balthazar

For you less techy people; it’s not a button; it’s a proximity signal. Fob is on your person, you press the emblem and the panel opens electrically. No fumbling with your phone/ access code/ finding-opening an app. Progress should mean faster, not slower.

American Bantam was the 3rd company involved.

Needlessly stupid. Should be enabled by the fob - press the Crest and it opens like the doors do.

I wonder if that's a power panel, or manual.

I've never looked specifically at that, but this isn't a car that's going to sit out in the rain, maybe ever again. I have spare rust-free fenders, but 1. they're a gold color, 2. they have many different bits of trim that would require drilling & filling of holes to take to GP spec, and 3. that's a considerable amount of dis/re-assembly to swap them out. I'd rather live with the contained rot & the original fenders/paint. I always pictured this car restored to stock. Financially, that doesn't make sense; I can buy one restored for considerable less than it would take to get this to that condition, I think. So I've moved on from that vision to one closer to the Cab-Over; make mechanically sound and drive. The GP is in FAR nicer shape than the COE, one could put it in the 'survivor' class of collectible since it's never been restored / is all original. Interior is really pretty great shape, has the original cardboards/mats in the trunk.

As they are coming out at the same time, the comparisons between this & the Rivian are going to be interesting.

Both lower front fender drain holes tend to clog & rust out on these- there's a hole on each side there. Paint on the horizontal surfaces is lightly crispy, but the sides are going to buff out nicely. Frame, trunk pan, floors and rockers are mint. What's left of the vinyl top shows zero bubbles (at the C-pillar). It really was only on the road for 7 years.

Once upon a time, trucks were totally about function. Then they took everything that cars had, added it to their functionality, gave buyers a cornucopia of trims & options and accessories, and the car slipped further into it's open grave. Yep, that included big screens & sunroofs.

This is my tire machine. Yes, obviously, it’s manual. It’s actually a Coats, but it’s probably from 1950. A buddy gave it to me about 30 years ago. Maybe once every 5 years I use it, quite the workout. Today I did 3 of the ones in the background, but the foreground rubberband tire wouldn’t work on this machine. Once my brother & I used it to mount 38” truck tires. Anyway, good to have around.

Jersey used to sometimes flag you for significant body panel rust, but they never checked structural. ykX - when did NJ stop everything but emissions - was it during the recession ‘08-09?

Does Ohio inspect frames annually? I doubt it. Jersey had annuals, they never checked the frames here. Cat converter in place is it, underneath. But NJ stopped safety inspections some years ago, except for emissions. (Diesels exempt). - - - - - Was just eyeballin a late '80s Chevy pickup sitting at my buddy's shop. Frame has mild surface rust but no heavy rust or rot showing thru either wheelwell.

I parked this car because it had a stuck lifter. Still ran fantastically strong. So 2 weeks ago, after the urging of 2 friends and my son (who loves this car), I rounded up 4 tires that hold air & swapped them on, rolled the car outside, we washed it and started airing out the interior. I used to have mice running around in my shop, so the windows have been closed all these years. Interior got hella moldy. There were still 2 contained mice nests- one in the back seat and one in a cardboard box in the trunk. Minimal activity either way. About 90% of the interior has been cleaned now. Going to pulled the buckets and clean the carpet, then button it all back together (I had the rear seat out / just sitting in there). Hooked a power unit up and tried out a few things- power antenna works, parking lights work, horn works. Didn't try the windows- the power unit isn't the same thing as an actual battery (horn was weak), so didn't want to have them stuck down. I turned the engine over manually last year, currently have some Marvel Mystery oil in all the cylinders, and going to rotate the engine a couple turns. Next is rebuilt the carb, clean out the tank (it was coated years back), replace the fuel lines. Check the ignition bits (they only have about 800 miles on them), and probably try to start it. If it runs, the next hurdle is moving. If it moves, it gets a brand new brake system & tires, and it's time to cruise. Then there's this to consider :

I've never seen a truck with a snapped frame in person. My '04 SIlverado has lived it's life in NJ, frame has no major scale, nevermind rot. Should turn 200K miles this week. My 80-yr old Ford spent it's life in NJ and it's frame is excellent- no rot or weak spots, but I have no idea how many miles are on it. It worked a good 35 years tho. A buddy scrapped a Chevy pickup maybe 5 years ago when it was too rotted, but it was a 1990 that spent YEARS plowing & salting every winter.

