Chevrolet introduced its first all-new post-war truck in mid-1947, the Advanced-Design Series. They were more modern when compared to the trucks created before WW2 and would remain in production through the center of the 1950s. This ’51 edition is a 3600, which is identifiable by its longer wheelbase and is rated as a ¾-ton pickup. It has oodles of patina, but the seller doesn’t mention its mechanical health. Located with a dealer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this vintage workhorse is available here on craigslist for $7,500. Once again, Mitchell G. finds a great tip for us!
If you bought a Chevy truck before the Summer of 1947, it was a carryover from 1942, the last year U.S. automobile production was in play. Chevrolet’s marketing gurus promoted the Advanced-Design trucks (light and medium-duty) as being larger and stronger than their predecessors and perhaps had rounder edges and curves. If you went to your GMC dealer to buy one, they called theirs the “New Design” Series. These pickups used Chevy’s reliable 216 cubic inch inline-6 and the overall product offering kept Chevrolet in first place in truck sales.
Not much information is provided about this truck. Apparently, it spent at least some of its life on the Left Coast as the seller focuses on finding “solid Western projects with good titles”. The once light green paint has now reached the patina stage and it’s hard to determine if any serious rust is at work anywhere on the truck. The odometer reading is just 800 miles, so we assume it has gone around at least once.
The wood in the bed has all but disappeared, so that will have to be redone if you plan to haul anything. The interior also looks to be well-worn. Because the seller is in the business of moving inventory, he/she can make arrangements to deliver this pickup anywhere you want, even overseas. And they even have a YouTube channel in case you have something else in mind.
I got one in similar condition several years ago for my “winter build”. My truck did not come with a drivetrain, which was ideal, as I had other plans…..
My old Chevy had a 116in wheelbase, which was the same as my donor 2006 AWD 6.0 litre Escalade. I carefully disconnected all the Escalade wiring, and did a body swap. While the wheelbase is the same, Nothing else lined up, so I welded up a frame to adapt the Chevy body & box to the Caddy frame.
The Chevy body sat higher on the Caddy frame, at about the same height as the original Napco conversions.
As the Caddy had a frame-mounted fuel tank, I was able to make more room in the Chevy cab by removing the tank behind the seats. We used aftermarket gauges designed to fit in the original space. I used the nice leather power seats and tilt wheel from the Caddy. I sold off the leftover Caddy stuff for about what I paid for it.
We left the body with patina, added a vintage Warn 8274 winch on custom front bumper, vintage emergency and spot lights, with “Barn Find Rescue” painted with faded paint on the doors.
The truck is great. As it weighs (alot) less than the escalade, it really performs well. We use it weekly for dump-runs, trips to the lumber yard, and even a few car shows.
The truck shown here would be an ideal candidate for a similar build.
This is a nice candidate for restoration but the rust is too heavy to qualify for patina, not that I would ever fall for that anyways. Patina is old Indian word for “Lazy bodyman;” this one needs to be fixed up.
Redline Rebuilds did up one and it turned out pretty well, although I strongly feel that it should’ve received the restoration treatment instead of preserved. I might add that preserves is something you spread on your toast…
I thought patina was a French word that meant “I can’t paint”. In my teens and early twenties running a car with rust wasn’t a badge of honor. Nowadays I appreciate an original paint muscle car with a few chips and scratches, but when you got rust on the tops of the fenders it’s not patina it’s time for ‘paintin!
This is a complete wreak, nothing even close to be worth restoration and way over priced, maybe parts.
Fancy word for rust?
Patina = can’t afford to do it the right way.
To bad it so far away it would make a fun truck to try my hand at the Harbor freight sand blaster thing and their paint guns obviously wouldn’t be Sema show truck but just be something fun to Tinker with
In line with Cam W’s comments about the old Chevy pick-up on a newer chassis and drive train, I’m surprised that more people haven’t put them on a 2002 -2009 Envoy or Trailblazer chassis with the 275 Hp Atlas inline 6, AWD, and 4-speed OD automatic transmission (highway speeds at 1800 rpm). The pick-up box could easily be shortened 3″ to fit the 113″ Envoy wheelbase. And as Cam notes, the newer in-frame fuel tank would give more room in the cab.
I’ve seen a bunch of youtube vids from Iron Trap Garage, they are very knowledgeable and know what they’re doing, and I’m sure they know how to paint. The only thing I can see in the pix that concerns me is the rust through on the beltline at rear of cab. Other than that, the rest looks fine.
Now the thing about patina is: You can see what you’re getting. You can see that there’s no bondo and chicken wire hidden under fresh paint. It’s honest. And lots of folks want patina. So why would you limit your buyers to the “Only perfect paint will be good enough” crowd? So anybody that says “Patina = too lazy or too dumb to paint”: Feel free to buy the truck and paint it.
Patina doesn’t seem to get much love on this site. (: Personally I don’t much care for it myself but I’ve seen some done decently. Usually on an early fifties four door low end model that didn’t have much flair to begin with. Not everyone has to have a fat bank account to enjoy this hobby.IMHO
What? This is one of the only sites that loves patina!
Jesse.. read some of the above comments from these paint snobs and their opinions of those of us that do like the natural patina our cars get. I have my 72 Gran Torino Sport with almost perfect original paint that i am nervous about driving so it doesn’t get scratched. I also have my 1970 El Camino SS with original paint that has weathered a bit differently. My wife wants me to paint the Camino but i say no. I want to be able to carry things and haul hay and not be worried about messing up the paint. Just driving an older car is good enough for me. I’m not trying to make a “LOOK AT ME” statement with my car.
Rather have the blue 58 or 59 in the back
I don’t mind a little patina, but when there’s rust on top of rust, it’s time for a sand blaster and a paint gun, if you want a homely truck, at least make it a shiny one
I guess I don’t understand about patina on a vehicle. When there’s a lot,like this one, it makes me think about the dubious style of a pair of jeans all ripped to shreds that’s considered “stylish”.