This lengthy ’63 Chevrolet Suburban is definitely an interesting truck. The extra length makes us wonder if this Suburban was perhaps used as an ambulance, or for some other particular purpose. The extension is clean and well executed, appearing as factory. With rust at a minimum, and in driving condition, we are hard pressed to pass up this $2,964 Suburban. Find it here on craigslist out of Long Beach, California.
Though the engine bay looks dusty and original, this Suburban has undergone surgery before. The new heart is an Oldsmobile 403 Cubic inch V8, backed by a Th-400 transmission and a Ford 1 ton rear end. The seller has explained that he had the carburetor rebuilt, as well as a tune up and fresh fluids. Though this truck runs, we think it still may need some looking over before returning to street duty.
There is plenty of room in this Suburban to do whatever you may come up with. Rust is at a minimum on this truck as it has been stored in a warehouse for an undetermined amount of time. The body looks mostly straight, with perhaps hints of surface rust along the edge of the roof. The wheels arches look fantastic on this truck.
The interior is in need of some help. The dash has some auxiliary gauges added to is, and the flooring lacks any all remnants of carpet or padding. The seats look reasonable, but the matching door panels appear to be missing. The seller has been generous enough to offer the original shag carpet headliner with this truck.
This is certainly a rare sight and many would be mesmerized by the overall length of this Suburban. The price is a bargain for this unique and reasonable condition truck. So what do you think this truck was originally used for? More importantly, what would you do with it now?
A spotlight on top facing the rear? Hmmmmm….
NICE LIGHT FOR LOADING/UNLOADING AT NIGHT
those big bags of weed ain’t going to unload themselves ! LOL
This comment was “highly rated”? There’s nothing funny about this country’s drug problem. ( no, I did not give it a thumbs down)
Way too conspicuous to be a mule vehicle.
How do I know?
Don’t ask.
Pretty sure, this would be the C30, 1 ton panel, discontinued after 1966. Somebody sure went gonzo on the transmission tunnel. I doubt it was an ambulance, as most were window trucks, but pretty rare regardless. Years ago, the Milwaukee Journal used these longer C30 panels to deliver bundles of newspapers to the branches. The drivers beat the crap out of them. Can’t be many left. Kind of an oddball here. Looks like someone did a lot of work to this, for no reason. Nice find though.
from wikipedia page on chevrolet suburban:
“One ton (C-30), 10-foot (3 m) panel truck models were no longer available after 1966.”
my best guess as to what this rare beast is. heavy duty truck for sure looks like it was used last as a work truck the rear facing light to enable work in low light conditions (and/or to shine deer?) the eyebolts along the dripedge added to secure loads on a (no longer present) rack.
this would be a fun ride and have lots of potential. you can reenvision it anyway you want as much of it is no longer truly original. work truck? camper? flea market sales? vintage boat hauler? apocalypse machine? a 2wd 1 ton truck has a lot of hauling capacity.
$2964
these oddball $$ are usually scamms
ALSO ODD THEY SAY THEY DROVE IT A FEW MILES but it has no alternator belt, no water pump belt either????????
I don’t see any belts at all. after pics would be best,why do before pics?
I’ve owned a couple of these LWB Carryall’s, a ’57 and a ’65. They are huge inside, and well worth rebuilding if you are so inclined. Good buy at this $$.
Looks like an unfinished hack job – otherwise why is the alternator bracket resting on the inner LH fender and no belt for the water pump?? Makes one ask – is the alternator holding up the engine on that side? At the end of the 2 mile drive, did the engine seize due to lack of an operating water pump? Of course the engine could just have been filled with water for a short drive sans pump, which I’ve sure done, but comeon, is the seller that obtuse he thinks no one’s going to doubt the claims? WTF…..Having an ’87 G20 Chev 3/4 ton, I sure hate fillups-
they drove it two miles then swapped motors! :)
Not a Suburban, its a panel truck. Totally different model. Also, all 1 ton panel trucks were this length from the factory, not a conversion. Those windows however are not factory, they were a dealer or aftermarket option.
Hi Nate, apparently, you could get a window panel C30 from the factory, although, I don’t think it was a Suburban either. Didn’t the Suburbans have 3 doors?
http://bringatrailer.com/2013/09/02/non-burb-glassed-1964-chevrolet-c30-panel-truck/
That tan truck in the link has aftermarket windows installed with a “locking rubber” which installs the glass in the outer skin only. Factory window vans had both interior metal and exterior metal stamped to meet each other in a flange in which a non locking (standard) rubber was used. The glass was thus recessed from the outer skin. There were no one ton chevy panels with factory glass. All you see w windows were either alum flange windows like the blue one or locking rubber mounted glass like the ran one. Problem w locking rubber is if you push hard enough it just falls out. One of my idiot employees put a ford sliding door glass in a locking rubber on a non window door (skin mounted). A few days later the owner closed the sliding door and the glass popped out and landed in his arms. Can you say lucky? We replaced it with a alum frame window w an inner flange to blend in w the interior w wood spacer blocks in appro places to keep the window in place no matter what. Sheet metal became to thin in the 90s that the wooden spacer block process became critical so the outer sheet metal would not bow and flex. Portholes had the same kind of issues. There were far more half ton swb chevy panel trucks in the 60s that lwb one tons. Long ones are rare now. Did you know chevy also made a one ton pickup w a 12 foot bed?
Suburbans had three doors (not including rear dpors) starting in 1967 and ending in 1972. All subirbans before then you would climb into the back seats like in a two door car. As for the windows from the factory, I guess anything is possible but I’ve never heard of it as a factory option, only dealer installed. Which would also explain why all the window-ized panel trucks you see have different size and location of the windows, hardly ever see two that are the same lol.
I would dump the weak 403 and replace it with either a duramax or an LS. Make it safe to drive. Give it a good cleaning. Do the necessary rust repairs and clear it. Put AC in it, comfortable seats and new carpet up front. The back, maybe a hardwood floor, not sure.
I had one of these,1 ton panel trucks.It was originally
used as an ambulance,for a local timber company.It was 20 ft long,
with a 235 6 cylinder,4 speed,& had only 5100 miles on it! Since it
had been kept in a shed,there was hardly any rust on it.
Most of these were used as work trucks,so it’s rare to find
one that hasn’t lived a hard life.
These are totally cool rigs ( I didn’t get a negative comment –
about it),but are noisy & crude on the interior.You’d want to update the
running gear,& add power steering,if you planned on driving one of these
very often.Quality,American made tires will also cost you about $1500,
for a set of 5.
Sometimes the light on the back were to help light up the area you were backing up to. I have installed them on my delivery trucks to help the driver. If you have ever backed up a truck or van at night you know the factory backup lights are not always the best to see with.
Someone in Long Beach needed a long truck…
Cool looking and that 12ft pickup bed is wild.
Factory built c-30 1-ton panel truck.. Could be had in the standard length suburban chassis size or these long monsters.. Nothing special or rare here..
Saw a lot of these long bodied truck/ suburbans w/ full windows in the logging business during the 1960’s and ’70’s in the NW. Seats in rows all the way back, for transporting loggers w/ raingear, lunchboxes and corks (not caulked boots!) to the ‘side’, before dawn. Some had heaters installed in the rear 1/4 panel. They were called “crummies” for good reason!
These trucks were used in the midwest and south as bread trucks. My wife’s brothers, who had several carnival games, owned several of these old bread trucks. They were reliable but slow.