Text by Patrick Bell.
Recreation has always been a big part of life and today’s gallery has many trucks in use for such activities. There are some other activities as well, and a few that were at rest. All in all, it is a good view of truck activities in the past, so enjoy your viewing.
To begin we have what appears to be an older couple watching the younger folks riding horses. The truck was a ’63 or ’64 International C-series with a Bonus-Load bed and stake type side panels. It also had west coast mirrors, heavy duty rear step bumper, and a license plate that was too dirty to read. They were out in the country, perhaps in a valley, but not too far away from civilization as there was a power line overhead. The truck reminds me of the last International I drove in the late eighties. It was about 25 years old at the time, but still ran and drove very well.
A lady was posing with a newish looking ’55 first series Chevrolet Advanced Design Pickup with a California Commercial license plate. It appears to be a 3100 model, with a De Luxe Cab, Rear Corner Windows, Two-Tone paint, and a side mounted spare. They were parked on a highway pull off or perhaps an intersection with a side road.
This fine young man was taking a break from his digging. He has done a good job so far with quite a pit dug out. His pants were in the same color family as the ’48-’50 Ford F-1 behind him which was equipped with a spotlight and had a crumpled door. They both look like they were hard workers, although his pants were rather clean.
Here was a custom painted ’55 or ’56 Dodge Job-Rated Model B with a Custom Regal Cab, Power Dome 259 cubic inch V8, camper shell, side mounted spare, rear step bumper, non original wheel covers, and a ’63 issue Utah license plate. The youngsters were sitting on a mini bike that looked more like a tool than a toy.
A full load of mostly females was on this ’51-’53 Dodge Job-Rated D Model stake bed with one of the rear wheels missing. Any sudden move would have upset that load, but I would imagine the only way that rig could have made a sudden move would be to run into something solid. It looked like a nice summer day for a ride.
Elmer and Lassie were ready to go hunting, but the unexpected snowfall slowed them down. Their hunting rig was a close to new ’61 Dodge, the first year of the new body style. It likely was a D-200 model, had a same year Michigan license plate, and a cabover camper of unknown brand. That first year, and one year only grille was certainly distinctive, but that is all I can say about it. It was much improved the following year.
A caravan of campers was assembled on a field for a time of conversation. I count ten rigs, with ’64-’66 model Chevrolet’s accounting for seven, along with three ’65 or ’66 Fords. The first one was a ’65 C20, while numbers 5, 7 and 9 were all Fords, tan, red, and white respectively. Many of the campers looked like different models of the same brand.
A search result suggested this was in Alaska, but I could not confirm it. It does have an Alaska or western Canada vibe. The truck was a ’65 Chevrolet C-10 Fleetside long bed with a camper shell outfitted for sleeping and a surplus military trailer for gear. It was dirty from dirt road travel, but looked like it wasn’t all that old otherwise. The man was armed with his camera to get some of those scenery photos for the folks back home.
Now we are at the Marten River Provincial Park in Ontario. It appears like two couples were traveling in a ’67 or ’68 Dodge D-200 Crew Cab Camper Special with a Coachman cabover camper and an extended step bumper. It had a Michigan license plate from either ’69 or ’71, and the two letters indicate it was from Wayne County, the home of Detroit. They were about 450 miles from home, so a good day’s drive in a rig like that. I don’t imagine it passed too many gas stations.
Six passengers and their equipment was the load in this ’66-’68 Jeep Wagoneer from Minnesota. They were obviously on a ski trip, either on their way or heading home. The license plate was a ’68 issue with renewal stickers for both ’69 and ’70. The Jeep was winter equipped with snow tires all around, and had an orange Union 76 ball on the end of the antenna. A Minnesota fun fact; the “M” in the license number indicates the plates were ordered by mail.
A pair of Ford F-250s were in the woods likely of Michigan, as both of them had license plates from there used from ’73-’75. The left hand unit was a ’67 model with the Ranger trim option and what appears to be a home crafted camper shell. It may have been a tow rig, as it had the extended West Coast mirrors and a front mounted hitch. On the right a ’72 model in the basic Custom trim with a cabover camper, extended West Coast mirrors and bumper guards. Both of them had a front mounted spare.
Thanks for joining us and to all good day!
Rich, Thanks again: your entries bring back many wonderful memories.
That minibike is a “Bonham Tote Gote”. It was used mainly by hunters carrying prey. Those bikes were produced until 1970s. Indeed offroad minibikes were an american invention, another manufacturer was Rokon Ranger.
Thanks for the unusual ID. I thought it might be a city delivery scooter, but didn’t imagine the real purpose.
The lead photo looks like it could be ‘box art’ from 1950-early 1960s vintage Revell or Monogram scale model truck kts.
Third photo: Young man with a shovel
The truck has a label on the bed of GW7000. This would indicate it’s a commercial or government vehicle. I do remember Bell phone trucks of the same color, but those has a special service body on the rear.
Another set of terrific photos here!
Just a quick license plate comment: The Michigan license plate on Picture #9 (Dodge Crew Cab w/ cabover camper) isn’t necessarily from Wayne Co. I believe that’s a Commercial license plate, which didn’t have county coding. Michigan required some vans and trucks to get Commercial plates even if they weren’t used for commercial purposes. Those plates had a different sequencing to them (1234-AB format instead of the AB-1234 format for passenger vehicles), and I think they were issued completely alphabetically, rather than being coded to specific counties. Aside from the sequencing pattern, another way to spot Michigan commercial plates from that era is that the bottom of the plate was blank – passenger plates said “Great Lake State” at the bottom. I believe the blank space was reserved for stickers for some weight classes.
OK… that ended up being far more detailed than I had intended. I love that crew cab truck, by the way!
Thanks for your comment, Eric. I did a little presuming where I shouldn’t have, but it seemed to make sense.
I just enjoy the minutiae of things like license plates – glad to jump in an add some arcane detail when possible.
Fun pictures. 50-70 years later, the Fifties Dodges and Ford have pretty much disappeared from the roads, but the Advance Design just keeps ticking; there are two near-daily drivers I see regularly on the road near my home. And the Sixties Fords and Chevys are not uncommon sights, many of them still working. IH not as common, but they do seem to have staying power. It’s fun to see all these 2WD campers compared to what’s out there now.
Nice selection of trucks. Trying out the new format for the first time.
Thanks for the nice variety of trucks. I don’t think I have ever seen a two tone Job Rated before, I’ve seen two tone 1950’s Internationals, never Dodges.