Late 1980s - early 1990s
(1) late 70s/Early 1980s 4 door Chevette
&
(2) 1980s 4 Door Pontiac Acadian
(Essentially a Pontiac badged Chevette)
I fit 5 to 6 eight foot banquet tables worth of inventory into this car, and even then the inventory was crammed on my show tables.
Even managed to haul a 12' long Texaco sign and a gas pump in these cars!
Acadian is shown wrecked after an accident. Walked away from it, luckily, with just bruises...some big bruises, but just bruises.
1990s
Late 1980 Dodge Ram Half Ton
With a cap on the back, this vehicle served me very well. Did lots of picking in this truck. Again, shown as it was, written off by MPIC, after a kid, driving his father's brand new truck, hit it on glare ice....marooning me & my girlfriend at the time in Shoal Lake for the better part of a week!
1980s Ford E150 Van
The first van I bought, and which hooked me on Ford full size vans.
Reliable, durable, but rust prone as they age..... But, "pretty" is not what a picker should be after when it comes to a vehicle!
Had another full size passenger van that I used temporarily inbetween these two.
2000s
Another late 1980s E150
Put the back mounts of the leaf springs through the rusted out floor by hauling too heavy of scrap metal loads...couldn't close the back doors by the time I took it off the road.
Early 1990s Ford E250
A 3/4 ton van, this one cost me a fair bit in repairs, etc, but overall served me well.
1990s GMC Sierra
Used this as a temporary measure, but the 3/4 size box wasn't very utilitarian. The crew cab was ok for hauling stuff you didn't want to get dusty, but overall the truck was limited as far as using it for serious picking went.
2017-2018
1998 Ford E350
As of this posting, I am using a 1 ton Ford passenger van with the rear passenger seats, carpeted flooring, and assorted plastic interior trim removed. It was what I was able to find when I needed a van. The gutting took a bit of time, but it now serves its purpose. This one is a little more expensive when it comes to repairs, but it handles weight just fine. Has the usual Ford body rust issues, but it will have to do for awhile. It isn't pretty, but it does the job.
I should note, I owned all these vehicles outright. No leases, bank loans, etc. They also were my "daily drivers", not just my picking vehicles.
So, what is/was/were your pickermobile(s)?
1973 Buick Century - two door, only had trunk and back seat room. Great car but rusted with a vengeance. 1972 Rambler - grandparents car. Low mileage but nothing but trouble with it. 1980 Chev Malibu wagon - had two of these, one after the other. Great cars, good loading capacity, but horrible for rust. Then a 1988 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon. Great car, hardly any trouble with it. By the early 2000s after years of diligently saving and investing, I began hitting my financial goals. As a reward for that (and for a tax write off), I began leasing and then buying new vehicles (Ford had great Lease deals in the early 2000s, but stopped as they were losing money on them). So since then I've had Ford Rangers and currently a Nissan Frontier. I liked the Rangers, but Ford stopped making them. So I switched to the Frontier for 2017 and I really like it so far.
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