1979 Beau James

[mywifestruck]

http://fargo.craigslist.org/cto/d/19...543834139.html

Did Chevy turn out a Beau James truck in 1979. All my googling all pointed me to 75 GMC. Of course the same year and GMC was just noted in the most recent C10 Builders Guide. This is a nice looking truck though.

[Bandit130]

[blindbug]

Well, the grill is 77'-79'. Either someone swapped the grill onto a 75' Beau James... or someone painted a 79' in the same color as the Beau James. Either is just as likely.... and given that the VIN number should tell you the specific year, I'm going to guess that this is a 1979 that is painted like the Beau James, because I am fairly certain that they didn't make a Beau James edition in 1979 (and only in 1975).

The mirrors should be sport mirrors. The Hood Emblem should say 'Beau James'. The wheels should be hub caps, not rally wheels. The Hood should be grey.

Wait, wasn't the Beau James a GMC Sierra Classic as well, not a Silverado as is seen here?

Definitely a repainted 1979 or other year.

[mywifestruck]

Originally Posted by blindbug

Well, the grill is 77'-79'. Either someone swapped the grill onto a 75' Beau James... or someone painted a 79' in the same color as the Beau James. Either is just as likely.... and given that the VIN number should tell you the specific year, I'm going to guess that this is a 1979 that is painted like the Beau James, because I am fairly certain that they didn't make a Beau James edition in 1979 (and only in 1975).

The mirrors should be sport mirrors. The Hood Emblem should say 'Beau James'. The wheels should be hub caps, not rally wheels. The Hood should be grey.

Wait, wasn't the Beau James a GMC Sierra Classic as well, not a Silverado as is seen here?

Definitely a repainted 1979 or other year.

Yes the Beau James that I know of is a GMC Sierra Classic with a Q-Jet 350 or 454, wire hub caps, and all the pictures I have seen the trucks are silver and blue, not 2 tone blue. This truck looks to have had sport mirrors, prior to having the trailer mirrors added. Also yes there's no Beau James hood emblem. Also, the seat on the Beau James was different.

I guess I am just asking if there's someone out there who knew of some fluke deal that in 79 Chevy put out Beau James to stimulate sales or to get rid of extra parts...they seemed to of done that in the late seventies.

[GSP7]

Who is Beau James ? ....


.

[blindbug]

Originally Posted by GSP7

Who is Beau James ? ....


.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_James

I can only guess that this is THE Beau James that 'Beau James' is in reference to, but I'm not sure.

The Beau James special edition was designed to pull in high end buyers to a pickup market that was mainly targeting low end buyers (workers, farmers, etc.). Today, you see high end trucks everywhere (Ford Raptor, Denalis, Ram TRX, etc.) but in 1975, it wasn't very common that someone in a suit was out buying a truck. The Beau James edition was supposed to kick start the market of truck buyers by offering the full amenities (smooth ride, gauge clusters, fancy paint job, etc.). The Beau James was a C15 quarter ton on a half ton suspension and had a 350 or 454. There were only 4,000 produced, apparently.

[ElGracho]

Nice truck, not a Beau James.

The Beau James trucks are all 1975 GMCs. We have seen documented 454 and 350 engines. We have even seen a documented shortbed. They were all blue and silver and had the hood ornaments, wire hubcaps, special floor mats and bench seats talked about above. Now that the decals are easily obtainable, any truck can be a Beau James. Look for RPO code 9A5, GMC Promotional Pack on the RPO sticker in the glove box.

[jocko]

that's a 79 grille.