“Well, I got my first truck when I was three
Drove a hundred thousand miles on my knees
Hauled marbles and rocks and thought twice before
I hauled a Barbie Doll bed for the girl next door
She tried to pay me with a kiss and I began to understand
There’s something women like about a pickup man.” – Joe Diffie.
Don’t write a lot about pickup trucks, but I do play that Joe Diffie song at breweries as part of my country music duo. Six years ago I picked out this work truck for my friend Jerry, and reader Brandon Baker clued me in on a rare CarMax Toyota X-Runner. And there’s my silly Fourth of July pickup and Labor Day pickup….. hell, maybe I write about them too much!
A Silverado unicorn caught my eye this week. Wondered what the deal was on “LTZ” and “Z71”, and at first – not much. Most Silverado 1500 LTZ’s had a 5.3 liter 355 hp V-8, even with the Z71 package. BUT, some have the optional 6.2 liter L86 V-8 derived from the Corvette and Camaro cars, and this one does. That gets you an additional 65 hp, and per Car and Driver, aluminum construction, variable valve timing, cylinder deactivation, and direct injection technology from the Corvette LT1, and the Corvette snarl. Performance-wide, that helps you do 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds.
The Silverado is selling for $38,000, maybe $20,000 less than when new nine years ago. It’s also hardly been driven, with only 13,000 miles. Is it really a good deal? Wouldn’t you really have a Ford Raptor? Certainly the Raptor has a higher profile. The first-gen Ford Raptor SVT had nine less horsepower than this Silverado, and the Raptors that CarMax has cost more and have way higher mileage than this. Second generation (2017 and up) Raptors are powered by a six cylinder with 450 horsepower, more than the Silverado by 30 ponies. They are also pricier and higher mileage than the Silverado. Starting to seem like a bargain?
The Silverado has heated and air conditioned seats, heated steering wheel, Bose sound, and of course four wheel drive. Way too luxurious for a pickup? Looks new inside and it pretty much is!
Here’s a new one for me – CarMax has a webp file showing a dummy, er mannequin, and a car seat in the back, and notes the mannequin is 6’1″ and provides the dimensions of the baby seat. Crazy. Never heard of a webp file. I’m sure the mannequin in the front is not a six footer.
“You can set my truck on fire, roll it down a hill
But I still wouldn’t trade it for a Coupe DeVille
It’s got an eight foot bed that never has to be made
You know if it weren’t for trucks we wouldn’t have tailgates
I met all my wives in traffic jams,
You know there’s something women like about a Pickup Man.”
The chorus. Cowboy poetry.
The 6.2 liter motor is linked to an eight-speed automatic. Car and driver said that’s a good thing – a “greater ratio spread, which aids both low-end grunt and high-speed cruising without incurring a weight penalty.” The down side? Top speed is 99 mph. What the hell?!
“Most Friday nights, I can be found
In the back of my truck on an old chaise lounge
Backed into my spot at the drive-in show
You know a cargo light gives off a romantic glow.“
This is a two-owner, accident free Connecticut pickup that’s currently on reserve in Newport News, Virginia. MaxCare is available for another five years and up to 150,000 miles. Not sure I’d even bother. It’s selling for $37,998. Here’s the link to track it.
Stock No: 25632039 VIN: 1GCVKSEJ3FZ433393
A crew cab AND an eight foot bed? That sucker must be twenty feet long!