Redditor Restores 1989 GMC C1500 to its Original Beauty
Current owner states that this spotless GMC, bought new by his grandfather, is his proudest possession.
The odds are good that if you are a Chevrolet or GMC truck lover, you learned that passion from an older relative. In the case of Redditor “brentw4”, his grandfather had a 1989 GMC C1500 that he purchased new and when papa passed away, he left the truck to his grandson. Unfortunately, it had been backed into multiple times, but with the help of some family friends, this stunning half-ton got a new lease on life.
The Introduction
When the Redditor first introduced us to the truck that his grandfather left him, he provided some information on the 1989 GMC C1500 along with a picture showing the pickup before and after the restoration process. The picture at the top of this piece is obviously the “after” shot while the one below shows truck while it was still a work-in-progress.
“This is my 1989 GMC C1500. My papa bought this truck new, He passed away in 2012, and gave this truck to me. The top picture is from 2015, after it had been backed into twice. The bottom is the truck today. It has 67,000 original miles, and there’s nothing I own that I’m more proud of.”
As you can see in the top picture, this 1989 C1500 looks like it is new. The chrome is flawless, the bright polished wheels are a perfect fit, all of the black trim is vibrant and of course, the new gold paint might look better than the day it rolled out of the factory.
Also, along the way we find out that this 1989 GMC C1500 has a 350-cubic inch V8, so it probably runs as great as it looks.
The Community Swoons
It is a gorgeous truck with a great story, so it should come as little surprise that the Reddit community was quick to share their positive input.
“I love that. My first was a 95 single cab, short bed just like this one when I turned 16 back in 2005,” said “SullyBears“. “Sold it to my younger cousin and still regret it. I will for sure be buying it back when/if they get rid of it.”
“How excellent man! You’re blessed to have that memory! Looks amazing,” said “TBCoR“.
“That’s awesome! I don’t have anything like that from my grandfather,” said “hobbserv“. “But I just bought a 71 GMC partially in part because it reminded me of the one he had when I was a kid.”
“This is an awesome story 🙂 I had to watch a stranger drive off in my grandpa’s ’83 GMC. Had to watch him trade off his ’88 3/4 ton back in the mid-nineties,” said “Squidloaf77“. “He traded in his ’05 D-max too, when he retired. If I could have any one of those 3 back, I’d pay triple what they’re worth lol. Thanks for sharing this, it puts a smile on many faces!”
Finally, someone asks about the body work and the OP explains that a family friend did the body and paint work.
“Had some guys that are some good friends of my dad’s do it for us. It was a body shop that fixed the front end from the damage, and the result would’ve been brand new slick paint on the front of the truck, and original on the rest. They gave us the option to repaint the whole truck, so that’s what we did.”
This 1989 GMC C1500 is so clean that anyone would be proud to drive it, but when you add in the family backstory, this half-ton GM pickup is that much cooler.
