1953 Chevrolet 3100 5 Window

Description

This 1953 Chevrolet 3100 5-Window pickup truck is looking for a job. Willing to put in long hours, carry heavy loads, and look good doing it, it can still be used as a truck. On the other hand, this is also a nicely restored truck and these are great-driving vehicles with a comfortable ride and dependable power in addition to those timeless good looks. Capture the best of both worlds with a hobby vehicle that you can use as Chevrolet intended without worry, and still drive it to the local cruise night where it'll surely draw a crowd.

White Diamond with black running boards is the right way to restore one of these trucks, and this one is fully dressed with all the right period accessories and parts. That's all perfectly OK since Chevy would build your truck any way you wanted and the dealer's parts department could do the rest. With the highly desirable 5-window cab, white oak lumber in the bed, and a side-mounted spare tire, this one looks like it just got home from the dealer, ready to get to work. The Advance Design pickups are a favorite among truck enthusiasts, and they were one of the first trucks to take into account that just maybe all those farmers and carpenters wanted something that was stylish and comfortable as well as durable and versatile. Up front there's a painted grille that's in great shape, and all the body panels appear to be OEM. The bed's finished with smooth white oak planks so it goes with the look of the rest of the truck, which still shows off its blue-collar roots with pride. It's nicely dressed but it doesn't mind being a truck because it's not a perfect garage queen!

The interior covers the basics, and that's part of the truck's charm. The bench seat will accommodate three, and has been reupholstered in root beer brown vinyl for a bit of an upscale feel. All the original instruments are in place, and the painted steel dashboard is a handsome design that's functional, too. Like the exterior, the interior is fairly spartan and correct, with nary an option other than the seatbelts. It's a radio-delete truck as well, but who's going to complain about that when they hear that straight 6 singing up front. Three-on-the-tree shifting is easy thanks to the large diameter steering wheel that puts the shifter at your fingertips, and there's a modern turn signal unit mounted on the column for safety. It's not exactly luxurious, but it's comfortable and a great place to experience the charm of the '50s.

1953 called for Chevy's 216 Inline-6 "Thrift Master" in these trucks, but this 5-window has been given a little extra power with a swapped in 235 Inline-6 that was installed in 2011. Borrowed from a '62 Nova, it was fully rebuilt to handle modern fuel and makes a very usable amount of added horsepower and torque. The engine bay is tidy and the engine itself has been dressed up properly in corporate gray enamel and a single-barrel carburetor. A shiny chrome valve cover and chrome air cleaner brighten up the somber engine bay, but then again, this was for work not play. Underneath, there's a 3-speed manual transmission spinning the original rear end, and you'll be surprised by how much fun that manual transmission adds to the big six. It's quite clean with satin black paint and a custom dual exhaust with Glasspack-style mufflers that sounds pretty darned good. Factory steel wheels were painted black and fitted with trim rings and center caps and are wrapped in 235/75/15 blackwall radials.

Fun hobby vehicles don't get much more practical than this, and when they're also handy around the house, well the argument is easy to make. Call today and give this truck a job!