Johnny Lightning 1965 Chevrolet C-10 pickup

One of the most popular pickup truck castings at Johnny Lightning is this 1965 Chevy C-10.  It is pure metal, classic American design, and looks good in any color.  It’s no surprise that second hand prices are high and enough for Johnny Lightning to return this casting in 2017, so it was time to bring the new one in orange against the many versions that I have to see why I love this casting so much.

In 1960 Chevrolet took a big move with the Task Force replaced with the new C/K pickup line where the C is for two-wheel drive and K for the new four-wheel drive models.  The look was sleeker with a more boxy look that eliminated the separate front fender look and the popular and smooth fleetside bed design.  In 1963 a coil spring front suspension was offered for a more car-like ride on two-wheel drive models, while styling also seemed more car like and strangely like the Ford F-series trucks at the time period.  The interior is roomier and offered more creature comforts including the option of air conditioning.  The engine is a 283 CID V8 that produces 180 horsepower through a two-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels.  The popularity of the C/K models would continue into the next-generation in 1967 that offered sleeker styling and more power.

I remember the first one, which debut in 2005 in the new Working Class Trucks and SUV’s series in red: I was just done visiting Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach and at the show got a cool 1:24 scale custom Chevy C-10 pickup (that one will be reviewed at a later date) and after the show went to Wal-mart and got this Johnny Lightning Chevy C-10 in red.  Now I have passed on this truck a few times but after seeing it and its sharp details it was a must-have and years later haven’t regret it a bit.  The front has a white grille with integrated round headlights, CHEVROLET across the top of the grille, and white lower bumper.  The signal lights are incorporated into the hood along with twin vents and both of them open with the rest of the hood.  The sides show off a white top, C-10 badges, body-colored steel wheels with white center cap and rubber tires; these wheels look small here but on future versions they get slightly larger and better on the wheel details.  The fleetside bed is separate from the cab (you’ll see why shortly) and has the upper beltline notch that gracefully follows the one on the cab and hood, while the rear has detailed taillights, CHEVROLET on the tailgate, black gate latches, a separate plate area just ahead of the white bumper, and if that’s not enough a detailed cargo bed ready to haul payload and even the back of the cab has detailed ridges.

The chassis is all-metal and features front lower control arms, drivetrain details, exhaust system, and rear spare tire.  Oddly it has the track bars for the coil spring rear axle even though that does not appear until 1967.  The hood opens up to reveal the V8 motor with detailed air cleaner, valve covers, and even the hoses and resovoirs on the metal inner fender wells.  The interior has a bench seat with detailed door panels, two-spoke steering wheel, and flat dashboard with simple gauge and control layout that would carry over into the next generation (though the controls for the air conditioning, when equipped, is a far reach for the driver as they are located to the left of the glove box.)  In the next Trucks and SUV release the C-10 gains a nice cream color that is more yellow than white, but the blue one with white roof tops them all with much sharper details and the wheels feature new steel wheels with more detailing, no center caps, and look better on the truck even if the tires are still too small.  I believe this one was the Chevy Thunder release and is very popular.  Johnny Lightning also had the Street Freaks series that shows off the castings in custom decos and while most of them harm the castings a few actually worked on them; for the C-10 it was a win hands-down.  The first one is the light green and white two-tone with a body-colored grille, no CHEVROLET on the tailgate, nice green pinstriping on the hood and on the new tonneau cover that covers the bed area and is removable.  Downside is that the Street Freaks versions use plastic wheels, yet even these look pretty good on this truck.  The other one is the flat black version with more pinstriping in silver and red on the hood and sides, the blacked-out rallye wheels on plastic tires, and the still-there tonneau cover, and a rather interesting gloss black effect on the sides of the bed that give it the illusion of a stepside bed.

In 2008 the Dukes of Hazzard was a very popular series for Johnny Lightning to the point that finding any car from the series in stores as a rare occasion.  The later releases got tough as the Chevy found its job of doing two things incorrectly: being a white pickup for Jesse (he had a Ford) and a tow truck for Cooter’s garage (he had a 1967-72 C-10 tow truck).  The latter helped introduce a new tow truck boom in the bed area that filled the area nicely without altering the exterior of the bed.  The boom uses two amber lights on a black bar that sits on a red boom with an arm that is spring loaded to go back up after being pushed down, a silver hook to attach to a car, and even a black wheel strap that can be removed from the hood; a good thing as the tailgate on this Chevy does not come down and you have to move it around to get it out of the bed.  Just like the M2 Machines tow trucks they are just for show as the hook nor the black straps do a good job latching up to any vehicle.  The tow truck boom was also used on the Ford F250 casting and when both returned for 2017 so did the boom as in this yellow Shell service station deco with chrome wheels that finally have some beefy tires.  You’ll also note the rear plate area offers room for various plate designs as shown on a few of these versions.

The final version is the stepside pickup that showcases the reason for the separate cab and bed design.  The stepside bed has a nice design with separate rear fenders, curved upper bed lips, dual tailgate chains and taillights next to a tailgate with the CHEVROLET letters on them.  While the fleetside bed is cleaner, the stepside gives more character to the truck, yet the stepside was a short run because most of these trucks got the bent banana frame treatment when assembled and with no fix in sight the stepside was limited to a few releases: this blue one from the Trucks and SUV’s release that somehow works well with the small tires, and a later Trucks and SUV’s release that features Oak Brook Chevrolet on the doors for a service truck look.  That brings us to today’s version which I got in orange and has the improved detailing that has made a difference in many recent Johnny Lightning castings.  On this release the C-10 badge is smaller and mounted higher on the front-fenders to allow a silver and white stripe to go across the sides, Custom B-pillar fender badges are added, the reverse lamps are added at the rear, and steel wheels with larger chrome hubcaps adorn larger rubber tires with white-letter BF Goodrich lettering.  Oh, and it has a hole at the rear for a trailer hitch on some models.  Other than that the C-10 still has the charm and details of the original and still today it is a popular model.  Don’t believe me?  Then check out my collection of them!