During a recent trip to a local car show, I saw something that I never even knew existed in a done up 1969 Chevrolet C-20 Longhorn Camper pickup truck. I just had to talk to the owner, Gary, about it, and I’m happy I did because this is a beautiful truck. What didn’t I know about? Well, way back in the day, before the big truck craze, was a little known option on Chevy trucks called the Longhorn.

Essentially what they did, was insert a section into the bed and frame to make it six inches longer than what was usually found on these trucks, thus making it an 8 ½ foot bed. This option only came on ¾ and 1 ton pickups, and only ran from 1968-1972 as a factory option. What’s interesting about it, is that GM did absolutely nothing to hide the fact that the bed was extended. If you look, you’ll see a line on the bed-side.This one is obviously the second year it was offered, and this particular truck came with a 350 cube small block Chevy to make it move. But as you can see, Gary didn’t let the stock engine sit.

Currently sitting between the front fenders is a 355 cubic inch small block Chevrolet complete with a belt-run Weiand 144 supercharger for that extra get up and go. Feeding the hungry beast its air, fuel, and spark, is an 800 CFM Edlebrock carb and MSD ignition system. Helping the engine breath on the exhale side of things, is a 2.5 inch Flowmaster exhaust. Sadly, I didn’t hear her run and I wish I had. There’s almost nothing like the purring of a blower with a deep, throaty exhaust tone.

Out back sits a narrowed rear end with a set of torque multiplying 4.10:1 gears. And, if you were wondering what’s getting those precious ponies to the rear wheels, it’s a 700R4 automatic. While on the topic of the essential goodies that go underneath the vehicle, he did a disc brake conversion, which, from personal experience with my own C/20 pickup, is a great idea.

If there’s one thing I know from my time with one of these sexy pickups, it is that they’d much rather be moving than stopping.

I was informed that this truck, while he’s had it for a long time, is still a work in progress. I can relate, because everything I’m working on is in progress. His next plans? I seem to remember something about an updated dash system. Not that there’s anything wrong with the one that’s in there now, but sometimes, an update is a necessity. The rest of the interior is done with at least part of it coming out of a 1970 Blazer.

The Chevrolet Longhorn is a little known option for a famous pickup truck. They are hard to find because they just didn’t make that many of them. Have you ever seen one of these beauties before? Have you ever owned one? Let us know in the comments below. When you’re done talking to us in the comments, make sure you head over to our Facebook page to give us a like.