4 Awesome '70s Pickup Trucks You Can Find For Under $30K Today

It's no secret that the vintage pickup trucks from the 1970s are popular today. These old trucks, which were once seen as cheap and dependable workhorses, have been rising in popularity for years now and are the preferred choice for a lot of enthusiasts today. Fortunately, while values have indeed risen, there remain lots of great 1970s trucks that can be had easily for under $30,000. Scour some online classified ads and auction listings and you'll be pleased to find that $30,000 (and in some cases far less than that) can still buy you a pretty nice truck from each of Detroit's big three automakers, as well as the Japanese imports. 

For example, you can find one of the most popular vintage American trucks, the second generation of the legendary Chevy C10 and K10 pickup. Sold from 1967 to 1972 and distinguished by their rounded fenders, this generation of Chevy is one of the more expensive vintage options, but depending on the specific layout and options, it's not hard to find one under the $30,000 mark.

Fully-restored, mint examples, as well as extensively modified versions of the second-gen C10s will be more than $30,000, as will most short-bed models. However, we found plenty of examples of long-bed trucks in clean, driver condition that can be had in the mid to high $20,000s.

Vintage Fords are well represented on the list of old trucks shooting up in value, and when it comes to the '70s, the sixth-generation Ford F-100 and F-150 trucks are hot commodities. As with the aforementioned Chevy C10, a $30,000 price limit might put some of the ultra-high-end restorations and modified trucks out of reach, but there are still lots of options comfortably under that figure.

As with a lot of the trucks on this list, the sweet spot for value in a mid to late '70s F-Series is going to be with a clean, mostly original driver truck rather than something that's been fully restored or heavily upgraded. And if you're cool with a long bed model, you can actually find driver quality trucks for well under $20,000, which would leave plenty of extra funds for improvements and upgrades down the road. For the late '70s trucks, you can even find clean short-beds under $30,000. 

Not to be overlooked are the less popular and less expensive, but no less stylish, Dodge trucks of the '70s. Yes, they've gone up in value, but compared to a Chevy or Ford of similar vintage, a Dodge truck will likely be substantially cheaper. The sweet spot will be a 1972-1980 D-Series model, though this general body style actually carried on all the way until the early 1990s.

Whether you are looking for a short-bed, long-bed, a 4x4, or something that's been modified, even $20,000 can still buy you a very nice '70s Dodge D-series in today's market. In real-world prices, you're likely looking at less than half the price of a comparable Chevy C10. With a Dodge, you'll simply have a lot more options for affordable body styles, and even the highly unique Dodge Li'l Red Express trucks can be found under the $30,000 mark if you search carefully. 

If you want a cool pickup truck from the 1970s without breaking the bank, you shouldn't limit yourself to just the American offerings. A smaller Japanese truck like a classic Datsun pickup can be a stylish, equally fun ticket to the vintage truck experience — with a much more affordable price.

The mid to late '70s Datsun 620 is a bit of a cult favorite, and it uses the same Nissan L-series four-cylinder engine architecture as the iconic Datsun 510. A 620 may not be as powerful or spacious as a Chevy C10 or Ford F-series, but its light weight and small size can make it just as fun to drive. While Datsun 620 prices have climbed in the same way a lot of classic Japanese vehicles have, they still remain very cheap, relatively speaking. A clean truck is easily found for $10,000 or under, with even the most mint examples still selling for under $20,000. At those prices, you could either pocket the extra cash or go wild with an SR20 swap and other upgrades.

Last but not least, we get to Chevy and GMC's beloved Square Body trucks. This body style arrived for the 1973 model year and stuck around all the way until 1987. The popularity and values of General Motors' Square Body trucks have jumped massively in recent years, but the good news is that these trucks were built for such a long time, and in such high numbers, that it's not a hard task to find a nice one under the $30,000 mark.

As with the earlier C10 and K10 models, short-bed models are worth significantly more than long-beds, but if you are ok with long-bed trucksand post-1970s variants, there are still plenty of sub $30,000 choices. If you stretch your search into the newer models, even short-beds are readily available under $30,000. Sure, a mid-'80s C10 might not officially fit the qualifications of a classic 1970s pickup, but for all intents and purposes, it's going to look and feel like one.