This striking blue and white late-series Chevrolet Apache short-bed will be an entry at the Greenwood Car Show In Seattle, Washington on June 28, presenting a perfect opportunity for a “two-fer” – show and shop at the same time. (Honey, it followed me home….) If you can’t wait that long, the truck is available on craigslist for $21,000. As good as it looks, that paint is all original. The truck is rust-free and still motors with its original 135 hp 235 cu. in. Thriftmaster six, but sensible modifications have made it easy to drive. Thanks to Scott for spotting this one for us!
Chevrolet introduced its Task Force trucks in 1955. Updates included a wraparound windshield and integrated fenders, as well as options such as power steering and power brakes. The new trucks represented a considerable improvement over the older Advance Design line, which hung on to pre-war styling benchmarks. This example’s original 235 six-cylinder is backed by a Tremec five-speed; the clutch, throw-out bearing, flywheel, and driveline are new, as are the fuel pump, battery and tires. The underside has been painted with POR-15 to shut down any rust. The truck is said to cruise easily at 65 mph on the highway.
The white-painted metal dash, the patterned vinyl upholstery, that long gear shift lever – the vintage appeal is unmistakable, but truck interiors were still not cushy. It would take another couple of decades before comfort was placed above utility. The bed is beautiful – no doubt someone has replaced the wood and fittings. In a few areas, the paint has worn through to the primer – notwithstanding that mild damage, I wouldn’t dare repaint this truck.
The Fleetside body style was offered alongside the Stepside throughout Task Force production. Starting in 1958, all Chevy light-duty trucks were called “Apache”, while the larger medium duty trucks were Vikings, and the heavy duty class was christened Spartan. Out front, those quad headlights arrived in ’58, but the spear-shaped emblems alongside the hood arrived in 1957. The Apache market is saturated with offerings, but many have been resto-modded far more thoroughly than this example. Prices tend to be highest for these modern drivetrains, while in the realm of original versions, it takes a special truck to make a big price. This immaculate 1959 “big window” Apache brought $35k. What would you pay for this mostly-original Chevy truck?
One from the Lambrecht auction? The biggest fleecing of buyers in automotive sales history. The 5 speed, while not popular for the future, is the cheese here. I was going to say, this truck would NOT cruise well at 65 originally. It looks sweet, but was really a bare bones truck. No radio, arm rests, power nuttin’, and still has the foot starter. Boy, wouldn’t that be fun to watch, “it won’t start, grandpa”,, sorry, hey, it’s the previous generations duty to ridicule the younger ones, or so I was taught.
Kidding aside, it’s a great find, enough of us shifty characters that would enjoy this truck, gonna cost you ( in a singy song voice), this truck cost about $2006 new. Sad how we just add a 0 today on everything.
Well, since a 1959 dollar is worth $10.92 in 2025, that would be about right.
This truck is selling today for the same price it sold for in 1959.
This is one really nice truck. Great color combination too. And the 5 speed was a good idea too. I don’t know where the stick they used came from ( unless its somehow from the original 4 speed? But it looks like its been in there since day one. I agree with you Michelle, I wouldn’t touch the paint, it looks good just like it sits.
And one more thing about the stick. I love that 8 ball shift knob. At least I think its an 8 ball. I had a billiard ball custom made for a Kia Soul I had some years ago. They even honed out a section of it for the reverse lock out ring to fit up and into. There’s just something about the feel of any cue ball or 8 ball ( I went with a 15 to be unique people used to ask me why????? I said because its a 6 speed 5 plus 1 equals 6 lol) but to me its just the right size A lot of old timer truck drivers shift with their finger tips for
feel. Thats how I learned. Ok, enough of all these little side tracks…..
But I’m sure Howard, Stan, and Geomechs are all sitting there reading this nodding their heads in agreement.
Driving a tractor trailer used to really be an art form. At least to me anyways. Ok. Enough of my sidetracking here.
And again love this truck!!!
This would make a great shop truck for me. I’ll put the shop logo on the door with the same patina as the original paint and freshen up any mechanical needs. Oh, and I’ll have to open up a shop too but I’ll get to that later. Great little truck.
These were like flies on a dead horse out west. Every 3rd farm had one, although the majority of them ran a 3-speed. This would be a good truck to have. Not much to do other than drive, and watch younger people try to start it.
Not too fussy about the transmission, so I would like to know if the original was still available. I don’t care to run those straight axle trucks over 55 anyways. You’ll be biting the steering wheel from time to time from just driving down the road and bouncing on those leaf springs.
And, Howard, interesting that you mentioned the Lambrecht auction. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 12 years since that carnage happened. I wanted to go and buy that ’58 Cameo for my 60th birthday present. But I couldn’t afford the ticket, let alone, coming up with $141K + premiums + hauling + buyer’s regret. Like I told my wife: (Quote, Ace Reid, Cowpokes Cartoons) “We could have nicer things, if I’d inherited money instead of good looks.” Close quote.
While I always enjoy your quotes,( I always think of Micah Torrence,,”the only reason people get lost in thought is it’s unfamiliar territory”) I hope the author doesn’t take offense to that, the horse thing. Interesting, so by that logic, the 1st farm had a Ford, 2nd an IH or Dodge later), and I would have thought in a farm setting, most would opt for the compound low( aka granny gear) 4 speed. For most farm applications, 1st on a 3 speed wasn’t low enough, at least my parts. That smell of burning clutch nauseates me.
Re:Lambrecht. 12 years,,,nothing like it before or after. It really was a 1 of a kind collection. I bet divorce rates spiked shortly after. Strange, to us that grew up with those vehicles, there was/is a lot more to enjoy than an old pickup, fancy or not. I’d have to reckon most of the buyers were younger folks, and it really was a treasure trove for them. To us, besides their condition, they were nothing really special. All I know, is the remaining heirs of that guy bought a south sea island, and I suppose nothing wrong with that.
Not to nitpick, but the steel Fleetside bed didn’t come about from GM until 1958. Cameo had a fiberglass bed. In fact, it probably ended the Cameo as you could buy a decked out Fleetside for less than the Cameo.
I have the 1958 version of this, with a short bed. It was my dad’s truck.
One of these was our farm truck in the 60s. Stepside 3/4 ton with the six and 4 speed. Still have the Omaha Standard livestock racks from it painted in the same yellow color. Add the choke to the whole starter pedal process. Could be entertaining. About 25 years ago my son worked in a gas station repair shop and would tell me about the number of people working there who had never started a car with a carburetor even then.
As I wrap up the restomod on my ’58 GMC, $21K doesn’t sound too bad at all. I’m with Michelle, I wouldn’t paint it either.