The car restoration market isn’t just for classic muscle cars, there’s one for pickup trucks too. Pickup trucks have a long history, so there are many pickups that are great just to have for your collection or to restore and then sell. Here are four old pickup trucks that are worth restoring. 

1991 GMC Syclone: an old speed demon

Just like SUVs, it didn’t take long for automakers to put a powerful engine into a truck. The GMC Syclone is a great example of this, and the 1991 model year was GM’s first attempt at it. As My Classic Garage said, the Syclone was extremely impressive for its time as it could keep pace with Corvettes and Ferraris. 

Its 280-hp V6 was very powerful in its day. Although the majority of the approximately 3,000 vintage Syclones have already been found and restored, some haven’t been. If you own one and it hasn’t been restored yet, then that Syclone could be quite valuable.

You might not want to drive it around too much however, as a Syclone, like most old trucks, have terrible gas mileage, especially compared to modern trucks.

1978 Dodge Li’l Red Express: a ’70s outlaw

The Syclone wasn’t the first truck to have the power and performance of a sports car. That title belongs to the Dodge Li’l Red Express. Created in the ’70s, the Li’l Red Express was Dodge’s response to the tough regulations that the government put on cars.

Muscle cars were all but killed off due to those regulations, but Dodge realized, according to My Classic Garage, that those regulations didn’t apply to pickup trucks.

So, Dodge put a 225-hp engine on the Li’l Red Express and it became the fastest vehicle in America in the late ’70s. It was faster than every vehicle when it came to acceleration, not just other trucks. Because of that fact, it’s well-worth restoring a Li’l Red Express if you have your hands on one. That said, it won’t be a fuel-efficient or low-polluting car due to the fact that Dodge skirted those regulations with this truck.

1946 – 1978 Dodge Power Wagon: restore a piece of American history

A real piece of American history, the Dodge Power Wagon was first developed to help America’s war effort in World War 2. It entered the market a few years later and its robust build is still one of its most defining traits, according to My Classic Garage. Due to the demands of the military, the Power Wagon is a very sturdy truck that’ll keep on trucking if maintained properly.

If you want to own and drive a piece of American history then the vintage Power Wagon is a great pickup truck to have in your garage. That said, Dodge stopped making the original version because it couldn’t meet new safety regulations.

And of course, it’s also not very fuel-efficient. So while it’d be a great truck to restore and to drive around once in a while, it’s probably best left in your garage.  

1965 – 1996 Ford F-Series: the gold standard of pickup trucks

The F-series of trucks from Ford are perhaps the most iconic trucks on the road and the current models are some of the best selling ones too. It’s no surprise then that the older generations of the F-series are trucks that are well-worth being restored. These older generations of the F-series are still reliable, durable, and quite practical in every area, except for fuel economy.

Because of how popular these trucks were, a restored one might not sell for much. However, because of how simple and reliable these trucks are, a restored one can still be a great collector’s truck or just a truck to have around in your garage, just in case.