Customs come in all shapes and sizes, and there is typically something out there to suit almost any taste. The seller emphasizes that they don’t view this 1939 Chevrolet ½-ton Pickup as a Rat Rod. However, some readers will argue that it could wear that label. They have strived successfully to retain its original character but have blessed it with performance credentials its original creators would never have envisaged. It is a turnkey package that can be enjoyed immediately, although the new owner could make changes to personalize this gem.
If what the seller was told is accurate, this Pickup is a classic with a fascinating history. It started life as a military vehicle on a naval base in Norman, Oklahoma. Years later, it entered civilian life, finding its way to a farm in Ardmore, in the same state. After decades of rural service, its owners parked it in a barn. The seller eventually liberated the Pickup and was pleasantly surprised by his find. The Four Leaf Green and Black paint is tired, but the only rust is confined to a few small spots on the driver’s side running board. The floors and frame are rock-solid, and the panels sport nothing beyond mild surface corrosion. There are bumps and bruises, but they add to this classic’s character. The build entailed preserving the exterior, with nothing restored or refurbished. The trim has surface corrosion consistent with the vehicle’s overall appearance, and the bed has a solid steel floor. The seller installed a fuel cell in the bed, and in a nod to its history, it is encased in timber taken from the barn where this Pickup spent so many years. They dropped the ride height to provide a more aggressive stance and fitted the vehicle with plain stamped steel wheels. The glass is clear, and there is no doubt this fantastic vehicle will turn heads in its current form.
Delving below this Pickup’s surface reveals an enormous list of changes and upgrades. Lifting the hood reveals a 5.7-liter Vortec Crate Engine hooked to a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. The V8’s specifications are unclear, but it is a sure bet the driver will have more under their right foot than the 78hp and 168 ft/lbs of torque its original six delivered in 1939. It inhales through a matched Edelbrock intake and carburetor, topped by a Cadillac Batwing air cleaner. Spent gases exit via ram horn manifolds, and the seller managed to squeeze this combination into the engine bay without touching the firewall. However, he tackled the build as a complete package. The power feeds to an S10 rear end featuring coilovers and a four-link setup. He notched the original front rails to accommodate a Speedway rack and pinion, adding drilled and slotted power-assisted front disc brakes. The entire package has only 5,000 miles under its belt, and the fact it is the seller’s daily driver confirms it is in excellent mechanical health. He supplies this YouTube video of the Pickup in action. We don’t hear the Vortec running but see it in action. This classic rolls down the road without evidence of shakes or other problems, effortlessly overtaking anything in its path.
Although there might be many changes below the surface, the seller strived to retain as many original interior features as possible. The sole concessions are the new cover on the original seat, a new floor mat, a Lokar shifter for the Turbo 350, and a set of gauges to monitor the Pickup’s health. The painted surfaces are untouched, and the wheel is original. However, the buyer will appreciate the finer details. The build included a rewire, and it is as simple as you will find in almost any classic. The custom harness feeds to a fuse box mounted under the dash on the passenger side, and a mere seven fuses protect every electrical circuit. There are no comfort features beyond a custom dome light, an Arvin heater, and a genuine Ford Model A Klaxon horn. Air conditioning isn’t an option, but who needs it when you can crank open the windshield to admit plenty of fresh air? I previously stated there was scope for personalization, and the interior would be the most obvious candidate. The new owner could refresh the paint and add a stereo or other luxury features. However, that would probably undermine the essence of what the seller created.
This 1939 Chevrolet Pickup is an interesting proposition because the listing’s viewing history suggests it has generated significant interest since the seller placed it on the market here on eBay in Bristow, Indiana. However, this hasn’t translated into genuine action. They set their auction to open at $34,500 but have received no bids. It appears it is a No Reserve auction, meaning somebody could become its new owner with a single button push. Is that thought enough to convince you to make a play for this unique classic?
Hallelujah, done right. To review, tis’ a hot rod, but no rat rod. A rat rod by definition, doesn’t follow any particular make, and a hodge podge of parts. Rarely do they resemble any make or model, with gee-gaws usually found at the dump. Someone knew what they were doing, and had a shred of loyalty to boot. Again, 145 viewers, but no bids, how odd, it looks terrible. I can somewhat understand, they want the outside as period correct, sacked out springs and all, with modern, loyal guts. To me, these types are seemingly only half done, and while images do bring up a lot of unrecognizable rat rods, the ones painted, even with clown wheels are the really nice ones. It wouldn’t take much more, I just don’t understand. The builders treat body work like it can’t be done. Maybe they are right.
Well said. This old truck is more than deserving of a good paint job. One of the better street rods we’ve seen on BF. Really makes me miss my ’34 pickup. Love it!
There’s a naval base in Norman OK? Really? Learn something new every day. This appears to be a well built little hotrod. Can’t believe no bids.
This was back when there was an ocean near OKC.
To me, not surprised by lack of bids. Vortec with a Turbo 350, but then where is A/C and PS? To me the stance is also unappealing. It’s a mishmosh. It needs rechroming, paint, and oversized classic wheels with bias ply look radials with AC and PS. That’s $20K of adds.
They weren’t trying to restore it. They went with the “patina” look with modern-day innards. Nothing wrong with that but I think the opening bid price is way too high.
Save some money and forget those stupid oversized wheels!!
That really is a beautiful truck. I wish that it was a few more inches off the ground. I’m really not certain why people go this far with a build and don’t paint it. This truck even looks to have been repainted at some point, I don’t think black fenders and a green body were an option. It seems like they want to be sure people know “its old”, but it is sure nice not having to worry about scratching your nice paint, I guess. I also can’t deny that it still looks good in it’s present state.
We were just having that conversation at a car show a couple weeks ago. I guess I just don’t get the whole patina fad. I told my buddy thats just a fancy word for what we used to call 15 years ago “needing a paint job”. We were looking at a 50’s Chevy at the time with air ride that sat the truck literally on the ground. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent on mods and custom interior only to be finished off with clear coat over surface rusted metal. I just don’t understand the appeal there.
A lot of talk about paint in the comments. I seriously doubt the folks who say “ just paint it” have ever painted a vintage vehicle. Maybe 5% of the time spent on a repaint would be mixing and spraying. Look at all that metal that has to be straightened and cleaned of rust. Then epoxy primer, filler, primer surfacer and block sand over and over. Sealer, Then bc/cc. I’m in the middle of one now. Or do you guys just shoot rustoleum over it?
I’d leave it as is but go overdrive, A/C, and get very good seating like TMI
I go with shoot it with rustoleum.
Yes, I have painted my car with sikkens base coat/clear coat. Yes it is a lot a work to get it straight. No I don’t own a shop, our local vo-tech school offers night classes to adults in auto body and painting. If you can work with your hands, you can learn to do a lot of the work yourself. I just find that as time goes on more and more people in general, not just in the car world, are getting way too lazy and afraid of hard work.
Patina: old Indian word for “Lazy Body Man.”
This is how most of us built ’em nearly 55 years ago when the street rod movement started. Reminds me
of something that some guy bought to play around with on weekends. And yeah, we all said “Hey buddy, when ya’ gonna paint your car?” schtick even back then. Maybe the
builder is paying homage to the poor
guy who built a great car but couldn’t
afford to paint it. I knew guys like that, great with the wrenches but didn’t have $29.95 to take it to Earl
Schein over in Peoria to have it done.
If street rods were neat, then besters
are neater!
Do your mean Earl Scheib ? ” I’ll paint any car for $29.95 ! ” 😂
Might as well take it to Macco if you want a garbage paint job!!
A couple of quick comments: FYI, there’s even a naval base in Nevada, and the opening bid is on the high side of nuts.
I have a local hotrod friend and enthusiast who painted deep catalyzed clear coat over the stalactites of rusted door panels and perforated frame sections. — He actually prepared the glittering rust and deteriorated chrome for highest contrast, clever feather edge primer colorization, and deep heated-treated -blue steel with contrasting earth tones and ENHANCED most “age-related appeal.” The overall look and testimony to time with a skull and crossbones theme is quite impressive. Of course–these days– the chrome and body work to refinish this Chevy rat rod would reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Alternate appeal was a choice of $ as well, I am sure.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars? Lol. You ready need to find a new body and paint guy.
I would hate to see an estimate from this shop!!!!!
I like it but think it is overpriced by about $10,000.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars?????¿??? C’mon man!!!
Cut the price in 1/2 and leave room for negotiation and your in the ball park money wise.
I understand the look, the upgrades, the lack of a/c etc. What I don’t understand is the rats nest of brake lines. Really?
Some of that rats nest is plug wires.
The 39 Chevy pickup is my all time favorite truck. My Grandpa bought one brand new and my Dad used it as his service truck at his DX station. I really like the looks of this one except for the ride height and price.
I agree wholeheartedly with butchb. His idea re: pricing is pretty close to earthly reality.
It’s well done yet not overdone. I don’t mind them lowered although that’s approaching getting high-centered on a cigarette paper.
I guess I’ll never understand why people don’t want to paint them; they just look incomplete, like a work-in-progress. We’ve got a couple of members in our local car club who prefer the patina but it isn’t the way I’d do it. Nuff said…
Someone can’t sell a work in progress?
Yep, people sell world in progress all the time. But they list them that way. The current owner of this one doesn’t view it as a work in progress, in their opinion this truck is finished.
Works in progress that should say.
I do at that Fred. My mind runs faster
than my fingers. Gotta agree on painting it though. Reminds me of the time I rattle canned an old Volvo
PV 544 I bought for $25 from a Ford
dealer who wanted it gone. It was 5
different colors when I got it but the
damned thing ran like a watch so I
took it on as a winter project. Long story short, I did most of the mechanical work myself and my Mom and sister whipped up a nice
naugahyde interior for it too. I also
did the body work and when it came time to paint it, I couldn’t afford a store bought paint job, so my future
BIL brought me a case and a half of
’65 Chevy dark turquoise paint so I
did a DIY spray job on it myself. After
light sanding the orange peel and touching it up, I had a good 20 foot
paint job when I sold it to a kid I went
to school with for $850. Made a lot
of money on it by doin’ most of it myself where I could. Who needs Earl
Scheib when you’ve got spray cans?!!!
Yes– go to the industrial outskirts of any metropolises and find Rattle can spray paint art. The radius of swept paths of these human footprints are often limited by the extension from pirouetted big toe to full arm extension body sweep, and some very clever industrial artists can exceed that! The “full wet coat” after a sticky hanger application allows matt or shiny reflections that describe supergraphics limited only by imagination. I too had several 544’s, yet never had the patience, but certainly the time not wasted to hone the skill set of the perfect rattle can finish. HA! I May have to employ that process again in the near future, as the totally flushed and detailed auto body block sanded paint job exceeds $10 grand in my area here in too sunny CA. It is AMAZING what magic potions are “canned” and the genie in a rattle released can produce amazing details hidden in your garage from the ARB! HA! Good Work! Try POR15 rattle can UV proof topcoat for a durable and shiny” candy apple (Du-Lux Enamel type) glossy black. I store mine in the rattle can extend its life. Yet, not from the can, but an air brush as I first outgas its petroleum based propellent saturated in the paint in a vacuum to disallow un-expelled gas bubbles from ruining the perfect gloss during up close detailing application. I did hear of a car being painted using pump action bug sprayers. This is where corporate gets their ideas! HA!
Congratulations, that’s quite an accomplishment with rattle cans.