Looking every bit the classic “barn find,” this 1928 Chevrolet coupe/truck was sent in by Barn Finds reader T.J. noting the fine patina (yes, the P-word). It’s listed for sale here on craigslist and the seller is asking $5,000. The vehicle is located in Challis, Idaho.
And this is why it’s a coupe/truck! I’m guessing this body modification was performed to keep the old Chevy useful at some point, possibly for use around a farm. Honestly, it’s done quite well, and perhaps it would be worth keeping the vehicle in this configuration if you chose to restore it; you’d certainly have the only one at shows! I wonder if the El Camino Club of America would let you in as the owner? Also, note the steel disc wheels; quite unusual for the time as most cars had wire wheels.
The wood is solid enough that you could pull patterns from it to duplicate the bed. Or, if you like patina, you’ve got it as-is. I love the huge gate hinges; can you imagine them in body color against some beautiful new wood?
I’d certainly keep and refinish the steering wheel! And the good thing about the missing floors is that they were wood originally anyway, so replacement isn’t that bad. Would you add some gauges?
Believe it or not, that great big canister on the firewall is original and appears to be a vacuum canister! The seller tells us that the engine turns over freely; even if I were going to hot rod this Chevy, I’d at least try to get the engine running first. And once I did–I’ll bet I’d keep it in there. What would you do? Let us know in the comments!
Well the first thing you know ole Jed . . was not a millionaire yet when he owned this. It’s only got a 4 cylinder and not much room for Granny out back.
junk
A convertible woody?
This thing is great. Fix it up enough to drive it safely and have some fun. I’d drive it and work on it but mostly preserve it. It looks to still be in good enough shape, it just needs a caretaker.
Back in the 60’s and 70’s my dad used to build beds like that for Texas Highway Dept. cars. Seems they could only buy so many cars and the rest had to be pickups. That little bed made cars into “pickups” for those that wanted cars instead.
It was quite common during WWII and gas rationing to add
a pickup box to a coupe to qualify it as a farm vehicle. And
thus, a farmer would be eligible to request a Gas Ration “C” window sticker and coupons authorizing them to buy 8
gallons of gas each week as opposed to the basic 4 gallons per week for normal passenger cars. This might be one of those vehicles.
I was going to comment with the same, though not as complete, information.
The steel wheels were an upgrade. The vacuum canister drew the gasoline from the tank and fed it to the carburetor. That didn’t always work and so sometimes you would have to back up hills so gas could get to the engine. This car has a four cylinder engine. Chevrolet had planned on putting a six cylinder engine in the car in 1928 but they weren’t far enough along in the development process yet. The body was extended to accommodate the six but since they weren’t ready they simply put a shroud in. Couldn’t beat the sound of a Chevy four cylinder!
Such a setup was available later on, in the mid ’30s into early ’40s, for Chevy coupes as a dealer-installed accessory.
Neat Vehicle, wish I could afford it!