Text by Patrick Bell.
Our gallery for this Valentine’s Day is a good variety of trucks, their owners and how they were used in both work and play. In the 21st century trucks became the new family sedan for better or worse. Back in the day for the most part nobody had a truck unless they needed one. Part of the reason was, well, they drove like a truck… My, my, how things change.
In our first image we are taking the whole gang for a ride in the old truck on the family spread. It is a ’49-’53 Studebaker half-ton with a Colorado license plate that looks in good shape for its age and is holding its load well. The young man on the far right is about to shoot at us with his slingshot. To the right is a dark blue ’64 Plymouth Belvedere nine passenger wagon with a heavy duty roof carrier and also with a Colorado plate, and a white ’65 Ford Country Squire.
A man standing by what looks to be a new ’54 Ford F-100 Deluxe cab with a six cylinder. It is a sharp rig in Vermillon Red.
Brown Oil and Tire Company, a Firestone dealer is ready to hit the road to service your farm equipment tires. They were based in Parsons, Kansas. Perhaps this is Mr. Brown himself. The truck is a ’58 Chevrolet Apache 31 series with a six cylinder and chrome bumpers with guards on the front. It looks new or close to new as well. There is a compressor in the bed with the air tank mounted high and out of the way.
This appears to be a camping/fishing party of six on a gravel road heading to or from the fishing hole in a ’55 first series Chevrolet Advanced-Design 3100 that looks like it has been around a few years, but is in very good condition. The license plate may be California which would also fit the terrain.
Here is Tex Boswell of California with his ’56 Volkswagen Type 2 Transporter Single Cab truck. He was a part time handyman whose full time job was a navigator on a Boeing 707. He looks happy with his side hustle. In the background is a ’56 or ’57 Rambler sedan.
A well used ’59 or ’60 International B-120 4 wheel drive with a V8, a roof spotlight and a heavy duty bumper. It was a company or perhaps government vehicle (Forest Service?) at one time with the number ‘4’ on the cowl. They are out in a rocky area with two men standing in the bed, one of them is a cameraman of some sort.
Artway Dry Cleaners of Ann Arbor, Michigan showing off their newish ’54 Ford F-100 Deluxe Panel. The building is still there and is still a dry cleaner, at least as of 2019. In the background is a ’52 Chevrolet.
According to the information with this photo, this gentleman is stopped alongside the road in the plains of Saskatchewan on a windy day en route to Alaska from his home in Johnson County, Kansas. He is traveling in a close to new V8 powered ’57 Chevrolet Task-Force 3100 or 3200. I believe it is the former as it looks like a 6.5 foot bed with an 8 foot camper. His wife is likely his companion and the photographer.
A lady posing with a ’64-’66 Chevrolet with a camper shell and a ‘National Campers and Hikers Association’ tag in place of a front license plate. It looks like a fall setting at a dam overlook.
This appears to be part of an RV park in a tropical location. A couple is standing in front of a ’65-’67 Ford Econoline pickup with a cabover camper that could have been home crafted. Of all the information on the front all I can read is the ‘Marshall’ nameplate on the sun visor. On the very left edge is the right rear corner of a ’64 Ford full size. To the right a white ’61-’67 Econoline window van, dark blue ’64 Mercury Comet, white over blue ’61 Chevrolet Brookwood wagon, and a white ’63 Mercury full size.
Going camping in a nice looking park with a ’65 Chevrolet C30 Custom Cab & Chassis with an El Dorado frame mounted camper about a 10 or 12 footer. The rig looks new and the boys are ready to play some catch.
Doing laundry at a RV park in a tropical locale. The truck is a ’64 or ’65 Chevrolet C20 Fleetside with not much of a trailer hitch and an Ohio license plate. Perhaps it is the tow vehicle for the camp trailer in front of it, but I hope not. The green wagon looks like a mid-sixties GM full size.
Are we pulling or pushing? A rusty ’57 Chevrolet Task-Force 3100 with a six cylinder followed by a ’57-’64 Jeep Forward Control FC-150 with a bumper mounted winch. It looks like a cool fall or winter day.
Thanks for viewing!
Any of these images could be me .
I always liked light trucks, their utility and comfort .
My first was a rusted out 1959 Ford F100 short bed with the ?223? i6 and three on the tree .
Most of these folks look pretty happy .
I remember taking long drives into town in the bed of various old pickups jammed in tightly with a whole raft of other kids .
-Nate
I also owned a rusty ’59 Ford F100 short bed with the 223 and three on the tree. My father in law owned it before me and used it to carry an 8 foot slide in camper. I don’t know how that thing did it. It never gave me much trouble especially after I did a ring job on it. Once I locked my keys in it. One of my friends suggested I break the vent window. Instead, I got a broom handle and worked it up through a rust hole in the floorboard and tripped the inside door handle. I told him “sometimes rust can be your friend”. My father in law later owned a Jeep 150 FC. That thing was very interesting to drive. I had driven an Econoline pickup before so I knew the quirks of driving a cab forward pickup.
This is a particularly fascinating gallery, as these trucks are shown being used in mostly quite different ways than today.
