, but get a consumer model—with an eight-cylinder engine if you can. Most stock Chrysler running gear, but body parts can be hard to locate.

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