1971 GMC Longhorn ¾ Ton Plus More

It is doubtful you will ever see a “daily driver” pickup any more unusual than this! A person in our office jokingly said, “How many drivers accidentally rear-ended a vehicle in traffic as they first saw this strange pickup?”

Jim Lund of Agency, Iowa, owns it. It began life as a 1971 GMC ¾-ton Fleetside pickup before its appearance was significantly altered.

Jim bought it as is but was told the original owner made this drastic change. He purchased the longest GMC pickup on the market (referred to by General Motor as a Longhorn). GM welded an additional 6” to the Fleetside bed length behind the cab. See photos of the extension.

However, this was still not long enough for the original owner's needs. He wanted a very long pickup for a roomy camper. A trailer was not acceptable! The Longhorn bed had another plus! It came with a wood-plank bed, including metal wear strips, like earlier GM pickups. His bed extension idea would require making longer planks and metal strips! Not a major problem; both are available.

The six wheel covers all match.

This long camper needed the extra length.

Question:

Why did this long GMC need the two rear wheel openings? We wondered, and soon this all fell in place.

When half of a Fleetside bed is purchased for this pickup extension, the wheel openings are factory-installed. Not a bad thing! This gives the pickup a totally different look that makes it a “one of a kind."

Big Project:

It appears this first owner was creative. He used his Fleetside extension idea like GM did to create the original Longhorn. The rear section of a used Fleetside bed gave the length required. If you look closely, you can see the rear vertical seam like GM did the front. Of course, it is all GMC, so it attached perfectly with excellent welding.

Next:

Here is what makes it such an eye-catcher. A floating “tag axle” was needed to handle any extra camper weight of the first owner.

Note: The photo of the wheel removed shows the small leaf spring under the bed.