The 1946 Chevrolet pickup trucks were essentially a continuation of pre-war production with only minor changes made in order to rush them to a car-starved US market. This 1946 Chevy AK-series pickup is on eBay in Bakersfield, California with a current reserve-unmet bid of $7,100 with five days to go. Thank you, anonymous Barn Finds Reader who provided the tip!
Old pickup trucks in good running condition are hot in today’s market. The technology is pretty simple and the supply of parts is excellent, so maintenance, repairs or a full restoration can be carried out without a lot of hassle. This old hauler looks like it could be fun driver as it is since the paint, bodywork and interior look like it has all been preserved.
Should there be a shade of green pickup truck paint called “Postwar Green”? It seems that a lot of the mid 1940’s trucks that show up for sale are painted some shade of dark green. It isn’t left over Olive Drab from the war, but it’s close enough to maybe help ease returning veterans back into civilian life. The chrome grille is in remarkably good condition and the shape reminds me of a toothy grin.
The load bed looks like it is either been well preserved or the wood was replaced as it was originally. It has a rear bumper and the tailgate and bedsides are free of major dents and gouges. The running boards are in nice, undamaged condition, too. Like the front fenders, the rears are in beautiful condition, too.
Has the interior steel been sprayed with new paint? It’s dull but there are few signs of wear on the dashboard. The rubber gasket on the glass covering the instrument panel has aged to the point of running down the glass, but that is an easy fix. The brake pedal looks like it is flat on the floor so looking into that would be the first order of business. The wind out windshield is also a nice feature.
Power comes from the legendary Chevrolet straight six engine with a three-speed floor shifted transmission. Whether it is a 216 or 235 cubic inch I’ll leave up to our knowledgeable Barn Finds readers to decide. There are a couple of clipped wires visible in the engine compartment but overall it looks as good as the rest of the old truck. I hope this truck is preserved as it is right now since unmodified pickups from this time period are uncommon. What say you?
Good spare wheel & tire supply. Old trucks for me are “love at first sight”. Awhile back I rode in a prewar Plymouth pickup. It was way agricultural and had lots of gear and bearing noises. It was questionable about 45 mph. I guess that is why so many are resto-modded…
My Grampa Guy had one like this in Red and Black he called it his Puddle Jumper told me as a young kid it never needed gas….Gotta Believe Grampa 1
This truck would be a lot happier at my place. Later 235 engine, which is quite a common switch-over for those. Myself I would prefer the old 216 babbit-pounder but that’s just me. This looks like a truck you can clean up, drive around and fix it as you go. Lots of fun times waiting to be had….
I agree with the comments of geomechs above .( thumbs up button appears to not be working)
Something off with that front bumper , rear looks ok. Geomechs, thoughts ?
Hi Bob. You know, I just glanced at it when I first opened this page but it looks like it’s for an Advanced Design, if it’s for a Chevy at all. Then I start thinking of a Nash. Definitely not intended for this truck. I can just picture a motorcycle riding up between the lanes (California style) and catching his roll-bar or saddle bag bracket on it. Or what would be even funnier is having the truck parked and a guy on a bike roars on by but gets tangled up in the bumper. The bike makes a sudden stop but the rider keeps going for a hundred yards or more. Seems to me I read an article in a magazine about that very thing….
Looks like a good driver; hopefully, it’ll find a loving home.
What a nice truck. I agree with the others above that it already has a 235 installed, and that is a plus if a person wants to do any amount of highway driving.
I would love to have this truck. I would clean it up, put a nice paint job on it, and enjoy it as is.
Bob
I think the sheet metal (steel) on this body would make 3 new trucks today. My ’16 Colorado feels like it’s made out of butter…
Nice truck, fix the basics and enjoy!
Rodney, the paint you’re looking at is called Bottle Green. It was used by
nearly every American auto maker
until 1955. Owned a ’49 Chevy
painted this color, and once I cleaned
it up and buffed it out, it was quite
shiny and very attractive. Time was,
you saw hundreds of cars painted
this way. I do believe that the paint
on this truck could be cleaned and
buffed to a pretty good shine provided
that there’s no major rust hiding under it.
Since it would be driven quite a bit, I’d
slip in a later 235 for a bit more reliability.
Maybe add disc brakes up front to improve the whoa power that would make this truck stop on a dime–especially when you come across some
jackass with a cell phone growing out of
their left ear and not watching where they
are going. Once properly updated, this
truck would never run out of uses around
my place. Sorry, Geomechs, but I think
she’d be happier at my house.
