The May/June 2025 issue of the magazine is available in our gift shop now and will be available on newsstands soon. The cover feature is the Lewallens’ 1970 Chevrolet C10 CST. Story by Bob Tomaine, Photos by Brad Bowling

“MAKE IT INTO A HOT ROD!”

There’s no way the Lewallens’ 1970 Chevrolet C10 CST was getting “modernized!”

Story by Bob Tomaine, Photos by Brad Bowling

When it came to restoring his 1970 Chevrolet C10 pickup, R.G. Lewallen found there was a real consensus as to how he should proceed.

“That’s what everybody kept telling me to do,” he said. “Drop an LS in, lower it, switch to rack and pinion and disc brakes. That’s not my cup of tea.”

It was undoubtedly intended as good advice, but the thought of installing a modern smallblock V-8 engine did not sit well with Lewallen, and he rejected it. After all, there is plenty to like about a Chevy of that vintage—just the way it is—especially if the vehicle in question came from the factory in Custom Sport Truck form!

Postwar pickups
General Motors’ light trucks had been keeping up with the times since the first true postwar Chevrolets (and their almost-twin GMC counterparts) arrived for 1948. The Advance-Design Chevys were new enough to make their predecessors seem not just old, but elderly. There was a good reason for that, as the 1947 model dated to 1941. Its high, pointed hood, headlights atop the fenders, and vertical grille bars reflected the styling of that time. The 1948 model was smoother, with a wider, softly rounded hood, headlights integrated into the fenders, and a horizontally themed grille.

The Advance-Design model continued into 1955 before being replaced by that year’s Second-Series truck. It was again an entirely new look, as the one-piece windshield (introduced in 1954) gave way to a wraparound glass that would go on into the 1960s. Front-fender lines continued smoothly through the doors, and, on the upscale Cameo Carrier pickup, they matched perfectly with the top rails of that model’s fiberglass-clad box. The eggcrate grille, combined with eyebrows over the headlights and a high flat hood, ensured that the truck’s visual connection to the 1955 Chevy passenger cars was impossible to miss.

10 pages are dedicated to showing off the ’70 C10. Be sure to pick up a copy of the May/June 2025 issue of Vintage Truck magazine!

Articles in this issue include:

FEATURES

Back Home Again in Indiana
This trio of Indiana-brand trucks should make the Hoosier State proud!
Story by Jim Volgarino, Photos by Al Rogers
“Make It into a Hot Rod!”
There’s no way the Lewallens’ 1970 Chevrolet C10 CST was getting “modernized!”
Story by Bob Tomaine, Photos by Brad Bowling
The Lone Blue Ranger
Jason Dietsch’s 1988 Saleen Sportruck is the rarest of the rare!
Story by Brad Bowling, Photos by Al Rogers

DEPARTMENTS

Letter from the Editor
Letters to the Editor
The Road Less Traveled: Pony Express by Twin Coach
Photos from the Attic
Books in the Bed: Reviews by Robert Gabrick
Spoked Wheels
Aid for the Anxious Amateur: Reviving neglected engines
Classifieds
Show Guide
Granny Gear: Then Came

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