- Seller: David B (Contact)
- Location: Southbury, Connecticut
- Mileage: 4,090 Shown
- Chassis #: 21JPE8798
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 216 cui Inline-6
- Transmission: 3-Speed Column Shift Manual
Sometimes, owning a vintage vehicle is more about the dream of owning one than about its reliability. Case in point: this three-owner 1951 Chevrolet 3100-series (3104) pickup. It was bought four years ago for the current owner’s wife, the third owner, after she expressed interest in it. Sadly, that dream didn’t last long. It’s located in Southbury, Connecticut, and they’re asking $26,000. It’s listed here as a Barn Finds Exclusive!
I get it, and there’s nothing wrong with thinking you’ll like an old car or truck, but once the hard-to-drive reality sets in, it isn’t as romantic as you thought it would be. Driving a truck with manual steering, manual brakes, and a column-shifted three-speed manual transmission is all it took for the owner’s wife to give up on this one, so the husband took over and has been driving it around town for the last three years or so. It has a new exhaust, so it’s a nice, quiet ride around town.
The second owners (the previous owners) are said to have purchased this great-looking Forester Green, 1/2-ton Chevy pickup from the original owner about 15 years ago, and they put a lot of restoration work into it. It’s reported to be wearing most of its original metal, other than the left side of the bed, and it looks fantastic in the photos. Chevrolet’s “Advance Design” trucks were made from 1947 through 1955, and we’ve only seen 11 of them here on Barn Finds over the years. That isn’t a lot, given how many were made. The later 1951 trucks had an eight-board bed floor as opposed to nine boards in the earlier trucks, and this one looks like new, having been restored.
The 1951 trucks were the first to have side vent windows. That was a feature a lot of us couldn’t have lived without in the ’60s and ’70s, before air-conditioning took over and vent windows, or wing windows as we called them, went away. 1951 was the last year that dashboard trim was chromed rather than painted. The added turn signal stalk makes me weep like a child, just hoping that another human on the globe other than myself actually signals lane changes. You can see that the interior looks great, which isn’t surprising given how nice the exterior appears. The underside looks nice as well, very nice, actually. Everything inside is said to work as it should, including the slow-at-idle vacuum wipers. A 4-speed was optional in these trucks, but a buyer had to step up into the one-ton 3800 series and above to get a floor shifter. I’m betting that if a 4-speed floor shifter had been available, it would have worked great for the current owner’s wife, who is said to be an accomplished manual transmission driver. This truck may not be for sale today if it had a floor shifter rather than the column shifter – but that’s just a guess.
The clean engine compartment houses a Thriftmaster 216.5-cu.in. OHV inline-six, with 92 horsepower and 176 lb-ft of torque when new. This one is said to have gone through by the second owner, the one who restored most of the truck, but no detailed information is given on what was completed. Power is sent through the fun-to-shift-for-some-of-us three-speed manual with column shift to the rear wheels, and this truck is still used for ice cream runs and errands. Hagerty is at $24,400 for a #3 good-condition truck, and this one looks like all of that. Are there any fans of the Advance Design trucks out there?
I’m no expert on these, but this generation is one of my absolute favorites. It looks like it had a really nice restoration job too. Those wood beds are absolutely beautiful when done up with the chrome strips too. Really nice truck.
WOW! Beautiful old AD! A floor shift 4sp was an option on 1/2 tons but pretty rare. Slow at idle wipers? That’s the only time they worked! Hope the next owner enjoys this sweet rig.
Thanks for the info, Jim. The brochure I looked at listed a 4-speed manual as an option in tiny, tiny print, but both were column-shifted. The one-ton 3800 series is when a customer could get a 4-speed manual on the floor, according to page 46 of this brochure, unless I’m reading it incorrectly?
https://xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1951-Chevrolet-Truck.pdf
Hey Scotty, Thanks for the brochure, I really enjoyed that! In the option list, it says 4sp but doesn’t list shifter position, Chevy used the Muncie SM420 which was always a floor shift. I love these old AD Chevys and drove many over the years.
Jim, right under the “transmission” line, it says, “Gear Shift Control Lever,” and that’s where it says “On Steering Column, Manual” for the 1500, 3100, and 3600 series, and then it changes to “In Floor of Driver’s Compartment (Mounted on transmission)” for the 3800 and above trucks.