I love the look. It’s so much better looking than the squinty headlight, angry face vehicles all the OEMs make today for their drivers to tailgate you with when you’re already going 10 over. Rant over.
I liked these so much better than the Advanced Design, although, the AD was a nicer truck. Seems Hollywood used this style for a lot of movies. I guess “California pricing” has caught on to the rest of the world for these and as long as people shell out the cash, it’s not going to stop. Say goodbye to original, and hello resto-mod.
And don’t give me that contrarian baloney. It’s not going to remain stock, sorry. That I can accept. This is what people want today, not old rattly door pickups that struggle at 56 mph.
https://www.cmwtrucks.com/2018/01/24/1946-chevy-truck-slammed-fix-day/
I agree with you Howard. A lot of people seem to dig the resto-mods. But they don’t make a lot of sense to me. Cabs are still cramped and hot, even with A-C, and you still have to stop and stretch your legs (at least I do). Myself, I don’t mind being the slow man on the highway, but a lot of others DO mind me being the slow man on the highway. I guess we should accept the fact that there are many different types in the hobby. Some don’t mind having their truck slung so low it gets high-centered on a cigarette paper while others prefer a more moderate stance. Then there’s your purist (the likes of me) who llike ’em stock, smelly and hot. But no matter which choice you make, you still draw a crowd whenever you pull into the drive-in for ice cream.
Incidentally, I think 56 mph is with the high-speed ratio….
Love this style of truck so much a bought 2 and rebuilt 1 out of them. I called her Lil RB, for Red and Black, drive it anytime I get a chance. neither of the 2 had a good motor each had a 235 in it, but was not worth rebuilding so I put a 250 in it and to this day it does a fine job rebuild the tranny never have trouble with it either.. I have had it in a couple of car shows, and won some money. I have had offers for it, but had turned them down. I think this weekend I will go to to Montauk for some Trout fishing and take it, it will pull my popup camper pretty good.
This picture is about 5 years old, it was from a car show in Cape Girardeau, I like this one a little better, it was after I did the side rails.
I would love to have this truck. It would help in building my “collection” of Chevy trucks from each generation…
I have two 55 Chevy pickups, a first series five window and a second series big window. There was remnants of the same green on both trucks. I cannot confirm, but have been told that unless you paid extra, all trucks were green (for 1955 at least)… I don’t have a 60-66, but have my eye on a few 64-66’s (as evidenced by the non wrap around windshields) in my area pastures… I also have an 85 Jimmy, 97 Silverado X cab and an 01 2500hd duramax (which will most likely end my collection, as anything newer gets to be too “car like”, IMO.
As far as the Bottle Green paint goes, no less a writer than Donald Hamilton remarked upon it in one of his Matt Helm books, saying that all of GM’s commercial vehicles of that era seemed to come out in that shade of green (which was as good as any color, as far as he was he was concerned). Yes, a secret agent drove a late Forties pickup truck. Deal with it!
Very nice! Great condition for a pick-up this old! This would be great for a bow tie fan! Some flipper will probably get ahold of it put a few very few dollars into it then double the price!
I think something is not quite right. Compare the engine compartment photo (lots of pealing paint and dirt) to the exterior. And compare the dash and door cards to the floorboards. This truck has had some work, not recently, but it’s NOT “original”.
I like it, wish I could have it. I would just get it up and running and then enjoy it.
I traded a certain car for 41 Chevy pickemup back in around 1971. It had a 392 hemi with 3 speed manual. There was no place for a speedometer drive so I never knew for sure how fast I was going. I broke several rear u-joints before swapping a complete rear end from a 62 Olds starfire. Crazy pickup.
The early 235.5 engines had an oil “dipper system” , fully pressurized oiling didnt come out in the 235 until 53.
Beautiful…put the insert bearing 235 in, maybeee a t5 5 speed for driveability. Don’t touch the body at all. Would go over huge here in the rust belt as the ironworms gottem right quick!! Fun Truck!!!
Good luck to the new owner..
Somebody’s gonna get it!! Bidding now at $9,100.00. Neat old truck. Get ‘er running, repair/fix/replace as needed and drive it. Paycheck to paycheck.
Hey Big Mike, If you’re going to Montauk this weekend, are you from the Show-Me State? I’ve been there many times canoeing. Beautiful area. Nice truck, too. A buddy of mine all through school, his Grandpa had a Blue over black 46 they called “Paddlefoot” Neat truck. They sold it when their Dad died.
That is one cute truck I would love to own it