Lawrence Street Sighting: Chevrolet S10

Starting in 1982, GM decided that they wanted to go the compact-truck route on their own and not use the expertise (?) from Japanese manufacturer, Isuzu. As a result, the GM S-trucks were born; and yes, the blatant rebadging that the full-size trucks shared carried over here as well. Chevrolet had its version, the S-10 (or S10 as it's written here), and GMC's counterpart was a the S-15 Sonoma, more commonly known as--well--the Sonoma. The trucks could be had with engine choices of a series of V6s (2.8L and 4.3) and a much-weaker Iron Duke four, which is commonly known as the "Iron Dookie", as it offers about the same amount of redeeming qualities as receiving an STD as a Christmas gift.

Fortunately, not many Iron Dukes survive--but somehow, some way, this one did; this example is a pre-facelift early first-gen, produced from its initial 1981 debut, to the end of the 1989 model year. Actually, this one might have the even less lethargic 1.9L carburetted four; either way, not much of a powerhouse--but it did wonders for fuel efficiency--or so it was promoted as.

I quite like these first generation S-trucks, and I think these do fit into the category of "timeless" designs as far as GM trucks go; they're not "sexy", but I have liked these since childhood. Apparently so do minitruckers, as that fad really took off in the early 1990s, with first-generation S-trucks often chosen as a blank canvas with which to start customizing from.  Nowadays, finding a decent first generation is hard, as most examples are older than twenty years old now, and rust will have taken its toll if a series of wannabe minitruckers haven't yet.

I know this isn't really a prime specimen of the breed, but it's what the average first-generation S10 looks like now; a set of once-cool aftermarket wheels (that would look great on a Lamborghini Countach replica), modest wheel gap, and faded paint coupled with fender rot round out the package; okay, so that's a tad harsh.

 While the paint is far from perfect, it is at least stock, and while the truck is an older model, it appears that the taillights are not so; in fact, they look Blazer taillights. Oh well--they look okay, I suppose, but I hope that doesn't suggest that modding is in this ride's future. I've seen enough modded S10s to care.

Inside, though, this truck sported a very cheesy red and black steering wheel with equally crappy APC floormats and matching seat covers. So maybe this once-stock pickup is getting the ever-so-common minitruck makeover. Quite sad, really; I can hardly remember what the stock interior looks like since most trucks I see have various stupid mods done.

I used to like the minitruck hobby, but after seeing so many older trucks fall victim to it, I wish I could reverse the trend and save some of these trucks before stock examples go extinct. I really like first generation Chevrolet S10s, and there's simply not too many left.