“The extra work you can do with versatile new Dodge “Job-Rated” pick-up and express trucks means an extra measure of profit for you.” So says a 1955 Dodge pickup brochure. The seller has this job-rated 1955 Dodge C2-B6-108 pickup posted here on craigslist in Washougal, Oregon Washington and they’re asking $15,900 or offer. Here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for sending in this tip!
I’m imagining what this Dodge “pick-up” (as the ’55 Dodge brochure refers to it) would look like with a good detailing and a cut-and-buff – probably pretty nice. It looks nice now for a work truck from the mid-1950s. Dodge had some unusual naming conventions in this era for their trucks. The C2 designation comes between the… yes, 1 and 3, with 3 being a mid-year refresh with a wraparound windshield. B = half-ton and 6 = six-cylinder engine, whereas 108 is the wheelbase. They also made a 116-inch wheelbase and both boxes could be had in either low-side, as with this example, or high-side.
This example looks great, I can’t believe that this paint is 67 years old now! Can it be all original? If so, this truck must not have seen much tough work, either that or the previous owner/s took care of it rather than treating it as a work truck. I wouldn’t change one thing on this truck, other than maybe repainting the rear bumper and hitting the front bumper with some steel wool or something to clean up that chrome. It’s wearing all new tires, by the way.
The interior appears to be in outstanding condition. Again, if this is all original, it’s amazing. There’s no TorqueFlite automatic here, this baby has a three-on-the-tree manual. I’d almost prefer a floor shifter, but as with pool or pond, anything would be good. The seller says that everything works, including the heater, which is a very nice feature on a truck of this vintage.
Sadly, even with 16 photos, the seller doesn’t show an engine photo. The one above is as close as it gets to seeing the Dodge 230-cu.in. flathead inline-six, which would have had 115 horsepower. They say that it runs great and this whole truck sure looks great to me. Hagerty is at $14,700 for a #3 good-condition truck and $25,100 for a #2 excellent-condition truck. Would you keep it maintained and drive it, or modify it in any way?
Drive the heck out of it. Just like it is. Maybe changes for safety as things wear out (thinking brakes). Wouldn’t “upgrade” the engine unless the flat head ever gives up.
I had a 56 with just about the same color, not sure about a 55 but mine had the 315 V8 with 3 spd., fun truck wish i would have kept it but needed more work than I had time for after someone smacked me in the rear end one nite..
Is that a Ram ornament way back then?
The Ram hood ornament dates back to the 30’s.
The Ram head has been used on and off since the 1930s .
A no nonsense, barebones utilitarian truck. What’s not to like? Other than the luxurious heater option here you find a honest lightweight cousin to the WC series and at 67 years old in better shape than most anything that age-including myself😆. Even the color works, albeit it probably caused a few folks to turn away since driving green cars, trucks and motorcycles were supposed to bring bad luck..
Nice truck, would be nicer with a V8. Dodge made some neat trucks in the 50’s, they just never were real popular. This would be a good to get a hold of, pretty rare in this condition.
Would be a truly fun daily driver for me just as it sits after stopping any rust problems it might have and then maintaining everything in good running/stopping and steering condition. Would probably replace all of the rubber items in the fuel system with alcohol resistant stuff and maybe get hardened seats put in the head for the valves. LOve it but…I live on an island on the east coast of Florida so won’t be buying.
This is a flathead six & the valves are in the block.
No valves in that head
Pretty nice truck for an almost reasonable price. By the way, Washougal is in Washington, not Oregon.
NOOOO! Sorry about that, I knew that but typed in Oregon anyway, my apologies. Thanks for the correction, RexFox!
This is crying for an old school Hemi..
This truck is awesome.I love it.
I had a ‘56 half ton back in the 70’s that I purchased for $50.00. Mine had the 259 V-8 and 3 speed manual on the column. It was a solid truck, original dark blue. I hammered out the dents, put a new floor in the bed and painted it. I drove that truck all over Florida and Georgia and it never let me down.
Dodge never made a 259.
“Dodge never made a 259” OK, let me clarify, Chrysler Corporation which in 1956 consisted of Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge and Desoto, manufactured and installed a 259 cubic inch V8 in their Dodge pickup trucks. I didn’t have the only one, research proves that.
Look it up. Chrysler never made a 259. It would have been a 315.
LOL! You look it up. A good place to start would be “Wikipedia” under “Polyspheric”.
It’s listed between the 241 and 270 cu.in.
Oh wait, maybe Chrysler didn’t make those any more than Ford made a 256 “Y” block…Y blocker, geez…or did you know that Ford made a 256?
Ok, you got me, I looked it up, but I’ve sure never heard of a 259, actually there’s several motors on that list I’ve never heard of, but I guess I learned something new. The only 50s V8 Dodge pickups I’ve ever seen was the 241, which was the first one, and the 315, which was replaced by the 318. Supposedly some were equipped with a Hemi, but I’ve never seen one of those either. And yes, I knew there was a 256 Y-Block, but it was only in Mercurys, and only in 1954.
Welllll, that’s not the gospel either. It was, in fact, a Mercury engine however, depending on which plant the trucks were built at, some ‘54 and ‘55 Ford trucks came with the 256. I also had a ‘55 F100 with the, you guessed it, 256.
Chrysler was all over the board with their engines when the poly mills came out. In short, they were looking for a cheaper alternative to the hemi. What they came up with was keeping the original hemi short block and replacing the high cost hemi heads with less expensive to manufacture poly heads. Most of if not all of the engines in that list would accept hemi heads as long as the engine they were being installed on had a separate stamped valley pan cover. I believe the poly 318 was the initial exception when the intake design eliminated the need for a separate valley cover.
Yeah I forgot to mention, a few pickups escaped the factory with a 256, maybe quite a few in Canada. I have a 56 F100 that I built a 292 for, but of course that’s not original.
Like you said, Chrysler was all over the board with their motors, some of the same ones could be had with regular heads, or hemi heads, it was pretty confusing. The hemi was ultimately replaced by the 413, which was lighter, cheaper to build, and put out more power. I had a 65 Coronet 500, with a 361, which I believe was similar in design to the 383 and 413, but I’m sure.
*But I’m “not” sure.