New from the Netherlands (Europe) • 1980 GMC C1500 Stepside

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

AuroraGirl

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2019
Posts
9,693
Reaction score
6,875
Location
Northern Wisconsin
First Name
Taylor
Truck Year
1978, 1980
Truck Model
K10, K25
Engine Size
400(?), 350
No, they are US spec vehicles. When you are stationed in Europe the military will pay to ship two vehicles there and two vehicles back. They don't have to be the same vehicles.
Lots of guys will buy some nice classic cars in the states and get them shipped to Europe. Sell them for WAY more money than they cost in the states and then go to the BMW or Mercedes factory and get a US spec car custom built for them.
I mean I know for a vehicle to be used in Germany it needs to meet their specs for signals and lighting and that there have to be DRL but I recall someone having to disconnect their factory high beam DRL (half power in drl) and use his cornering lamps with a white spectrum bulb (out cars have a side mounted headlight housing bulb tht illuminatesa bit to the side and forward, front on you can see both which met specs) He had to modify his tail lamp to meet outer turn signals that were amber but I believe they had to disconnect the top part of the lamp(tail) because amber has to be the outside it can’t share it over or under red? Then he made the deck lid lamps reverse lights since he couldn’t use them for turns(spans the bottom in car across back) and then some artistic rewriting make the car not think it was missing bulbs (it was) and so it looked decent.

But that was on a LPG conversion too.
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,464
Reaction score
5,631
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
I mean I know for a vehicle to be used in Germany it needs to meet their specs for signals and lighting and that there have to be DRL but I recall someone having to disconnect their factory high beam DRL (half power in drl) and use his cornering lamps with a white spectrum bulb (out cars have a side mounted headlight housing bulb tht illuminatesa bit to the side and forward, front on you can see both which met specs) He had to modify his tail lamp to meet outer turn signals that were amber but I believe they had to disconnect the top part of the lamp(tail) because amber has to be the outside it can’t share it over or under red? Then he made the deck lid lamps reverse lights since he couldn’t use them for turns(spans the bottom in car across back) and then some artistic rewriting make the car not think it was missing bulbs (it was) and so it looked decent.

But that was on a LPG conversion too.
None of that applies for a military service member stationed in Europe. They are there under a bilateral agreement and the vehicle technically isn't even registered with or inspected by Germany. The plates that you have on the vehicle are different also to reflect that. I didn't have to actually do the German driving test either. They have a short instructional course on base and you take a short written exam for the signage differences and then they give you a little driving license type thing that doesn't even have your picture on it... lol.
 

AuroraGirl

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2019
Posts
9,693
Reaction score
6,875
Location
Northern Wisconsin
First Name
Taylor
Truck Year
1978, 1980
Truck Model
K10, K25
Engine Size
400(?), 350
None of that applies for a military service member stationed in Europe. They are there under a bilateral agreement and the vehicle technically isn't even registered with or inspected by Germany. The plates that you have on the vehicle are different also to reflect that. I didn't have to actually do the German driving test either. They have a short instructional course on base and you take a short written exam for the signage differences and then they give you a little driving license type thing that doesn't even have your picture on it... lol.
Oh haha, around that time a buddy of mine was a kid stationed there with family and he said he loved being a hoodrat teen who learned to drive there first and i dont rmemeber but basically he said dad let him vroom vroom the autobahn with their modified powerful 90s mustang lol... I am unaware and cannot testify on any laws broken germany, for all I know he was licensed :O (I dont think that was kosher by any rules tho based on how he told the story)
 

83Burban

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2021
Posts
207
Reaction score
268
Location
Kansas CIty, MO
First Name
Matthew
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
Suburban K10
Engine Size
454
Hi everyone! I've been lurking for a while now, soaking up a lot of information, and finally decided to join. I live in the Netherlands (Europe) where American cars are pretty rare, especially the ones that are driven daily (and not only seeing the light of day on sunday afternoons or at car shows, lol).
If you don't mind me asking, What's your fuel bill like? It cost me close to $100 to fill my tank with 91 octane w/o ethanol.

Lol and..... How well do these sqaures do with the ladies in your neck of the world? Ever girl still crazy bout a pickup man?
 