I can really relate to the Studebaker in #1, as I always rode in the bed when Mr. Yoder drove anywhere. I came extremely close to falling out once when he took a turn way faster than normal, due to the brakes being “out”.
What grown men today would agree to ride in the open bed of a pickup to get to their remote camping spot?
Tex Boswell and his ’56 VW make quite the pair. That was very early for a VW Transporter in the US, but they did appeal exactly for the kind of work Tex was doing. I’m guessing commercial pilots aren’t likely to be handymen on their days off nowadays.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the FC Jeep pickup. I had a memorable ride in one once in the Rockies; the owner had lengthened the frame of the FC-150 and swapped in a Chevy 265 V8. It was a beast.
I wonder what it is like to drive, on the road, that Econoline with camper on the back and a six no less. Econoline.org says the 200 was a rare engine, in 65-67, making it a 170. Yikes, unless the owner splurged on a 240 in 66-67. Either way it must be fun in the wind.
In automotive terms, few vehicles like classic pickup trucks, evoke simpler, more down-to-earth, and carefree times. Have always had a strong attraction to all these early designs. Sometimes ugly, or badly beaten, they consistently convey authenticity, and reliability. And the appeal of rural/outdoors living.
“Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry…”
One of the best song lyrics for creating old truck imagery. And selling Chev pickups.
Excellent bunch of photos Rich, and great text Patrick.
I agree with what Nate said about everyone here mostly looking pretty happy. That’s definitely the feeling I get too looking at these.
Tex, next to his Transporter, looks like an extremely affable fellow. I’d put $ on the fact that he was a WWII veteran who spent at least some time in Europe after the war – which may be where he got the idea of buying and driving what was still something of an oddball truck here in the US at the time. He learned his navigator skills in the war, and went on to a long and successful career in commercial aviation. When I was a little kid, fascinated with commercial planes, guys like Tex (in commercial pilot uniforms) were what defined “pilot” to me.
I also love the home-made car top carrier box on the Plymouth in the lede photo.
I was having similar thoughts!
Great set of photos!
The Apache in Picture #3 may look new, but I think the truck was at least 6 years old when the picture was taken. Brown Oil became a Firestone distributor in 1964, and before that was known as Brown Oil & Supply Co. instead of Brown Oil & Tire.
I’m thinking the man in the photo was Chuck Brown, who was a second-generation owner of the business. His father, AO Brown, founded the company in the 1930s, eventually Chuck took over until he sold the business in 1994. They remained at the location in the photo until 1971, when they moved to another part of town.
Since 2008, I’ve collected several Matchbox Ford F-100 Deluxe panel trucks, in different colours, and business liveries. Impressively, Matchbox continues to improve their casting, and surface quality. With greater use of matte finish paints, that usually appear more authentic than high gloss paint, on vintage autos. While also applying more detailed flat-finish decals, that improve realism.
In macro photos, their die casts continue looking better finished. If they would use a greater variety of wheel styles, and styles more appropriate to each die cast, it would help add to the quality of their work. Subduing their plastic chrome, would help as well. Not bad, for 1:64 scale.
That’s a nice Matchbox, and it’s cool that they keep coming out with different colors and liveries. Are those a special series? I don’t think I’ve seen them in the standard hanger/blisterpack series.
Two were bought in individual packages. This nice coffee-coloured version, was sold within a multi-pack, featuring a farming theme. Note the matte grey finish on the trim, replacing the plastic chrome. Different wheel type as well. Well presented!
A newer release. Very appealing, with more authentic branding. Excellent handling of wheels here.
Love the Shell one.
Regarding subduing the plastichrome, I have achieved good results with a silver Sharpie, also you can add details as well that are often missed with these little diecasts.
Great advice. Thank you!
I knew FC-150’s were small, but that photo drives it home.
Makes me long for the days when manufacturers made pickups to be used as such. I’d take any one of these over today’s offerings.
What?? No gun racks?
In the 49 Chevy that was my daily driver for many years I didn’t need a gun rack. The butt of my rifle dropped nicely into the cab corner and because it was a 3 window cab nobody saw the barrel sticking up next to the seat!
For song lyrics, how about:”It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me!”
The VW pickup, which is likely worth absolutely stupid money these days, at least compared to what it was new, and the Forward Control Jeep in the last pic are the two that speak to me. Not sure I want either of them, at least without a riding mechanic, but they bring a smile to my face.
A so much simpler time. You could drive these old trucks cross country with nothing more than a small well stocked single tray tool box and an extra fan belt. Good times for sure.
AMEN! never see those days again!
’56 VW:
Not sure which came first with the open bed, the kei trucks or the VW.
Either could have been looking over the other’s shoulder.
The International is a 1960. The duel headlights are the key here. My first husband had one when we met and we had it for many years. That thing could go anywhere and climb small trees! They don’t make trucks like they used to! I test drove a cybertruck a while back, and as far as I’m concerned it’s not a truck. Can’t haul a cord of wood or pull a gooseneck horse trailer.
The guy in the second photo don’t take no sh!t from nobody…
The tropical setting, you refer to is Pine Island, Florida, on the West coast of Florida, north of Ft. Meyers,.