Do I love Chevy Advance design pickups/trucks? I’ve called them America’s and my favorite truck before, and I haven’t changed my mind yet. We’ve seen dozens here before, but I think this may be the first pickup with a 9′ bed (series 3804, 1 ton), which were always fairly rare. Nifticus found this fine example in Penticton, BC., and I’m more in love than ever.
This one is doing just what it would be if it were in my hands: hauling stuff. A bit high up, for my taste though, but that goes along with that heavy duty rear axle and those tall wheels and tires. I can just hear its six working through the gears now. Soul music.
Note: a rerun of an older post.
NICE!
I think you’ll find this is a full ton rated pickup with a 9′ bed.
1/2 tons were 6.5, 3/4 tons were 7.5.
Quite right. This is a rerun of an older post and I was a bit less knowledgeable back then. I’ve amended the title and text. Thanks.
9′ bed single wheel ton Chevys were available in 69/72. Buddy Dan’s Dad bought one new, Dan still has it.
It’s probably the same five or six trucks almost every time, but I see more Advance Design Chevys and GMC’s driving around in Santa Cruz than any 1950’s Ford pickups; in fact more than I see contemporaneous GM passenger cars. They just keep on ticking and obviously appeal to people who drive them – not just garage queens. In fact I see more IH trucks of that vintage than I see Fords. Are all the Fords just show trucks or have they all been shipped overseas? Surely they haven’t all been crushed. Anyway, I’ll keep an eye out for 9’ beds.
Ford pickup (and light truck) sales lagged well behind Chevrolet and International back then. The gap was quite large. Ford made serious strides to catch up in the mid-late ’50s and finally caught Chevrolet in the mid ’70s. That was one of the biggest successes of the post war years, and now their company is totally dependent on trucks.
Judging from the gap between the running board assembly and the bottom of the bed, combined with what appears to be exposed, shortened truck frame rails that don’t reach all the way to the end of the bed, I suspect this truck has an aftermarket hydraulic dump hoist installed. Conversion hoists under pickup bodies in this era were not uncommon. The narrow body with no large protruding wheel wells would empty well when dumped, and I have seen a few with the tailgate converted so it could even be opened from the bottom similar to a real dump truck (as well as being able to be opened conventionally.) There were great trucks, real workhorses.
I think you may be right about the dump body. I noticed the exhaust has been routed out in front of the rear wheel so as not to get smashed when the body goes up. I’ve never seen one of these trucks with a dump body before. Thanks for pointing it out.
OK, so I know that this is a Chevy and not a Ford, but I can’t see this without thinking of Fred and Lamont’s 1951 Ford. Another hard-working truck that also seemed a bit too high off the ground.
Soul music indeed.
Good to see another one still working, they’re fantastic trucks, good ride and passable handling if fitted with radial LT tires and the sway bar from a Suburban .
-Nate