Wrench At Home

Junior Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2021
Posts
15
Reaction score
32
Location
Netherlands
First Name
IJje
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
GMC C15
Engine Size
350 5.7 V8
If you don't mind me asking, What's your fuel bill like? It cost me close to $100 to fill my tank with 91 octane w/o ethanol. Lol and..... How well do these sqaures do with the ladies in your neck of the world? Ever girl still crazy bout a pickup man?

Fuel is getting pretty expensive here, at the moment ethanol-free 98 (e5) is around €2,05 per liter. On average I need around 50 liters (single tank), which makes a total of €102,50, converted to USD that's around $118,36 according to Google. Some hobbies sure are expensive!

Haha she turns some heads for sure, but I think most girls over here prefer a luxury euro car like Mercedes, Audi, BMW. More businessman than greaser if you catch my drift. Luckily my own woman loves my Square, and always yells out when she spots other classic trucks or newer Dodge Rams. She's a keeper!
 
Last edited:

cstew47

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Posts
181
Reaction score
121
Location
colombia
First Name
craig
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
K5
Engine Size
383
Greetings from Colombia. That's a nice looking truck.
 

cstew47

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Posts
181
Reaction score
121
Location
colombia
First Name
craig
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
K5
Engine Size
383
Fuel is getting pretty expensive here, at the moment ethanol-free 98 (e5) is around €2,05 per liter. On average I need around 50 liters (single tank), which makes a total of €102,50, converted to USD that's around 118,36 according to Google. Some hobbies sure are expensive!

Haha she turns some heads for sure, but I think most girls over here prefer a luxury euro car like Mercedes, Audi, BMW. More businessman than greaser if you catch my drift. Luckily my own woman loves my Square, and always yells out when she spots other classic trucks or newer Dodge Rams. She's a keeper!
I'm getting about 6mpg here in Colombia. Regular gas runs about $2.50/gal but premium is almost double. I built the engine with 10:1 compression, so regular is out of the question. It's about $100 to fill the tank.
 

83Burban

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2021
Posts
207
Reaction score
268
Location
Kansas CIty, MO
First Name
Matthew
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
Suburban K10
Engine Size
454
Fuel is getting pretty expensive here, at the moment ethanol-free 98 (e5) is around €2,05 per liter. On average I need around 50 liters (single tank), which makes a total of €102,50, converted to USD that's around $118,36 according to Google. Some hobbies sure are expensive!
My k10 suburban has a very mildly built 454 w/ th400 and sheis my daily driver. I'm pulling just about 12mpg on trips. Around town its between 6 and 8 mpg depending on if I can keep my foot out of the secondaries.

But here in Missouri we really dont have squat for emissions testing. And my inspection station is run by an Anarchist....So I'm running long tube headers with 2.5" pipes. Before the free flowing exhaust I was lucky to get 9mpg.

Lol and my car is a 69' Lincoln MKIII. She has a bigger motor and is still 100% analog. And she might get 12mpg coasting down a hill.
 

Memaloose

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2018
Posts
544
Reaction score
1,595
Location
Dolan Springs, AZ
First Name
Tony
Truck Year
1975
Truck Model
K20
Engine Size
350
It's always nice to hear from different people around the U.S. let alone around the world. Nice to see an old GM pickup in Europe.
 

Goldie Driver

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Posts
4,054
Reaction score
6,686
Location
Houston, Texas
First Name
Britt
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
GMC K1500 Suburban
Engine Size
350
My k10 suburban has a very mildly built 454 w/ th400 and sheis my daily driver. I'm pulling just about 12mpg on trips. Around town its between 6 and 8 mpg depending on if I can keep my foot out of the secondaries.

But here in Missouri we really dont have squat for emissions testing. And my inspection station is run by an Anarchist....So I'm running long tube headers with 2.5" pipes. Before the free flowing exhaust I was lucky to get 9mpg.

Lol and my car is a 69' Lincoln MKIII. She has a bigger motor and is still 100% analog. And she might get 12mpg coasting down a hill.

Damn impressive on the K10 - I just got 11 MPG on this last fillup for Goldie and commented to the wife that the old girl (LOL, the truck) must have been in a good mood!
 

Babs

Full Access Member
Joined
May 10, 2020
Posts
1,955
Reaction score
9,666
Location
Ottawa Valley
First Name
Paul
Truck Year
1976
Truck Model
Chevrolet CUCV
Engine Size
350
You must be registered for see images attach
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
44,424
Posts
957,542
Members
36,776
Latest member
Love Samantha
Top