1955 Chevrolet 3100

Description

Chevy seems to have figured it out first: make an attractive pickup that feels more like a car, and people will buy it. Simple, right? This 1955 Chevrolet 3100 pickup was probably the earliest example of that, and thanks to an old-school makeover, it has all the appeal of a vintage work truck and that's perfectly OK with us!

It's hard to make one of these trucks look bad, but the guys who built this one nailed the little stuff that makes it stand out in a crowd. The original bodywork remains 100% intact, not shaved or tweaked, but simply smoothed and prepped for the simple white paint job. They weren't aiming for show quality, because that kind of defeats the purpose of a truck like this. No, they wanted an old-fashioned look that would mimic what you'd see at the local gas station in, say, 1964. That explains the Texaco emblems on the doors and on the stakes out back, and while we don't know who JD is, we sure like his truck! A red pinstripe highlights the shape of the fenders and the oak bed is beautifully refinished, so its hauling days are probably over. The stepside bed certainly helps with the handsome good looks, and with bright chrome bumpers, accessory blue-dot taillights, and that handsome grille, it's definitely got presence.

The interior got a simple makeover, too, with a front bench seat wrapped in gray vinyl for easy maintenance and a traditional look. The list of upgrades is small, sticking to safety items like seat belts and turn signals, and adding period accessories like the "suicide knob" on the steering wheel and an under-dash heater. The dimple painted door panels are dressed up a bit with a matching gray insert, and that theme continues on the dash, which has a gray top to reduce glare. Factory gauges mirror those of the 1955 Chevrolet passenger cars, and the 3-speed manual transmission is a lot of fun to run through the gears thanks to a Hurst shifter. There is no radio, as it was in 1955, and the floors are still covered with rubber mats to ensure easy maintenance out in the field.

No surprises under the hood, where you'll find a first-year 265 cubic inch Chevy V8, but that's what you'd want in a truck that you're actually going to use. Freshly rebuilt 1500 miles ago, it's dressed in Chevy Orange, offers the usual dress-up bits, and by using factory parts, it's reliable as well as powerful. Power Pack heads, a new distributor, a fresh radiator, and replacement engine mounts make it drive like new and help make it daily-driver-friendly. It takes you back to the days when these trucks where everywhere and doesn't take any liberties with your memories; even the gear whine in the 3-speed transmission sounds just about right. Newly installed 3.36 gears out back mean that it's comfortable enough in today's traffic, but they resisted the urge to "upgrade" the suspension and brakes (which really isn't necessary anyway). It's very clean underneath and the dual exhaust system has a nice V8 purr that's a lot of fun. Late-model Rally wheels aren't stock but they look great and wear fat 275/60/15 BFGoodrich radials that ride and handle better than the original bias-plys.

You're going to really dig this truck. It doesn't put a foot wrong anywhere on the build, it runs great, and looks right, all for a very affordable price. Call today!