this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026
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Cars - For Car Enthusiasts
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There are not many 80s trucks left that are road worthy what is likely has had more restoration than the cost of a new truck.
I know people who do that, in the mountains small trucks are all that fit some places and so if you want a truck you buy something worn out and put more than it was new - inflation adjusted - into a restore.
It's true, the remainder are mostly in enthusiast hands now or very run down. They were not built to last. 90's too.
My strategy was to buy from someone at a car show (I'm not an enthusiast, I actually use it) and I got lucky after walking a bunch of them in 2016 with an all original 1994 Chevy K1500 5.7L 118,000 km odometer in mint condition even had the original windshield with no cracks and assembly line cling wrap in the door wells. Strange boomer fellow, he even opened the doors with a cloth. $8000 Canadian I paid, they're worthless even in such amazing condition to this day.
Big downside: Very few mechanics are still working who are willing to troubleshoot anything to do with anything attached to the ODB1 embedded computers. Nobody around me held onto the scanning tools. Many outright refused to work on mine recently when I had a rough cold start issue. It was the MAP sensor but the two mechanics who did try failed to find the problem. Ended up having to figure it out myself. Now I own a hacky OBD1 to USB cable from eBay and learned ProTuner scanner software lol.
Next downside: Entropy and dry rot. The interior plastics for example.... I can't easily replace the awful rear speakers because I've been told the plastic clips are extremely brittle from age and absolutely will shatter no matter how carefully I try to take them off. I'd have to commit to breaking them and then doing some 3D printed surgery to fix the panels back up.
It must be a really undesirable model like a long bed and/or extra cab because these OBS trucks are otherwise worth a lot in good/pristine condition to enthusiasts especially in places like Canada where vehicles quickly rust out. The most desirable is the single cab short bed truck.
1994 extended cab, but still a 2 door. Standard bed, Silverado trim. It's the last year of the 1950's iron block before the Vortec and interior update. Maybe it's just this specific year, I was looking them up to possibly sell mine but I didn't see anything beyond $10k at the time. Mostly $7000 range. Edit: maybe it's different in Alberta than USA idk.