Chevy Luv is getting hard to come by anymore. They’ve just mostly disappeared, which given their age is understandable. The Chevy LUV was the first captive import mini-truck, the fruit of GM’s 1971 investment in Isuzu way back in 1971. Already the next year, Isuzu Faster pickups re-badged as Chevy LUVs appeared, a portend of things to come.
Datsun pioneered the segment in the US, and Toyota soon followed. But the LUV was the first to bear the badging of a domestic, and raised a few eyebrows when it arrived. The first mini-truck I ever drove was one of these, back in 1975 in Iowa, by an early adopter. Needless to say, it was a bit of a tight squeeze for me, although I was pretty used to that back then. And the driving experience was pretty predictable: a lot like a Toyota Corona, which I was quite familiar with, except for a stiffer ride, especially out back.
The steering was a bit dull, common to Japanese cars and trucks, but the transmission was slick-shifting, also typical. The 1817 cc SOHC four made 75 hp and was eager enough in this light truck, and it scooted down Hwy 218 easily enough, but it was not the kind of vehicle that inspired high velocity experiments.
Somewhat unusual for the genre, the cab and front end were borrowed directly from Isuzu’s Florian sedan.
Isuzu’s rep for building tough vehicles was quickly recognized, and they often lived out long lives in hard labor. But all things must pass, and the era of cheap LUV seems to be fading out.
“…the cab and front end were borrowed directly from Isuzu’s Florian sedan”. A Japanese Studebaker Champ, if you will.
I had just that thought! P.S. GM wants you to know that LUV stands for Light Utility Vehicle. (Although being the ’70s a slight “hippie” vibe can’t hurt !)
Although its body hasn’t changed throughout its production run, I do like the grille of the early Chevy LUV more than that of the later LUV.
Let Us Vote! 18 years is old enough for Vietnam, it’s old enough to vote.
I had never realized that until now, probably due to never having seen a Florian. Cool little factoid. It was a good-looking little truck…
It’s not often that car companies borrow the cabin and front end of one vehicle and use it on another vehicle, but it has happened. Although I’ve never seen an Isuzu Florian, I’ve seen pictures of the car. I’ve always preferred the earlier Chevy LUV over the later LUV. 🙂
Kind of a cute thing in its way. It’s sort of surprising that Japan didn’t have more car-derived “utes,” considering the slow start of real passenger car sales. There were some, but wagon-like vans seem to have won out pretty quickly.
They made plenty of car based utes, Toyota RT40 Corona, Datsun 1200 Roadstar ,Toyota Crown ute just to name a few.
Second generation Troopers are dirt cheap these days, anyway. I recently got a mint condition 1994 one owner 90k mile off Craig’s for a measly $1900. 5 speed and all-brown interior (which I find cool anyhow)! It may prove to be infinitely durable here in no rust country!
The last time I saw an early LUV truck was a few weeks ago. It was a yellow, 1974 LUV. It had an extremely rare stepside bed.
As I recall, all the Japanese Mini-truck step sides were aftermarket conversions, either thanks to a dealer looking for addiitonal markup, or an owner swapping beds to make a fashion statement.
A quick look on the internet didn’t give me any solid confirmaiton, but here’s a discussion on the topic from a LUV owner’s blog-
http://forums.luvtruck.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14344
California Step Sides was the company that made them for the mini trucks. There were a one size fits all for your Toyota, Datsun, Mazda and Isuzu trucks. For what ever reason they seemed most popular on the LUVs around here and also the Courier.
These trucks do have nice looks indeed and the featured one looks good in what I assume is its original color. The University of Montana at Missoula has at least one Chevy LUV as of April 2015, but not sure what they use it for.
Wow. Cool to see a truck that old still in service, especially a somewhat-oddity like a LUV.
A friend of mine near Portland put a 454 into his in the 80s or 90s (don’t remember) because he’s insane. The engine is out now, but the truck is still sitting in his yard. I think it’s still set up for a big block. Once in a while he posts it on CL for sale.
Back in HS there was a guy eho had a 4×4 stepside LUV with a Grand National engine swapped in. In 4-hi, he could roast all 4 tires!
My Father and I test drove a LUV in 1972. Dad was looking for a short, compact vehicle to park on the streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter, where he worked 5 to 7 days a week.
Slow, crude, rude & rough riding are my memories of this truck. Even here in benign New Orleans I noticed LUV’s rusting away after a few years’ time.
