So we have come to know that people tend of have different nicknames for the various styles of trucks, depending on everything from engine location to cab shape. Well we have just one have one term for this truck, “COOL”! With the engine amidships in this rig it might also be described as an SOE, or seat over the engine. Listed here on eBay and parked in San Juan Capistrano, Califorina is this, as per the seller, a 1946 Chevrolet COE with the reserve not met and a bid of $10,100 at the time of writing.
The seller installed a 200 HP GM Crate with a GM TH 350 transmission running to a heavy-duty 2 ton rear-end with 4:11 gears.
There is a Lokar shifter in the mostly original interior. The builder of this truck decided to leave the majority of the panels and surfaces original as possible and it really gives this rig a rough and rugged look.
We like the mix of the new stainless floor panels and the priceless patina on the dash. We might change the gauges out for ones that look a little less modern though.
The bed on this old coal truck was rebuilt with diamond plate with “special waterproof aluminum rivets”. The seller includes this trucks history and an account of all the work done to it in their ad.
This is a sweet ride is supposedly capable of cruising at 65-70 mph. A decent amount of money has already been invested into making this a usable truck, as a matter of fact about 8 years ago over $5K was spent to fabricate the bed. This seller had over 33 antique trucks in 2014 and wants to continue to cull their collection down to 8, so this one has to go. There will be 10 or so other trucks for sale at some point. Will they also be as interesting as this one? We will have to wait and see!
Motor-on,
Robert
I promise to keep my big mouth shut ( cabover-wise, that is). I knew this had to be Robert. I think this is a great re-purposing of this truck. A little “meaty” on the motor, but screams California, all the way. I could just see this truck cruising down the “101”.( if traffic was moving, that is) California, it seems, is into original patina ( mostly faded paint, not rusty hulks, like in the Mid-west, which is our patina) and on a visit there recently, this is very popular. I too prefer vintage gauges, but this sure looks nice. This would make the front page in my small, one-horse town in N.Wis. Cool find. Love the “semaphores” and the 4 spoke steering wheel!
Cool truck. The cab looks like the one in the movie JEEPERS CREEPERS. I do think that a 200 horse crate engine is a little weak .
Lovin the COE or whatever you want to call them. I personally would upgrade the interior a little for comfort on long hauls and repaint the cab to match bed ( BLACK ). The only issue I see with this whole truck is the wiring under the hood looks too messy for being rewired, I’m pretty picky about things like that but otherwise it’s a very cool find.
seller has 1778 listings on ebay right now. nice pickup truck, but going to get costly before the bidding ends. i would have stayed with a manual transmission. nice find.
Unique ‘arrow’ turn signals ? Wonder what they came from ? School bus ? Lights ??
The patina-ridden cab and shiny new bed clash too much for my personal taste. I’d either paint the former or age the latter.
I love COE’s the best. They always remind me of trucks I played with as a kid, made of metal with rubber tires.
What a great rig.I probably couldn’t resist the temptation to re-do the paint and brightwork. But I definitely wouldn’t mess with that interior patina – it’s the coolest part of the whole build. The 200-horse, RV-cammed 350 is plenty for this rig – anything more would be jumping the shark.
I can’t get a good feel for the length of the bed from the photos; looks pretty short though.
Aw hell, Howard, those leprechauns are battling it out with me again and looking for a debate. It’s still an LCF. But then it can be a COE, a 2-storey Styleline, or, like my Dad once said: ‘a normal truck someone drove into a brick wall.’ Whatever the case, I like this truck. The motor is somewhat over the wall but it will make it haul some serious butt. I’m glad the builder stayed with the original appearance. I’d have been a little more conservative but that’s just me…
Cool truck I would have gone with a diesel attached to a 5 speed stick,I’ve said this before so I know this will sound like a rerun. But my engine of choice is the 5.9 cumins turbo diesel with mechanical injection it would out pull that 350 cid. gas pot. Then you’d have a truck. Cheers.
Nobody spotted the fake patina? Take a look at the black.
Super cool but way too much I’d want to change to make the valuation sensible.
Beautiful bed but useless and too modern looking. Custom paint touches would have to go which would ruin the aged look thus requiring full paint.
Nice to look at though!
What is the reason / function for the crank handle on the dash?
The following year had a popout window, so I’ll assume this did too and that is the operating mechanism. The bottom edge of the window tilts forward 4 or 6 inches.
Sold for 22K!!