mod@tech

American trucks are made to complete difficult, demanding jobs. And since they work, technically, that means they can change careers. Our Pick of the Day, a 1978 Chevrolet C10 Silverado Big-10, started out as a workhorse pickup but is now going in a completely different direction. You can find it on ClassicCars.com listed by a dealership in Roseville, California.

Do you remember Nissan‘s Titan XD from a few years ago? Available with a Cummins turbodiesel V8, it was a considered a “heavy half-ton” truck: beefier than a half-ton, but not quite as burly as a Ford F-250 or Ram 2500. Think of the 1978 Chevy Big-10 you see here as a sort of American predecessor to that truck. Chevy’s 1978 truck brochure describes the Big-10 as “the heavy-duty half-ton that’s equipped to handle bigger and tougher jobs than a regular half-tonner” with GVWRs (Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings) of 6,050 or 6,200 pounds. To prepare its ‘tweener truck for countless days at job sites, Chevy installed a Massive Girder Beam independent front suspension with a 3,400-pound capacity and heavy-duty front coil springs, rear leaf springs, and power front disc and rear drum brakes. Engine options ranged from a 250ci six to a four-barrel 454 V8.

This particular Big-10 still has its factory big-block, which is paired with a TH400 three-speed automatic, but now it seems to be a sport truck. Thanks to a professional lowering job, it sits low to the ground on its powder-coated Chevrolet truck Rally wheels and BFGoodrich radials. According to the selling dealer, the original paint was matched, which appears to be a combination of Santa Fe Tan and Buckskin.

Just because this Big-10 was originally designed to be a work rig, that doesn’t mean it’s completely devoid of frills. As a Silverado model, it comes with a full set of gauges and metallic trim, as well as the power locks and windows, and air conditioning that someone was smart enough to add while configuring this truck. One thing it doesn’t have is a lot of miles; the odometer shows approximately 58,500 original miles.

If you buy this 1978 Chevrolet C10 Silverado Big-10 for $49,995, you’ll have a fun job to do: putting bigger numbers on the odometer as you burn up the rear tires.

Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com

What is the best car of the past half-century? Some Corvette? Prius? Certainly, it will be something that has created reverberations throughout the industry. According to Best Cars of the Year—The New Car World Championships, it’s the Volkswagen Polo.

Polo?! Double-you-tee-eff?

Suspend disbelief and let’s examine this further before throwing expletives: This is a Euro-centric selection we are dealing with, so we should look at it with different eyes. Europeans, of course, have a different market with different needs, different laws, and different roads (never mind the Brits drive on the wrong side of the road).

The Polo, being the Volkswagen that was a notch down in size from the Rabbit/Golf, was never sold in the United States, so it is difficult to fathom from an American point of view why it would be selected. So, who’s doing the crowning here?

Best Cars of the Year is a British non-profit that runs the New Car World Championships. According to its website, “At the heart of the project sits a genuinely unique, hand-picked judging panel that votes for (or against), then announces the latest World Champion vehicles for consumers across the globe.” The international judges are made up of designers, engineers, motorsports legends, journalists, broadcasters, and more. They all work within a democratic system to cast their votes for any car regardless of price or volume.

The team of judges select the New Car World Champion every year, plus several cars in more discrete categories (such as Best Car Line-up, Best Sports Car, and Best Affordable Hybrid). For 2025, the Best Cars of the Year folks decided to ask the judges to determine the Best Cars of the Half Century. The Polo, which was introduced 50 years ago, was their selected winner.

“The 20 million motorists who have been buying Volkswagen Polos since 1975 cannot be wrong,” says Mike Rutherford, founder of the Best Cars of the Year—The New Car World Championships. “It’s the most consistently credible supermini of the past 50 years and has repeatedly hit the sweet spot in terms of understated design, overall dimensions, build quality, competitive retail pricing, efficiency and low standing and running costs. It’s super strong on overall affordability, durability and longevity.”

Since its introduction, the Volkswagen Polo has been among the top 20 best-selling cars in Europe, with worldwide sales of 20 million during its tenure. Interestingly, the Polo was simply a rebadged Audi 50 that was introduced the year before. However, as Audi began to primarily focus on more upmarket vehicles, the 50 was discontinued after 1978.

If we were to focus on the North American market, what do you think the best car of the past half-century would be? Tell us in the Comments section below.

In this installment of the series on the used car market of the 1970s according to Consumer Guide, it’s time for the third and final member of the Mopar trio: Dodge. Before researching and writing this story, I predict that, for the most part, the story on Dodge will be the same as Plymouth’s and close to Chrysler’s.

In most cases, both Dodge and Plymouth shared cars, but with different styling. There’s a few cases where Dodge had a Charger while Plymouth had no such equivalent, but the Charger is still a B-body so there’s a small chance for Dodge’s roster to be different (aside of a particular captive import). That’s my theory.

Am I correct? Let’s see what happens below. Please note the CG rating scale of 5 being Excellent and 1 being Poor.

Dodge
“Management continued to believe the economy car a fad while drivers lined up for miles to get a ration of gasoline during the oil embargo.”

