Old reliable always by his side
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/05/2020 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
For the last 46 years, Keith Bogue’s 1974 Chevrolet Cheyenne has consistently been by his side for whatever he needs to accomplish in his day-to-day.
Whether that involves hauling wood, pulling a camper trailer or helping a friend/family member move, Bogue said the short box, stepside truck hasn’t let him down yet.
“It’s like an old pair of shoes,” he said last week. “You just get attached to them, I guess.”
The 69-year-old told the Sun that he vividly remembers picking up the Cheyenne in person when it originally rolled off the assembly line at the General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ont.
During the long drive back to Manitoba, Bogue was struck by not only the short box, stepside design, which was actually out of fashion at the time, but the truck’s 350-cubic-inch engine, automatic transmission and chrome bumpers.
This combination of horsepower and aesthetics made the vehicle extremely reliable for whatever automotive task he needed to accomplish in his home of Oakville and later Brandon.
“It never left me anywhere, that’s for sure,” Bogue said.
However, time eventually caught up with the Cheyenne and Bogue was forced to carry out several restorations to keep it running properly and looking fresh.
In both the 1990s and 2010s, Bogue repainted the vehicle and removed some of the most noticeable rust spots, which has given the truck a rejuvenated appearance throughout several decades.
In 2002, he decided to lower the Cheyenne closer to the ground to give it an even more unique look compared to other classic Chevy trucks on the road.
Then, finally, two years ago, Bogue replaced the truck’s current motor and transmission with more updated models, which has made highway driving a whole lot easier.
“It’s probably twice the horsepower, and the transmission makes a huge difference in those trucks,” he said. “I used to be doing 3,000 (revolutions per minute) all the time for 70 miles an hour. Now I’m doing 2,000 RPM. So the motor is turning a third less on the highway.”
Even though the Cheyenne has clocked in more than 300,000 kilometres on the road, Bogue thinks the truck still has lots of life left in it, even though more work needs to be done on its interior and suspension.
But as long as he remains vigilant and sensitive to the aging vehicle’s needs, Bogue thinks he can definitely cross the half-century mark with this truck and go on plenty more adventures with it.
“I’ve gone through quite a few old cars over the last 40 years,” he said. “But I came to a point where I realized this is my truck. It might not be as old as a ‘59 Chevy or something, but I don’t want to see this one die.”
» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson
