How cool is it that the seller of this Chevy has an old black and white photo of it that was likely taken in the ’50s? They claim this truck was parked in the ’60s and if you compare the recent photos with this old one, you can see that it hasn’t changed much in the past 60 years! The seller has it running, but it needs brakes to be a driver. With a little work, this could turn out to be a nice driver and a great conversation starter. If you would like to have this old truck, you can find it here on eBay in Belmont, California with a current bid of $8,600.
I know the classic truck market has been on the rise, but I’m really surprised with how high this one is already bid up. I guess it is an all original example with a photo showing the pre-barn storage condition, that’s a pretty novel thing to have! It will be interesting to see how much this old work truck goes for.
We had a couple here some years back that brought their ’54 Plymouth ragtop to our local car show. Bought it new right after they got married. & the cool thing was they had “then & now” photos taken in the exact same spots.
My dad had one just like it….sigh…good memories…
Love the 37 PU. Great engine.
I would love to have it and drive it daily back and forth to the office! A girl and her truck…. a beautiful thing.
A lovely time capsule truck. With a few careful improvements, it could be enjoyed for long time.
1. Blinkers and running/tail brake lights. Just find some LED ones that look like clearance lights. There were accessory turn signal switches made to retro fit 30’s vehicles. Probably change it to 12 volts and change the headlight bulbs. The generator and coil are the only things necessary to change. The 6 volt starter will likely last quite a while on 12 volts.
2. Put the heavy duty Chevy oil bath air cleaner on. And a period oil filter. Many of these were OE options.
3. Make sure the wheels get the powder paint removed from the seating areas of the lug nuts. Powder paint and keeping lug nuts on do not mix.
4. Enjoy life in the slow lane. This is a 50-55mph vehicle. It will go faster, briefly, but if you try to keep up with modern freeway traffic, you will kill it.
Al
I like your ideas Alan……..What a great old girl this is. We used to keep 6v starters when converting VW’s to 12V and they lasted well. 12V is a big improvement. These are not precise drivers with old brakes and suspensions, 50 MPH is about as fast as you want to regularly drive it in and case.
This would be a great tow vehicle for my race car!
It could be the same truck in the picture. They all looked pretty much the same. The rear fender stays ( to keep the fenders from flapping) are unique. This is a great find, but again, same thing, what do you do with it? You got 10g’s in it already, going to take another 20 ( at least) to cherry it out. Or do the patina thing, but you still will end up with a $15,000 truck, that still looks like this. If someone is going to pay 10g’s, you know they plan on resto-modding it. I’d say that’s probably the best route for this truck.
So many good trucks, so little money to spend. I like this truck. The Stovebolt will carry it and its cargo for a lot of miles. 50-55 mph won’t hurt it. Try to drive it faster and the handling gets away on you. I wouldn’t change a thing. No need to convert to 12V; these start and run just fine on 6.
Geomechs:
I mostly agree. I’m mostly concerned about seeing and BEING SEEN at night.
If this were mine, it would be my 2nd/ 3rd car. Good enough for a run to the grocery store when the weather was good, or lumber yard for a small load. Buy declared value insurance from a specialty insurer like Hagerty.
But the signals and lights seem pretty important.
There is another route that was done in the past and that is to change it to 8 volts. Dramatically increases bulb output, but shortens their life. LED’s wouldn’t likely care.
But the problem is anymore, finding an 8 volt STARTING battery is rare. The ones out there are all deep cycle for golf carts.
I’ve thought about this quite a lot because one of my project cars is a 1956 VW pickup. Pretty much the same category as this Chevy. Cute. Useful. Patina. SLOW.
Al
Hi Alan. I can agree with you about being seen at night. However, when I compare my own 6V systems and sealed beam headlights against my wife’s ’57 Poncho, I don’t really see a lot of difference. The only real gain is that you can use more accessories with 12V. I think going to 8V is a waste of time and money.
I lost a good friend 3 years ago and his family has decided to liquidate his collection. He had a ’50 Imperial that he’d converted to 8V in order to get the power windows to work better(?). Well, it sat for a spell and the battery went dead. We can’t seem to find an effective way to boost it or even charge it up. We did crash it with 12V and got it started but it’s still a dead end. We’ve either got to convert it back to 6V or completely upgrade it to 12V.
I sure agree with your needing turn signals; no one knows (or cares) what arm signals mean other than them thinking you’re trying to start a fight. My ’47 Ford pickup never had signals and I got by just fine (back in the 60s and 70s) but as I get closer to getting it back on the road, I think I’ll install signal lights.
I agree with geomechs, I’ve had many 6 volt vehicles and when everything is properly connected, I’ve never had trouble when cold. Flat heads ( and older OHV 6’s) can idle down pretty low, and it doesn’t take a lot to get them going. Hot, with bad valves, is another matter, and you don’t get a lot of cranking like a 12 volt. Just to be on par with the rest of the world, I’d probably convert everything to 12 volt, for the simple reason, 6 volt stuff is getting hard to find. Try and find a battery charger these days that has a 6 volt feature. I saw, someone on Ebay had a new, in the box 6 volt sealed beam, they wanted like $50 bucks for! Clearly gouging, but gives you an idea that this stuff is getting scarce.
I had a 48 Chevy 3/4 ton 5 window pickup, and yes the starter lasted every since I had it switched over to 12 volt, it just winded faster but choke it ant started every time in the coldest weather
Funny thing is , the best photo in the add is sixty some years old.
I love the 37 & 38 Chevy pickups (I have a 38 pickup)
So, I have watched with interest as their asking prices are soaring.
Are the prices just catching up with the market, or are people just opportunistic?
I do know that I will stash a few away since they occasionally show up for well under 2k up here…
This particular one is priced too high for a purist restorer and the hot rod crowd.
What is the white one lurking in the garage?
MY Gramps had a 38 and I was the shifter, being youngest I sar in middle, Gramps during and older brother to my right, as we wandered about Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont buying loads of small cedar logs.
The bed replaced by a flatbed with wood side boards, we had blocks of oak to help keep our loads from squatting.
Atbelow freezing to 20 below 0 there was no way to stay warm and even as tough SOB as gramps was he wore gloves, wool longjohns, a wool Mackinau coat and deer skin gloves, as did I during our 35-40 mph business trips.
In 1956 he traded it in ,$25, on brand new long bed farmers chevy.
Trips were just as long, faster, warmer, and more comfortable, but the adventure went out in that new truck, and my shifter job went away with his auto tranny.
I remember hauling original sheet metal for bed that was as new from being stored in upper hay mow.
Trucks back then were owned by men as tough as Wang leather, working men of owners of own buisness, the trucks and men had individual character, today one bling is same as next bling truck, and everyone from pimps to their stable mate gov workers own em.