1963 Chevrolet C10 Pickup Truck [Down On The Street]

Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We're starting off the new month on a Truck Monday, and we might as well get right back to pickup basics here, with a good ol' Chevy half-ton that lives in the heart of Alameda's downtown.

I spent a summer driving one of these when I was in high school, and I liked it quite a bit (once I got used to the three-on-the-tree gearshift). Bouncy, squeaky, and rattly, but not much to go wrong and plenty of style.

Back in '63, the base C10 Stepside cost $2,009. That got you the indestructo-grade 230-cubic-inch I6, which would get the truck up to highway speed even with several old refrigerators in the bed… eventually. The '63 Ford F100 Flareside was priced at a near-identical $2,002, but the real truck steal of 1963 was the Dodge D100 Sweptline, which could be had for just $1,823.

Here's another multiple-DOTS block; the '69 Skylark Custom is just down the block. The '84 Porsche 928 and '64 Dodge Dart wagon are just around the corner, too.