Yep

Wire-wheeled / hand sanded 3 rims down, got 2 of them etch-primed for paint. These are for my ‘64 - if the powertrain examination/testing goes well and it runs/moves, then she gets all new brakes /tires.

^ Would you buy new or a couple years 'pre-owned'?

• I wasn't comparing my truck to toyoters, just giving an example of my definition of reliable. • Loaner trucks don't happen to work for me- I work out of my truck; all my tools are in there. Not only can't I work, I also have to offload most of my tools for peace-of-mind reasons/security when at the dealer, then reload when it comes back. That s huge inconvenience. Plus, my truck is 150K miles out of warranty, so something breaks it's not covered. I've only had it in for service maybe a half dozen times tho (maintenance work I do myself).

While I'd take David at his word he could fit in the back with the door closed, I doubt it'd be comfortable on a decent-length trip. His knees are at the beltline and outside the seat in front. And I know there's no excess room between the seat back and the side of the car- OEMs don't build vehicles with wasted space like that anymore. My key fob was down for a day (wife put it thru the wash for a few minutes until the panic alarm started randomly going off). I can barely shove my forearm between the seat & the B-pillar to reach the rear door lock button on my 2500HD, and that's like 80" wide.

^ 0.4" difference, advantage Bolt.

"Unreliable" is an variably-defined term. If the OEM is sending me a letter once a month, telling me I need to repeatedly bring/leave my truck at the dealer for -let's call it- "attention", and it's therefore not waiting in my driveway for me, is it still "reliable"? - - - - - A recall for a 'missing paragraph in the owner's manual' is less than nothing and zero reflection on the product itself. So (IMO) are recalls centered around aftermarket hood scoops, lamp assemblies, rims/lug nuts. Tho those parts should be tested/passed by the OEM, I acknowledge a degree of risk on any part not directly under OEM manufacturing supervision. Likewise with dealer-level alterations. However, I cannot define leaking rears, loss of brakes, broken valve springs, cracking driveshafts, cracking bodywork, seat heater fires, window switch fires, separating ball joints, unintended cruise acceleration, failure of air bags to deploy, broken leaf springs puncturing the fuel tank, etc etc etc as the vehicle still being 'reliable'. IMO, "reliable" encompasses [actual reliability of operating condition, breakage of components, and the number/severity of recalls / TSBs] that put my vehicle out of service. There is also a 'comfortable degree of confidence' that's an amorphous component of consumer satisfaction. - - - - - I only remember 2 recall notices for my 2500HD in the 16 years I've had it; one for the center rear child seat anchor (not applicable to me + my rear seat is totally removed), and the instrument cluster glitch. A SINGLE OCCURRENCE ONLY: I pulled out of a convenience store lot and all gauges went to 0. I shut the truck off & coasted to the side, immediately thinking of oil pressure. Thought about it a moment, decided it was an instrument thing, started the truck & all was fine. That was about 8 years back - never happened again. To me, that's still 100% 'reliability' because there was no operational detriment and no downtime for service.

Here : it's boring compared to the other 'unexciting' pickups. Look, it's sedans that are unexciting. Cramped, limited capabilities, no advantages over trucks other than parking ability in tight lots. Damned pick-ups are overtaking the industry, obviously consumers frequently find them exciting. Imagine 2 sedans; one has more power, more cargo & load capacity, towing ability if you need it, the same level of finish & amenities, more levels of individualizing, better crash protection, better vision, stronger built, better resale.... some difference in pricing (but less so than comparing a average sedan to an average EV sedan).... so far which one has you more interested?

No; we agreed : 'coma sales are not poor- they lead the segment. That's inarguable. As far as being 'healthy & reliable' - the recalls not only are frequent to the point of sheer annoyance, too many are of a serious nature spilling over into 'unprecedented' territory. The reputation has not yet been tempered by recent reality, but that's a common occurrence. My point was not to at all imply the Chevrolet's were better, as much as it was to point out that the toyoters AREN"T. That's the picture that needs adjustment.