I think it’s saying that the 1 ton trucks got the floor shifted 4 speed and the bolt action 3 speed wasn’t available in the big boys.
There definitely was not column shifted 4 speed trannys in the 1/2 ton pickups for 1951.
356ASuper,
I must be reading it wrong, but the Transmission line clearly says: “4-speed Syncro-Mesh Optional on 3100 and 3600,” under “3-Speed Synchro-Mesh.” And under that, says “On Steering Column, Manual,” but maybe they didn’t go into specifics about the optional 4-speed manual?
I’ve never heard of a 4-speed manual on the column on an American pickup, so you guys are most likely 100% right.
I would hope that an actual Chevrolet brochure is accurate, but maybe they left out the part about the optional 4-speed on the 3100 and 3600 being floor-mounted. I would assume that’s the case. Thanks for the info, Jim and 356ASuper!
The wipers work great coasting downhill. 😉
Yep. Step on the gas when you want them to stop!
These could be the most beautiful trucks ever. I wish I had space, and 26 grand.
You got it wrong on the vacuum wipers, they went like crazy at idle, medium speed while not accelerating too much, and stopped completely when pulling hard. Believe me, I remember having to lift my right foot for a moment when going uphill in a strong rain!
Bert, that’s what the seller mentioned about the vacuum wipers, so I was just reporting on that.
I know, Scotty. I was just pointing out that the seller got it wrong.
My ’55 Chev convertible had vacuum wipers. It was slow at idle when the vacuum “motor” was worn out. Once I rebuilt it. Idle produced faster wipers. Vacuum is one thing, volume (the amount of air being tucked is all together different) At normal cruising speed the volume is totally different at idle. Even though the vacuum rate is high. I hope I explained that properly.
In the early 1970’s I had just gotten to a relatively remote area of outstanding natural beauty, with logging and ranching being the main occupations. These Chevrolets were everywhere, along with similar vintage Fords, Dodges, Internationals, and the Willys. I got to drive, and own, many of these and liked all of them. They were all good trucks. Tough, reliable, easy to fix, slow, kind of fun to drive. A few things I remember: the wipers don’t work under load, like going uphill. The engine oiling is dip and splash and there were occasions when a 216 might not get sufficient oiling on a long, really steep track. Babbit bearings which no one we could find knew how to fix. The 235 was a better engine. Almost all the tucks out here had 4 speeds on the floor, the 3 speed column shifter must have been for places not needing a granny gear. Easy to rebuild the front end parts and then they drove nicely. Expect 16-18 mpg if everything is working OK. Wish they didn’t cost $26,000 now.
Hey, that’s my truck, except it’s not. Mine is custom painted by the world famous Rusty Oleum. I’m not a fan of custom bed planking. I like the original black. But, that 3100 is definitely worth the price. Hope it sells.
These trucks obviously sold well in the early 50s because I’m sure that almost half of the light trucks were either Chevrolet or GMC. From the side they all looked the same at first glance, mostly because they were painted that dark ugly green. And don’t worry about a thing, both of my old Fords were painted a similar color, as if the manufacturers obviously lost their imagination. Anyways, they were rugged trucks and lasted well into the 70s as farm and utility trucks.
I worked on lots of them, from 1/2 tons to tonners, and beyond. I sometimes wondered if there was an engine made by GM that had more than 12 psi oil pressure.
Well, this truck is bound to please more than one lucky recipient and I wish him/her luck. However, there are other colors than that yucky green…
Yes. My ’54 Ford F-100 was a pea green color when I got it. Re-painted twice: once to a dark blue and the last time a palomino blond. Last time I saw her she was still blond!
You can’t know how happy I am to see one of these with its OEM stance and wheels. Seems like everyone today is stature compromised and find it hard to climb up into a truck. After all, it’s a d**n truck, folks!
Hi Everyone,
This is another I’m representing for another client.
The wipers move correctly for someone used to vacuum wipers, but rather slowly for someone used to 5 speed, intermittent, rain activate wipers .. LOL
Any questions, to see another 300+ photos and a few vids, please feel to reach out.
As always, I’ll be monitoring the comments and hit the contact seller button to reach me directly.
Thanks for all the great comments.
Talk soon,
Dave Brill
AutoArcheologist