In 1989, Neil Robins began a major resto mod project on his 1963 GMC ½ ton pickup truck.
It would be a slow process because Neil’s highest priority was always his family, so he invested his time and money into the truck project whenever he had extra amounts of either commodity.
Neil’s story is familiar to many car guys who chose to place their family over their vintage vehicles because, sadly, he was forced to sell his 1963 GMC C-10 in 1999 when Neil had to “choose family over horsepower” at the time.
Jim Sutherland
The vintage GMC truck was never far from Neil’s thoughts, and he kept the truck’s memory alive with old photos, trophies, pins, magazine articles, and photos of his life with the old pickup.
Neil’s son Brett “grew up hearing about the truck”, in his words, and was totally aware of its importance to his dad. Both father and son wondered whatever happened to the 1963 GMC pickup after it was sold and began a search for the family legacy truck.
The search ended in 2025 when Brett discovered the truck at an Edmonton-area (Alberta, Canada) vintage vehicle sales lot and decided the ’63 GMC needed to be back in his family. Brett purchased the truck on April 10, 2025, and once again made it a part of his family.
At the time, Brett was living in Edmonton and was able to buy the truck as soon as he verified it was the same 1963 GMC C-10 pickup once owner by his dad. His father Neil was aware his truck was still around and made an inquiry about it-but was told it was already sold to another buyer.
Neil was very disappointed to hear the news that he was too late to buy the GMC because he did not realize the pickup was purchased by his own son.
Brett bought the truck a week before he and his wife moved to his parent’s community, about three hours away from Edmonton, so he and his bride decided to keep the purchase quiet until they moved to Neil’s area.
The surprise reunion took place this spring and both of Brett’s parents were overcome with emotion when they saw the truck for the first time in 26 years. Brett’s wife was also caught up in the moment because she knew how much the truck meant to the Robins family.
The truck had only been driven about 5000 miles (8000 kms) over the past 26 years and had undergone minimal changes over that timeline. It still had its Chevy 383 stroker small block with the same solid punch it had when Neil put the engine into his GMC, along with the striking paint job that stood the test of time since he owned the pickup.
The 1963 GMC C-10 pickup truck had only been reunited with the Robins family for less than six months when MyStarCollectorCar discovered it at an early fall car show last year.
One thing was perfectly clear: it was not leaving the Robins family any time soon.
Jim Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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