One of the vehicles I remember most around down growing up was an early 1980s Ford F-350 pickup truck with a wrecker setup in the bed. It belonged to a small service station and it got worked to death. It would be dragging cars around town and everywhere daily. The back would be sagged, the nose would be up, and it would be working hard. That’s why when I laid eyes on the 1979 GMC 3500 Cheyenne pickup truck wrecker you see here, I had to share it. Like the Ford I remember from my youth, this one likely spent years working hard for a local gas station or repair shop. It now wears a kind of weird paint job but that’s beside the point. The truck itself is greatness.

This 1-ton GMC has a 454 engine, a four speed manual transmission, an eight foot stepside style bed, and a Holmes 440 wrecker unit sitting between the bedsides. Part of the reason I think I love these trucks is the fact that they are just plain different than the average wrecker. They don’t have the fancy, fabricated back end on them with the cool controls mounted, the wheel dollies mounted, and the cargo box sides. Nope, they have a pickup bed with a couple of handles poking out by the rear bumper. I also keep envisioning this truck with that same nose high, tail low stance the Ford at home used to have when it was working.

This is a very “regular guy” wrecker and while that may sound bizarre, I believe it. Look at all the early tow trucks, they were converted from whatever was available. I’m not sure if this was a much cheaper option for someone to chase rather than the more traditional trucks we are used to seeing now but I am guessing it was.

The seller of this truck knows he has a neat one and something that will appeal to a diehard and narrow audience. He’s asking $12,000 for the rig, which is a bunch but you aren’t going to see a whole lot of them in this condition or for sale at all. Most of them, including that local Ford were literally worked to death.

LINK: AUCTION FOR THIS 1979 GMC 3500 CHEYENNE PICKUP TRUCK WRECKER