This 1958 GMC Panel Delivery Truck is ready to hit the road and features a few nice mechanical upgrades. It is a solid vehicle and offers the next owner a world of possibilities when it comes to personalizing it. The GMC is located in Leadville, Colorado, and is listed for sale here on eBay. The owner has set the bidding to open at $2,500, and I have to say that I’m surprised that there have been no bids to this point.
Generally speaking, the GMC looks to be quite a solid vehicle. There are no obvious major rust issues, but the owner does mention that it has some rust in a few of the normal areas such as the floors and the rockers. However, replacement pieces remain readily available, so these should be a relatively straightforward repair. Included with the GMC is the kit and glass to convert the door windows to single-piece, which could be an interesting touch. There is a spare pair of rear doors also included with the vehicle, and these appear to be in very nice condition.
The interior really is a work in progress, and now features a pair of leather Chevrolet van seats. These look nice and comfortable and should be an improvement over the original. The owner hasn’t thrown the original seat, and this is also included with the vehicle. The next owner will have the opportunity to tailor the interior to their own tastes, and I’m guessing that quite a few of you already have some idea about how you would do this. There are some aftermarket gauges fitted to the GMC, but these still need some work to ensure that they operate correctly.
The engine bay used to be the home of the 235ci 6-cylinder engine, but this was discarded some time ago, as it has seized. In its place is a 350ci V8 of 1984 vintage. It sends its power to the rear wheels via a 3-speed Saginaw transmission. While the owner was undertaking the mechanical upgrades, he also thought that power steering would make a nice addition. The GMC runs and drives, but there are still a few detail items that will need to be given a slight tweak. One of these is the linkage to the carburetor, which apparently isn’t perfect. In addition to the engine upgrades, the vehicle has also received a new fuel tank (original included), new brakes, a new cooling system, and new KYB shocks. The owner says that the GMC will run on the highway at a top speed of around 65mph, and still return 14mpg. It is fitted with a 3.90 rear end, and if this was changed, I’m sure that it would be pretty easy to improve both of these figures.
This GMC Panel Delivery is an interesting vehicle that could be used for plenty of pretty varied purposes. It would make a great basis for a camper, could be used to cart around something like a Jet Ski, or it could be made into a great promotional or shop vehicle for any business. It looks like it would be a solid foundation for any of these, and I suspect that bidding might heat up pretty soon.
Looks like a worthwhile project. A panel is not all that common, especially a GMC. I’m somewhat curious here; a 235 engine is mentioned as original. Is this a Canadian truck? Not that there’s anything wrong with it. The American unit would’ve had a 270 six cylinder, or the Pontiac based V8. An SBC wouldn’t be a bad upgrade. It would be mega reliable but then, so would the six.
That is a difficult question.
My understanding is, that the light duty GMC trucks were equipped with the Canadian Chevrolet engines, and the heavy duty trucks were equipped with the American Pontiac engine. The larger Chevrolet and GMC trucks also came equipped with the Buick engine. (I drove a 57 GMC tractor with the Buick engine).
There seems to be an exception to this rule, in that the three 55 through 57 GMC deluxe pickups owned by friends, and that I was personally familiar with, were all equipped with the American Pontiac V8 engine and the hydramatic transmission.
According to the book, Chevrolet did offer the 265 and the 283 engine with the hydramatic in the Chevy branded trucks, but I never saw one.
To further confuse the issue, I do know that the Canadian Pontiac was built on the Chevy frame, and was equipped with the 261 cu in six, rather than the 235, so it might be possible that if it was a Canadian built truck, that it could also have been equipped with this engine.
The V8 offered in the Canadian Pontiac cars, was identical to those offered in the Chevrolet.
The GMC trucks were built in Oshawa Ontario.
Bob
I thought the dash was dented up, apparently it’s been upholstered to match the side panels in the back.
is the truck still available .it didn’t come up on ebay