• Aspen: “Replaced the reliable, compact Dart in mid-1976, but proved much less trustworthy … [though] a satisfactory car if you find a good one.” CG rating: 5
• Challenger: “Main detractions are many: laughable rear seat and trunk space, poor outward visibility, feel-less power steering, and a dismal repair record.” CG rating: 1
• Dodge Charger: “Shares the dismal recall records of the 1971-74 Coronet, much of which is traceable to sloppy workmanship.” CG rating: 1-2
• Dodge Charger/Magnum: “Same lackluster repair record as Cordoba, along with rather limited back seat accommodations and spendthrift fuel consumption.” CG rating: 1-2
• Coronet: “Scores well for handling and steering response … willingness to rust means not many examples survive today.” CG rating: 1-2
• Coronet/Monaco (1975-78): “Overall repair record improved to average for all years, except 1977-78 Monaco V8s, which rated below par.” CG rating: 2-3
• Dart: All models offer better-than-average handling and road-holding, good outward vision [save coupes], and a very good repair record.” CG rating: 5
• Diplomat: “It is based on a compact car, but offers the interior room of an intermediate.” CG rating: 4
• Mirada: “About as roomy as before, and somewhat more economical.” CG rating: N/A
• Monaco/Polara: “Dirt-cheap to buy, but not operate … expect costly repairs on electrical servants.” CG rating: 2
• Monaco/Royal Monaco: “Repair record to date rates slightly below average marks [but] to its credit, the big Dodge exhibits good open-road behavior, a comfortable ride, and lots of stretch-out space.” CG rating: 2-3
• Omni: “It is peppy to drive, and handles more like an American car than a European model.” CG rating: 5
• St. Regis: “Despite the weight reductions, car is still rather heavy, even for a late-model full-size, though about as roomy as before.” CG rating: N/A
• Colt (1977-79): “Workmanship generally good … but far behind its front-drive competitors for design efficiency.” CG rating: 4
• Colt (1979-80): “An excellent used-car buy.” CG rating: N/A

Konnichiwa! Last December, I introduced you to a unique right-hand-drive Toyota coupe that my friend Ren imported all the way from Japan to the United States. Now, we get to look at a four-door sedan that made the same trek, and it happens to be up for grabs on our favorite auction site.

Featured on AutoHunter is this 1997 Toyota Aristo V300 Sedan. The car is being sold by a dealer in Mesa, Arizona, and the auction will end Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at 12:15 p.m. (PDT).

If the exterior body lines of the car look familiar, they should, because the Aristo was marketed in the United States under the Lexus GS nameplate. Parent company Toyota used the internal classification code of “S160” for the platform, which was used between model years 1998 and 2005 for the Lexus version (the Aristo variant went on sale a little earlier—lucky Japanese folks!).

Finished in Diamond White Pearl (paint code 051), the car looks to be in well-preserved shape for being 28 years old. Exterior features include fog lamps, side marker indicators, window visors, 18-inch chrome wheels wrapped in 235/40 tires, rear spoiler, and dual exhaust system.

The interior, upholstered in two-tone blue cloth upholstery, has a gated shift lever as well as steering wheel-mounted shift buttons—a predecessor to today’s modern paddle-style controls. Of course, the cabin is laid out in a right-hand-drive arrangement, but luckily the learning curve is not that steep for folks who are used to being on the other side of the vehicle. Remember, the pedal arrangement is the same, it’s just the turn signal and the wiper stalk, which are reversed on a Japanese-specification Toyota.

Power for this rear-wheel-drive sport sedan comes from Toyota’s turbocharged 2JZ-GTE 3.0-liter inline-six (the same engine that powers the Mk 4 Supra!) mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. Toyota rated the V300 at 276 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. The car’s digital odometer reads 135,276 kilometers (which comes out to 84,056 miles).

If you want a vehicle that will make a fun conversation piece, the V300 presents a compelling case. Yes, it’s a luxurious sedan with a plush interior, but it also has a performance-oriented powertrain and legendary Toyota reliability. Sounds like a winner to me. The only catch? Your occasional visits to drive-through windows and parking garages might get a little more complicated.

The auction for this 1997 Toyota Aristo V300 Sedan ends Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at 12:15 p.m. (PDT).

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and a photo gallery

General Motors performance-car enthusiasts love “LS” series engines—and for good reason. The LS came with lots of aftermarket support, relatively painless maintenance needs, and plenty of power on tap. Many hot-rodders choose LS engines for their restomods. Let’s take a look back at the vehicle that came with the initial iteration of the LS. It was the first-generation Chevrolet Corvette, and that engine was code-named “LS1.”

The Pick of the Day is a 2000 Chevrolet Corvette coupe listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Demotte, Indiana.

“Really clean C5 Corvette,” the listing says. Finished in Millennium Yellow (which cost $500 extra) over a black leather interior, the car has accrued just 83,000 total miles, and it looks to be well-kept both inside and out for being 25 years old.  

The window sticker shows that this car was originally delivered to Terry Lee Chevrolet in Cincinnati following assembly in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The total vehicle price came out to $45,999, and the list of options was lengthy: highlights included removable roof panels, polished aluminum wheels, sport bucket seats with leather upholstery, a 12-disc CD changer, head-up display, dual-zone automatic climate control, performance handling package, six-way power passenger seat, performance axle, and more.

Two key custom upgrades set this Corvette apart from the rest: the first is a Borla exhaust, and the second is a set of newer wheels. The listing says they are from a Z06 model but, to me, they look like 18-inch 2010-13 Corvette “Grand Sport” wheels finished in gloss black. Either way, it’s a nice look that’s custom, yet still OEM in a way. The Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2 tires have lots of tread left on them. Plenty of rubber to burn!

And, of course, helping to burn that rubber is the famous LS1 engine found under the hood. It’s 5.7 liters in displacement and was considered a “Gen III” small-block. Features include an all-aluminum block with iron cylinder heads, a high-performance camshaft, individual coil packs, and an ECM-driven ignition system. GM rated it at 345 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque—more than enough power to move a 3,246-pound C5 Corvette with authority.

The seller includes a short video showing a start-up, interior overview, and exterior walk-around with the vehicle at idle. The LS sounds healthy, thanks in large part to that upgraded Borla exhaust system. It’s music to any car-fanatic’s ears.

The asking price is $16,750.

Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com