Propane and Childhood Memories

When I was but a wee one, I was obsessed with sprue-and-glue model car kits. Specifically, I was obsessed with building Chevrolet trucks. But I could only ever find one kit for the 1973-1987 trucks, Monogram’s Level 2 Chevy Sport Pickup 4×4 (kit number 2963). With its stepside body, wagon wheels, aggressive tires and pushbar up front, it was about everything my juvenile tastes wanted. And still do. I wasn’t exactly crazy about the bright blue plastic it was molded in, but I left it blue nonetheless.

Which is all the reason I’m digging the 1976 Chevrolet stepside I found over at the Hemmings classifieds. Sure, it doesn’t have the wagon wheels, but it does have the exact same shade of Hawaiian Blue and the black pushbar. And as a bonus, you can run it on propane, with the tank cleverly hidden in the in-bed toolbox. $12,300 might seem steep, but these trucks–especially the pre-1980 versions–are going to rise in value over the next several years, mark my words. Now, where did my parents put all my models?