It finally struck me that in my recent Kodachrome posts trucks rarely appear. Many wagons, coupes, and sedans show up, but as is known, city dwellers and suburbanites didn’t bother with trucks back then. Yet, some vintage truck shots do show up on the web. Most with the usual farm pickup, but some hinting at the future we now live in; with the truck as a lifestyle vehicle. Here is a mix of such images; where trucks -and early SUVs- appear either in humble form or as a ‘lifestyle’ companion.
Love that Studebaker with the camper. 170 cubic inches and 80 hp.
Reminds me of the one the Mennonite farmers in Iowa had; it was old and tired by then. I always hopped in the back and stood behind the cab, face in the wind as Mr. Yoder drove somewhere; to a neighbor or into the little town. One morning Mrs. Yoder wanted to use it and she started it up too vigorously and the engine blew with a most spectacular cloud that completely engulfed it and the barn it was sitting in front of. What an ending.
Depending on the year, these could also have the big 245 cid Commander six, with a monstrous 102 horsepower! 🙂
Love the old Airstream with the International pulling it. About 1975.
I like this era when small trucks tried to camouflage themselves as automobiles unlike today where the more they look like semis the more people want more and resulting in a blocked road horizon
I’m not seeing any small trucks; these were all full-sizers at the time, most with a full 80″ wide body. But in the ’60s and early ’70s especially, they tried to get them to sit as low as possible.
That first pic of the blue AD – why have I not seen that grill before?
I love that Studebaker pickup. In fact, just last week, I saw an awfully similar truck – beautifully restored – at a local car show (below).
Also interesting is that in the picture of the girl smiling by the pickup at a campground, we can see what looks like a 2-gal. motor oil can in the bed. Not too many folks these days travel with two gallons of motor oil.
The urban photo with the Travelall, Riv and schoolbus looks odd to me. The GMC bus and the 2nd gen F Body behind the IH look “modern” (1970’s) to me. But the buildings, the clothing of the pedestrians, the whole feel looks like another era. I think that photo is Manhattan; growing up on the opposite coast gave me different memories of those years.
Yes, that is in lower Manhattan, NYC – and it’s in Little Italy, looking at the tricolor flags. Today that area – Mott and Grand Streets, is heavily Asian.
The white 1967 C-10 Suburban pulling the camping trailer makes me wonder, “Why not a (passenger car-based) wagon?”
For 1967, the Suburban’s biggest engine was a 327 small block, while the B-body wagons could be had with a 396 big block. The B-wagons could be had in any level of trim, from a lowly Biscayne to a fancy Caprice. (1967 was one of those weird years where wagons shared trim names with passenger cars and didn’t get unique names like Kingswood, etc.)
I’m not sure a Suburban had a significantly beefier frame or suspension than a wagon. It did have a bit more cargo space. I can’t really address the pricing difference.
It’s just an interesting choice that I don’t fully understand.
There’s a lot more to towing than engine output. The trucks (Suburban, pickups) were intrinsically better suited to the job, thanks to heavier duty suspensions, higher clearance, higher numerical axle ratios, etc.. In order to tow properly with a passenger car, it had to be ordered with the right options. And even then, the low ground clearance and other issues were a factor.
The frames on the trucks were genuine ladder frames, very different from the perimeter frames on the B-Bodies.
Also, no B-Body wagon was going to offer three forward-facing bench seats as well as a pretty substantial luggage room behind the third seat.
There were very good reasons why trucks were favored by many serious towers back then, and quickly replaced passenger cars in later years.
The 327 with the right gearing had plenty of power, for the speeds that one would want to drive with a trailer back then.
I’ve learned something. Thank you.
Yes, please!
That one!
The Travelall is probably a 1965 or 1966. I have been on that corner in Little Italy in Manhattan. Chinatown has encroached upon it. Regarding the school bus, they were a rarity in NYC back then.
That mid 70’s Travelall pulling the Airstream is simply perfection. I don’t really like camping, but maybe I would if I owned that combination. 🙂
I have seen that picture of the Stude pickup and camper before. I love how the Mrs. has a matching blue outfit.
The land around the Studie looks semi-desert, but there must be a creek with beavers nearby.
The stamped steel wheels on the first Stude identify it as a half ton. Most if not all half tonners got the 170. Three quarters were available with either 6. Friend of mine has one with the big 6 and overdrive. Great driving old truck.
In the early ’80s, my initial high school bus had the same Superior body and raised roof, as the one shown above. Though on a regular ’67-’72 Chevrolet C-Series chassis. Mine also had two external luggage compartments down below. It was always used by the high school for downhill and cross-country ski field trips, with the convenience of better handling transporting skis.
The Travelall with the Airstream trailer, and yellow/orange New York licence plate, is exactly the kind of vacationing setup we’d see here in Ontario. When wealthy, retired Americans used to vacation here regularly into the 1970s.
I rode Superior bodied GMC’s from 1957 until 1967. The body itself was the previous style to the one in your photo and the article photo. However in 1960 Superior went to the front endcap and windshields seen in these photo’s. On the rear, the two outside windows were squared up.
The most unusual feature of the three that I rode (a 1957, 1960, and 1962) were the automatic transmissions. They were actually 4 speed hydramatics. The ’57 had an Olds 371 V8 and the ’60 and ’62 had 351 V6’s.
And the last picture is the San Diego Museum of Art, in Balboa Park. Looks like about 1960 – given the Ford F100 truck in front and Corvair partially obscured.
I do love the Stude camper.
It seems about what anyone needs if you really want to travel, rather than tour in some mini suburban-recreation cocoon.
Plus, just look at it!
Nice pics, all of them .
I camped all through the 50’s & 60’s, I didn’t think it was a lifestyle, just how we got to see America back then .
It tapered off in the 70’s and picked up in the 80’s when my son was young .
Camping can be great fun and very educational .