A few years ago, I dreamed that I owned a blue Chevy LUV, and I fretted that I wasn’t driving it enough. Although few remember their dreams exactly, I can say with some confidence that it was a later-model 4×4, but I would have liked this 1976 LUV just as well. It “runs great and is very clean,” it’s for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Beecher, Illinois, and the owner is asking $11,500 (cash only).
I’ve never owned a LUV in real life, but aside from a tendency to disappear in a puddle of iron-colored fizz, I’ve read that they were pretty good trucks. Based on the Isuzu Faster (badged as the KB in some markets), the LUV had an Isuzu engine, an 80-horsepower 1.8-liter four with a single-overhead camshaft. Chevy bragged that the LUV with a four-speed manual, as this truck has, could score fuel mileage numbers of 23 city, 33 highway in 49-state tune. I’m sure real world numbers fall a little short, but for an old truck, it’s very efficient.
The seller has swapped on a Weber carburetor, replaced the fuel pump, and had the gas tank resealed, so the fuel system should be in good shape. The radiator is also newer, and as the owner of a fleet of old cars, I can say that replacing or recoring the radiator should be one of the first things on the list of anyone trying to rehabilitate an old car.
As you might expect from any 1970s truck, let alone one that was built to be a frugal alternative to bigger haulers, the interior is fairly spartan. It has a standard rubber mat on the floor, but on the other hand, power front disc brakes were standard, and the four-speed manual had a new short-throw shifter (relative, I’m sure) according to the LUV brochure.
In case you were wondering what the blanket was hiding, the answer is apparently nothing; the seat appears to be in decent shape, although it might be due for some new foam at some point in the future.
Even as late as 1976, it wasn’t unusual to see painted metal in the cab of your pickup, and the LUV is no exception. The door panels are in good condition aside from the usual smattering of bumps and lumps from attachment pins not quite finding their home on the first smack.
The seller doesn’t include any undercarriage pictures, and considering this truck is a LUV, a close inspection for signs of rust repair that you might not be satisfied with will be in order. The bed looks like it has been coated with spray-on or brush-on bedliner of some sort.
Most importantly, however, the LUV just looks like a fun truck, which is probably why I dreamed that I owned one. LUV, as many readers certainly know, stands for “Light Utility Vehicle,” but the name is cheery and it opened up any number of marketing possibilities.
And although I don’t really want a LUV badly enough to really buy one, this one would be on the list if I did. The price might be a little high; as of Sunday, June 19th (when I’m writing this), it’s been up for sale for a week, but mini truck prices are certainly on the rise. It might be that it’s not too high at all.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1979 Chevy LUV 4×4 (Isuzu Faster) – Tough Love (by Paul N)
CC Outtake: Chevy LUV – Still Giving Some Luv (by Paul N)
Vintage Review: Chevrolet Luv 4X4 (by Yohai71)
I was working at a Chevrolet dealership a couple years later and the owners son always had one as a demo. He liked them for some reason thankfully with the 4 speed. I would use it for errands at times and what I would say at that time is it ” had no balls at all” ( I once put that same comment on a repair order about a 200 V6 and caused a commotion ) actually it was a likable little truck despite being a tight fit for 6-4 me. Styling was a decade or more out of date even on newer versions that ditched the vent windows and quad headlamps. It was completely restyled in 1981but didn’t last long as it was replaced by the S-10 a year later. The sluggish Izuzu 1.9 lived on as the base S10 engine for a few years. The LUV was the first compact truck with available 4wd in the US IIRC.
I find these to be the most attractively styled of the mini-trucks with the possible exception of the Nissan 620. They just have that “eager to please” look.
LUVs pop up from time to time around here but I see more in the junkyard than I do on the streets, although even that is dwindling. This one is from a few years ago, it was nice seeing one that wasn’t light blue with a bonus point for orangey red and the matching period aluminum topper was the icing on the cake. This one had some rot but ended up being picked over very fast, it’s a ’77 Mikado version so had the single headlights but triple dial gauges…
The next (short-lived) generation managed to somehow lose every single bit of charm, to where the S-10 that supplanted it actually look well-styled in comparison, not that it was any great shakes either when just viewed by itself.
Single headlight and triple dials were ’78 up across the board. You were looking at a ’77
That’s a really clean little mini truck .
Even in So. Cal. these rusted like, well like Vegas .
I’ve not seen one anywhere in thirty years .
The interior of this one looks fantastic, maybe it was garaged it’s whole life ? .
-Nate
Depending on model the headlight rings were either chrome or flat black.
Perhaps a little known fact about those flat black rings. Strip the paint and they are chrome underneath.
I remember a truck magazine doing a how-to article on it.
When I worked for a farm and garden center way back in 81-82 at the age of 18, we had a 1971 Ford Courier. Basic entry level, but the boss couldn’t drive a manual and ordered it with an automatic! So slow. Well, fertilizer tends to cause rust-and a lot of it! So in 1981, he bought a 1977 Chevy LUV. It was black with A/C and a stick shift. It was really a dependable vehicle! By the time I left in early 83, the bed had holes rusted through.
Just watched the 1980 movie 9 to 5, and what do we get to see? None other than Dolly Parton driving a ’77 LUV!. Sad side note: in the movie there is a shot of a TWA 747 taking off from LAX. According to IMDB, that is the very airframe that became flight 800.
Forget if it was these, or the “Ford”, competition. Which one was it that rusted out so , so, quickly.
The Diesel LUV shared it’s horrible engine with the Diesel Chevette. Neither one needed a horn–we could hear them clattering two blocks away.