Lawrence Street Sighting: Chevrolet Custom 10 Deluxe pickup

I've recently been on a pickup truck kick, and boy does Lawrence have them. I searched high and low, but in the end, I picked out my best examples. I like trucks with patina, but a bit of originality; rust but not excessive enough to look trashed; dents, and dings a bound, but obvious junkyard damage. This particular Chevrolet seemed to fit that criteria quite well. Scattered about Lawrence, the C-10/C-20 is a rather popular pickup, in various states of restoration and/or disrepair; I see quite a number each time I'm back home. Why I haven't blogged or shot any, I'll never understand, but this truck seemed like a fit for my theme.
Finished in likely original paint with a generous amount of surface rust, its clear that this C-10 is still doing its job as a daily hauler, but it might not being doing that job for much longer. It appears the tires are slowly deflating, and each time I see, there is more and more surface rust. On the whole, though, this C-10 is as complete as I have seen, especially for a vehicle that is used as more than a vehicle to take out on Saturday night; this thing gets (or got) taken out every night. Be it a Dillons run, or a quick trip to ACE Hardware, or even to the lumber yard, this is true workhorse.
Near as I can tell, this is a 1971 model, and its age greatly reflects it condition. Bought new at Van Chevrolet in Kansas City, Mo, this 350 V8- equipped base model truck spent its whole in the Northeast corner of Kansas as far as I can tell. Having little in the way of options, this is what you bought if you didn't want and F-100 or D-100. Base in those days meant, well, bench seat, 3 spd on the tree, and steel wheels with or without metal/chrome hubcaps. This drab green and rust example wears one factory white painted hubcap and the rest of the wheels are shod simply in plain white painted steelies. Certainly, this combination gives off the "I'm just a work truck" vibe more than any other C-Series I've seen, this generation or otherwise.
While I do realize that to readers in other states, seeing a feature on these trucks is rather boring. To me, old pickups are part of where I grew up and where I spent my childhood. Whether its because I'm from Kansas, or if its simply because I am a male, I admire old trucks. I like them for what they are, and what purpose they serve. Seeing a clean, restored example is quite nice, but to fair, seeing one that has hard days behind it is that much cooler. I applaud the owner for keeping this truck around, and I hope if offered the chance, someone does restore it. Wait.. I just contradicted myself. Oops.