Driving with my wife and son to a relative’s Bar Mitzvah event (oh God…), I spotted- only just- a big, dark, familiar shape coming towards me in the opposite lane.
Yes, a rather short video, but he was driving the other way:
As with many other classics that roam Israel, I’ve seen and photographed this one before, at classic car meetings:
This is another new import to the country. Whether it was imported at this condition or gone through a local restoration upon arrival, I have no idea.
As big as these wheels are compared to the skinny original items, the big Suburban still manages to dwarf them.
At first, I thought this generation’s 1961 hood was hideous, but as I grow older I must admit it’s growing on me. Especially the Step-Side Truck, exemplified in the next two photos (again taken at a local meeting):
Wherever you live in Israel, it sure looks nice .
That ‘Burb looks nice too .
-Nate
Thanks. I live ’round the corner (so to speak) from that area (which is one of the richest places in Israel).
The Bar Mitzvah, however, was in a much lowlier town…
well yohai ;
where you’re from isn’t as important as where you’re going, right ? .
-Nate
(recovering from near fatal moto crash 6.26)
I’ve always thought of this generation of Chevy truck as trying very hard to “ape” the styling of the 59-60 Chevy car…..for good or bad. Chevy trucks that followed this generation would look less and less like the concurrent cars.
I don’t care that much for this styling, at least at the front, because it looks like a very top heavy pile of metal….like a huge metal cake.
YET, this is a very good looking example of a Suburban.
Quite the machine – I really like the wheels and tires, and the paint job is cool as well. I also like the red step-side. A buddy of mine had a black one of the same vintage back in the early ’80’s – great old trucks. I’m happy to see a few of them still on the road in another country far away from where they were built.
Thanks for taking time to write this up–the whole business of American CC’s in the hands of devoted owners across the Atlantic continues to amaze me!
These Chevys must have been plentiful when I was a kid in the 60s, but I was fixated on Detroit’s cars rather than trucks. Like the ’61 Dodge featured recently, I’d once have thought of this as “grotesque”: now it’s just a product of its time I can smile at. Detroit’s advertising always seemed to make an upside of any change (never conceding any error)–this ’62 ad notes that driver will have a better view forward (without the un-named 61’s “eyebrows”):
“…as much as 10.5 feet” more view, no less…
🙂
As ever, thanks for your comments.
:thumbsup:
5-lug wheels weren’t available on the original ‘Burb so this one was converted…looking at the close-up, with a disc brake kit. Or…
The ’60-’62 Chevy/GMC 1/2 ton 2wd pickups/Suburbans were the first from GM (possibly the entire industry) to switch to an independent front suspension with a short upper/long lower control arm configuration…however, instead of coil springs, they all came with torsion-bar front suspension.
For ’63, they switched to a conventional coil spring front end, which was upgraded to disc brakes and 5-lug wheels beginning with the 1971 model year. Cool thing about the disc brake 5-lug spindles, they were a bolt-in swap back to ’63 (as long as the rest of the system was upgraded to accept the disc/drum combo…master cylinder, proportioning valve, etc.)
So…if the spindles from ’60-’62 remained the same thru 1970, they could have just performed a spindle swap to get the 5-lugs and disc brakes.
Or…
Since the entire front crossmember in those years was a bolt-on affair, it would be easy-peasy to swap-in a complete ’71-’72 coil/5-lug/disc brake set-up.
Yes, I’ve done this swap, on a ’68 1/2 ton 2wd pickup.
If they used an aftermarket kit, I’ll assume they paid too much and probably got an inferior product, as the stock Chevy truck stuff those years was pretty durable and inexpensive to source by comparison.
With all this said, I owned a ’61 shortbed Stepside for a short time back in 1974. I agree with your assessment of the hood in ’60-’61, it’s….ahem, a acquired taste. This is one truck that got better-looking as the years progressed. The 1963 is a favorite as it combines the wraparound windshield of the ’60-’62 models with the later hood (’62-’66) and had a really cool grille too.
Yohai
Some months ago I asked you where I could attend the weekly classic car owners meeting in anticipation of a trip to Israel and you directed me to the weekly meet up in Tel Aviv near the indoor arena. About 2 months ago I visited, and it was a very impressive collection and I was really surprised to see so many old US vehicles in such good condition. A brief note to say thanks for the advice on the location.
Yes I remember, thanks for the update- glad you enjoyed it.