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1940 Chevrolet Truck: Green & Mean!

1940 Chevrolet Dump Truck

This truck sure doesn’t look like it will take any guff from anyone! It’s located in Linden, Colorado, and is up for sale here on eBay, where the opening bid is $750. The seller really doesn’t know a lot about the truck, only that it last ran about 20 years ago (and that’s hearsay from the previous owner). All the wheels are present and if you look past the appearance, the truck actually looks pretty solid! The engine (presumed original) is present and I really like the vintage commercial wheel look.  It looks like something between 1941 and 47 to me, which makes me wonder whether the green is army green?  There’s also some white lettering on the front bumper that looks military-ish as well. Do any Barn Finds readers know what year this cool truck is? And what would you do with it?

 

Comments

  1. Avatar Mike young

    Not a GM expert…but ’41 looks right. By the wheels and the empty Hub on back it looks like a One ton… Dually! Put the Later GMC 235 pressurre-fed motor? Mid fifties Motors are a bit improved. Maybe there was a larger version? Hell, Ford made a 300/six!
    But no V/8 please… Certainly not the boring,overused, overrated gas hog 350.

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  2. Avatar ERIC

    it’s not a 1940. the 1941-1942 & 1946 chevy trucks look like this one.

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    • Gary Gary

      Eric, you are correct with the range of years for this particular body style, however, one other key to narrowing down the year is the fact that if it was a 1941 it would have a full chrome grille & bumper. By 1942 the chrome was gone due to the war effort. In 1983 I purchased a one owner ’41 from an estate auction. It came with original title – 10/25/40 – bill of sale, and gas rationing documents designating it as a “farm use” which allowed for more fuel than the average driver. When the war ended the new for 1948 body style was released. This is why the ’41 is special – if chrome is your thing. .

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      • Avatar Norman Wrensch

        I have a 42 no chrome, but I had a 46 and that also had chrome, late 47 the newer style came out. I have a 57 235 6cyl in the 42 but the 235 or 261 truck engines up to 1962 will fit. But 55 and later you have to reverse the radiator support because the water pump is longer. But they are a much better engine then the 216

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  3. Avatar JW

    Man I wish they would have had ebay & craigslist when I was a young man, why because if you had something like this truck in your back yard or field back in the 70’s and 80’s all you could do was call the local wrecking yard to come tow it away while he gives you $50. Now you make big money off of junk that will cost you thousands to get road ready, amazing what people on the web will buy today. This truck looks to be a farm implement truck to me but with all the military bases in Colorado it just might have been used by one of the bases.

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    • HoA Howard A Member

      Hi JW, I hear ya’. Years ago, we’d get trucks like this as a parts truck. In the late 80’s, bought a ’53 Ford dually like this, for $100 ( and it RAN) from a farmer that wanted it off his land, and threw in a “55 ( that looked like this) for parts. I think it’s just a supply thing. Every farm had a truck like this, (or 2 or 3), but as these farms get bulldozed down ( or lie abandoned in the middle of nowhere), it’s getting harder to find these. BTW, pretty hard to tell what year, I believe, ’41- mid ’46, they were all the same.

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      • Avatar geomechs Member

        Hi guys. Amazing how things can change in just a few years. As late as 20 years ago, people were glad to have the old relics moved off their place. Now, everything has a price and it’s based on the Barrett-Jackson auction. To have the good ol’ days return. And yes, this truck definitely isn’t a ’40. Try this one.

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      • Avatar geomechs Member

        Hmmm, this is the 2nd time I’ve had to really reduce the size of a photo to get it on here. Let’s try it again…

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  4. Avatar Fred

    Would make a great antagonist vehicle in a low budget horror flick. “Duel” meets “Christine”, only a farm truck that runs down migrant farm workers for kicks.

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  5. Avatar waynard

    Eric is correct about the years. Can’t tell though without a VIN. Mine is a 1 ton panel converted to a Suburban in 1946, with single rear wheels. 134 1/2″ wheelbase. Had the same bumper this has, but on the rear, with a handful of military parts as would be expected directly after the war. This Green / Black was a standard color combo. Probably not military.

    And, sorry Mike Young, say what you will, but the 350 is a solid, proven, performer. that remains reliable and easy to work on. Mine gets 22mpg faithfully, every day.

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  6. Avatar waynard

    @Gary: Not to belabor this, and if I understand you correctly, it’s true farm and military trucks did not typically have chrome bumpers and grills.

    Production of these trucks after the war ran to early ’47 before the new style was released and there are today a handful of ’47’s on the street of this design. My ’46 has its original chrome grill and bumper. Leftover parts from ’41? Possibly (probably), but chrome grills (and painted) were all over the place in ’46 and through the end of this model production. Chrome is not an accurate indicator of production year; the park lights and slightly modified splash pan between the fenders are, along with several other items.

    My truck has its original metal ‘Dept. of Education’ plate from New Mexico by whom it was purchased in ’46, in addition to a number of military parts. The splash pan on my truck appears to be from ’41. It also has a military number stenciled on the inner pan ( or, rather, had one. It’s now painted over). The park lights too are a slightly different design from ’41 to ’46. Mine has ’46’s.

    Also, mine had an Olive Green military gas tank and retaining straps and a metal glove box, not cardboard, also painted Olive Green. The metal strips in the back on the wood deck were painted Green, then over-painted Black, probably by the converter in Denver that fashioned a Suburban body with full windows from the original panel truck.

    Sometimes determining the year is a hunt and peck deal, but still best done by VIN’s if you have the plate on the vehicle

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    • Gary Gary

      I think I caused some confusion with my earlier comment concerning the “chrome year(s) & gas rationing documents.” The chrome did go away due to the war, only to return after the war ended, not because it was used on a farm. I merely stated that I also found the rationing certificate in the glove box. Check it out.

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