I will admit to having a few projects that I’m beginning to wonder if they will ever get off the ground. One of them many of you already know about, and that’s the 1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16. This project will get done, but it’s certainly much farther behind schedule than even I anticipated. The seller of this 1955 Chevrolet 3200 long-bed pickup knows my pain, but to an even greater degree considering this truck has been sitting since his high school days and hasn’t turned a wheel in 20 years. The engine and transmission have been removed and he promises very little rust. Find it here on eBay with bids to just over $2,000 with the reserve unmet.
High school is both a great time and a hard time to pick up a project. It’s a great time because your enthusiasm knows no bounds. There’s nothing you can’t fix or repair, despite your meager budget. But that faith of being able to do anything you set your mind to can also lead you down some pretty dark paths in terms of the projects you pick up. Combined with your burger joint salary, those first project vehicles can be rough indeed. But in the case of the seller’s truck, it looks like he bought a decent specimen considering it’s said to be mostly rust-free and it has that sweet stepside bed. It looks killer on those wheels, too.
The cab is in decent shape, but you can see a very obvious line where the previous color still exists. The seats aren’t stock but they actually look pretty sweet; does anyone recognize what car they came out of? The glass is said to be in good shape, and if it’s been sitting in a Nevada garage all this time, it seems likely it hasn’t had to deal with the perils of sitting like a project in the snowbelt. The curious thing about mentioning that the engine and transmission were removed years ago is that the seller doesn’t clarify whether they’re still with the truck, or if they were sold off in high school to scrape up some beer money.
The cab steps look good, and aside from the missing engine and the fact that it’s a long bed, this is a great project for someone. ’55 is a desirable year, and if the longer bed offends you, it’s not impossible to source a short box and swap that on (I think!) The seller has a reserve on this project which seems slightly ambitious considering the state you’re buying it in, but I will be curious to see where this one ends up and it could verify the vintage pickup market is still hot and not even a missing engine and long-bed is going to slow it down. Do any of you still own your high school project vehicle?
With a day left and the price only @ $3k, this truck has potential. Prices on the ’55-’59 Gms are out of control these days.
Seats look like the ones that were in my S3 Laguna.
My thought was swivel buckets from a mid 70’s Monte Carlo.
Being GM they might be the same!
Located in:
Spring Creek, Nevada
This is a steal at 3k. If I didn’t have five trucks now I’d jump on it. This series is a good looking truck. My first car was a 48 five window 1/2 ton my dad and grampa bought me when I was 13. Baby blue with four new aluminum five spokes with grey centers and tires for $400.00. Wish I had never sold it, even after 45 years.
It was a 49 five window, I blame my fat fingers for the typo.
My friend started with an original long box like this
Took the cab off and lowered it on a monte carlo frame (80’sbox)
Shortened the box to fit the frame and we had a blast
He never totally finished it as he never does but it was quite the ride