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!
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