This rare and unique-looking 1955 Chevrolet truck is up for grabs in Ottertail, Minnesota (lovely town name, eh?). The owner’s description sets a new record for terseness. We get only “Rare 55 First Series. Western dry. Low-mile original with its rebuilt engine.” Nobody has bid on it yet, but $2,500 is the starting price.
There are plenty of pictures, and the green Chevy has a lovely patina that the new owner may not want to disturb. Why does the owner say the truck is rare? The Advance Design trucks were introduced in 1947 and didn’t change much until 1954, when the grille was changed and a single-piece window was added. The First Series trucks made it through March of 1955, meaning that the ’55 First Series was only offered for three months. Confusion with the ’54 is inevitable.
In 1954, the company produced 325,515 First Series trucks, but there are no available numbers for the briefly available 1955s. One source says 22,000.
This offering is a serious work truck, probably sold as a cab and chassis and destined for dump duty. It looks to be all there. The mileage shown on the odometer is 37,000, and that’s probably the original. These trucks were offered with two engines: a 105-horsepower 235 and a 123-horsepower 261, both straight sixes. Which one is this?
The interior shows ripped upholstery, but it’s so simple and plain it would be easy to redo. Most of the car is just dirty and dulled but not rotted. It seems these vehicles get sold to be shown at car shows, but sometimes, they get called back to work sites.
The styling of Chevrolet 3100 pickups is fairly iconic, and Classic.com lists an average price of $56,583 for 1955 examples. But the top earners are all hot rods. So, would this big boy make an ungainly hot rod or be something truly unique? You can find it here on eBay.
I have to wonder why the Advance-Design trucks got their one and only facelift so close to the end of the run. Was it planned for 1952 or so but postponed due to Korean War-related issues?
I think that a lot of design changes had to wait until the Korean War was over. A lot of trucks received painted grill pieces instead of stainless or chrome during that war. I often wonder what would’ve happened to vehicle designs if there wouldn’t have been any wars at all…
I’ve heard of the fella from Ottertail before, he has, or used to have one of the biggest collections of old trucks, most gotten from the nearby area, I was told. Some of his trucks have been seen here before, and probably the most reasonable pricing I’ve ever seen. That’s the great folks of Minnesoty for ya’ . Most of the trucks he features are older farm trucks, with the back long gone, or removed, and just as well, you see what you are getting here. Advanced Design, or New Design for GMC, was huge, every farm had at least one. Trouble was, farmers usually only bought one, for life, and didn’t help sales any. Clear slate, sky is the limit, and on the fence which way to go. I’d keep it as is, but temptation will be to modernize it, and most likely the way to go today. Ottertail is a hike, almost to Fargo, so pack a lunch.
I think you could make a really cool roll back car hauler out of this
From the looks of it, this one sports a 235 inline 6. 53’s I “think” were the last year for the 216’s.
Being crazy and loving old trucks is my sickness. For me I’d likely leave all running gear and chassis components as is only changing those wheels and tires to modern steel wheels color matched to truck color with radial tires all around. As for what to put on back I suppose a live in mechanic shop would be constructed and mounted. I’d use it to pull my 4 car hauler trailer to flatland (only in southern states) car shows. Yep, that’s how this crazy old fart would do it.
God Bless America
Very interesting rear tire tread design. Have never seen them before. Many years ago I found a 54 GMC 2 1/2 ton gravel truck in a local rural junkyard (now long gone, alas). I bought the cab, 302 six and the Clark 5 speed. It’s a 5 window cab with all tinted glass and almost no rust. The GMCs of 54 have a completely different dash than the Chevys, much nicer in my opinion. Super good investment, have been my barn now for over 40 years lol
I didn’t think I had any pictures of the GMC, but found this one. I have the doors, all glass, gauges, etc but foolishly took it all apart, intending on putting it all on a 50 Chevy 3800 wrecker I had. Life, kids, job,etc got in the way, the 50 chassis is long gone. Now is a project I’ll never get to. Still fun to build in my mind though, right?
..with factory turn signals…
Very nice shape for nearly 70 years. I think it’s held up better than many of us who have surpassed the 3-Score+10. Advance/New Design trucks were very popular out west.Trucks like this saw service on farms well into the 80s. Parts were always relatively easy to come by although I really chafed when I found out that you could order a new floormat through GM but had to search for an axle shaft. And axle shafts were probably the weakest link on these trucks. They were virtually unchanged from the war through the early 70s, and went from harnessing 92 hp to 170. I heard that a couple of outfits would fabricate a replacement axle shaft from scratch but it would take a great deal of “scratch” to pay for it. I know of a guy who restored a ’37 GMC T-15 panel and he got an axle made for it. Worked well, I was told.
Something in this good of shape needs to stay in this good of shape. I wouldn’t even object if someone would just treat the surface rust with boiled lynseed oil and keep driving it. A nice stake bed that you could haul your vintage tractor or engine collection to the threshing show would be great. Or you could just take it home and put it to work. It might not draw as large of a crowd at the local machine shop as a guy’s ’29 Chevy did (That buy hauled a whole lot of Cummins engine components to the shop and had difficulties driving away.) but it would still strike up a lot of conversations…
Thumbs up, since that has gone missing,,quick comment on the stainless grills. Trucks historically got very little attention, and as the grill tarnished, many simply painted over them. I’ve seen several that way. Since many of these were dump beds, they, like this one, still have the PTO and hydraulics. I think as is, it could be useful again, the 6 is more than capable, if you aren’t in a hurry, but sadly, my friend, you and I know darn well what will happen to this truck. It will be taken apart, cab and front on a newer chassis, and that will be that.