LUVTruck.com

I pickup a nickel (classifieds) tonight and was reading in the auto and came across this ad

TWO CHEVY Luv pickups,
1 1978 4x4, 1 1979 2WD
motor and 4x4 will run
2WD parts truck, both
trucks included with titles,
$300 OBO XXX-XXX-XXXX
Castle Rock

I've been looking for a 4wd Luv for about a year now to restore or modify and I have always read that Luvs didn't come 4wd till 1979 when it was named 4x4 of the year i called my cousin who has owned 14 luvs over the years and that is excactly what he said is this possible for it to come from factory if so is this a rare truck like how many were made or am i just making myself look dumber the more i type thanks for any imput

I've never heard of a factory 4x4 until 79. I heard of some conversions being done by a company on the west coast back before that, but not GM/Isuzu. Can anyone alse weigh in on that for me???

First of all.... Welcome aboard!!!
Second, 1979 was the first year they manufactured as 4x4's, but there were companies out there that used to do conversions.
So, who know's for sure what this one is. It could also be a typo of some sort?

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77 2wd - Back on the road
05 Ford Five Hundred

"Love endures all things, Love never fails." - 1 Cor. 13:7,8.

It was either made in late 78 , but is a 79 model year and the tag would say 78 on the door. some states registered the car as date made and others as the actual model year. the other option is that it is an after market kit that they sold in the 70's.

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My old but now gone Luv...

kylecoyote, welcome to the site and these guys on here can answer about any question you might have

I have heard rumors of some 4wds sneaking onto the lots in 78 has anybody else heard this

there were definitely commercial conversions in the 70s. remember, there were no true small, light 4x4s in the US from the factory until toyota brought out 4wd in their pickups and chevy/isuzu in their luv trucks in 1979. after that everyone seemed to follow(datsun in '80, chevy/ford in '83)

usually these conversions used the stock tranny with a divorced dana 20 transfer case and dana 30 front axle

I think cmandu has the answer for factory 4x4s showing as model year 78 trucks. Many of them would have been made in 1978 to be ready for end of the year new model release, and somewhere along the lines the manufacture date could get used on the title, or just misinterpreted by the person advertising the truck.

Any true 78 or older 4x4 would be a conversion or an older body swapped onto 79+ frame.

The only real 78s you will find will be conversions, a girl i whent to HS whith had a 78 LUV whith a factory 4x4 system from an 80. It looked all factory just not original.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I have a 79 4x4 that i bought new. Is has a build date of NOV. 78, but it landed in this country in Feb, 79. I bought it March 10, 79. The title says its a 79, along with all the other paperwork.

And Kyle_22r, you have your facts backwards. The LUV was the first factory 4X4 mini truck to hit the streets in the USA. The Toyota ran a close 2nd!

Ike

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Only God can make a tree.......
and only Chevrolet can make a LUV !

the LUV was the first 4x4 minitruck and the first independent front suspension 4x4. And if the truck has a build date of after october 78 it will be a considered a 79.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

i stand corrected! however toyotas had a straight axle front end until 1985, which puts it a wee bit above the luv for an offroad project

yup im helping my brother swap an 85 8" front end under his 86 this summer. Should help out his Toy on the trails quite a bit. Hell have the best of both worlds front and rear 8" whith the bigger rear drums

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...