Ford/Mazda Courier was a soft riding Mercury compared to the LUV.
A Toyota HiLux truck was a Cadillac compared to the LUV.
Dad purchased the Courier, was quite content with it until it was stolen out of the French Quarter one night/early morning.
Eventually Dad bought one of the first SR5 Toyota trucks, equipped with bucket seats, a 5 speed manual transmission, radial tires and freezing cold A/C, which he seldom used (but his wife and son did!).
When I was a boy, my aunt had a 1979-80 Chevy LUV. Although not a very fast truck in acceleration, nor was it fancy by today’s standards, it was still a good vehicle; simple, reliable, easy to drive.
The Chevy LUV was on my list in 1975 when I finally got a real job and was looking for my first new vehicle.
I bought the C-20 Custom Deluxe instead. Four months later, I had dreams of the Chevy LUV and how much gas it would have saved me, but really found myself wishing for a Ford Courier a year-and-a-half later! I liked the looks of those much better than the LUV.
Had a Ford Courier followed by a chain of Datsun/Nissan offerings. One of my servicemen had a chevy Luv and I always thought it was “Toyota Tough”. Still think so. Came so close to picking up a longbed diesel offering of the subsequent generation but couldn’t justify it. The Japanese trucks with the diesels were almost unkillable and Isuzu may have been at the top of the food chain with that.
Saw this at a show last year. These all but rusted away here a long time ago.
.
A friend’s dad had one in the mid-eighties. We would practice driving stick in it. They did shift nicely, but even in California, it had pretty bad rust in the lower bed sides and lower door corners!
I still see a lot of the single headlight Chevy LUV’s but don’t see too many of the quad headlight Chevy LUV’s, I always thought the Chevy LUV’s are cute little pickups.
I haven’t seen a first-gen LUV, dual-lamp or quad-lamp, in ages. I *did* see a second-gen Isuzu P’UP just this Saturday. Reverse CC effect, perhaps?
A friend of mine had a light blue one. I think it had a 25 amp alternator. He put a set of driving lights AND a set of fog lights on it. After driving a few miles with both sets plus the headlights on the battery would be so flat the engine would sputter. He took it to a mechanic who said “You’re asking for trouble running auxiliary lighting on this vehicle!”
My dad got a used Luv around 1980, in the “Mikado” trim. It had an aluminum truck topper and relatively big wheels. We used it on a few family vacations, my sister and me playing cards or reading in the bed, where dad had installed 2-3 layers of shag carpet. It was a pretty nice setup, though it would probably be considered grounds for revocation of parental rights today.
Ultimately, he traded it for a 1984? Mazda B2000. These small trucks were tough, and cheap to buy and run.
I have not seen a Isuzu P’up or Chevy LUV in years. I have also not seen a Ford Courier in years ether(20 years to be exact as there was one doing duty at the high school I went to.
I have seen several of that era Toyota Hilux around recently.
The other “mini” pickup truck I have not seen for years is the Mitsubishi Mighty Max/Dodge Ram 50/ Plymouth Arrow trio.
I still think there is a market for small pickup trucks in the USA. Despite what carmakers say, a 25-35 mpg fullsize pickup is not the be all/end all in everything. It is no good to have a huge truck if it is hard to find spaces to park the dang thing.
I think there’s a market too, but only if they can make a small truck that makes sense. The new Canyon/Colorado miss the mark, they are dang near as large and costly as a full size with economy to match. Right now about the only downside to full-size trucks is their size. And most people don’t consider that a downside.
There is still a Mikado running around our area, that I see from time to time though now that I think about it I haven’t seen it in a few months.
A friend of mine had one in college he maintained that LUV stood for Little Useless Vehicle but in reality he worked it pretty hard doing landscaping. He got it from his uncle much to his father’s chagrin. His dad worked for Ford and had for a long time and was annoyed that his brother in law didn’t buy a Courier instead. He did keep it in great shape and sold it to my friend for cheap.
Here’s another reference to “Pimp my ride” which featured an old Chevy LUV. It was an original looking truck before they got done with it.
Omg, I know where this location is in this article! This is around the four corners area of Eugene, OR. I used to live around there. I too also have a Chevy LUV (79) and I’ve kept her running strong over the years.
I’ve known people who have owned Chevy LUV trucks. Both the early generations, and the early eighties versions. They were reliable, but they were neither attractive, nor were they road scorchers.