All About Old Chevy Trucks
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Old Chevy trucks are easy to find all over North America and in fact all over the world. For instance, our own 1954 1/2 ton pickup came from Brazil… It is also easy to find anything you need for these trucks in the classic truck parts market.
The first model of Chevrolet truck was made in 1918, about two years after the company became part of General Motors.
At first they were mere automobiles with a bed in the back and didn’t carry much weight. Naturally they were extremely useful specially in the rural areas of the country, but they couldn’t be considered real “trucks”. By 1931 Chevrolet began to offer their pickups in two different wheelbases, with single or dual rear wheels. In the 1930’s Chevrolet built some beautiful trucks of which there are many wonderful restorations to be found.
Right after World War II, General Motors produced a series of pickup trucks for sale they called “Advanced Design Cab” trucks which had many improvements over previous models.
The “Advanced Design” series included the GMC pickup trucks which were virtually identical to their Chevy siblings, with only minor changes to the front grill and the dashboard. This series came out in 1947 and lasted for almost eight years. The last model of the series was produced in 1955. In that same year GM came out with a completely redesigned truck which is considered to be one of the most beautiful of the classic Chevrolets.
The Advanced Design may be the most popular series of old Chevrolet pickup trucks to be found today. The models didn’t change much from Chevrolet to GMC and from 1947 to 1955. Today most of the classic Chevy and GMC trucks in America are of the “Advanced Design” variety and it’s not hard to find an old Chevy for sale. Beautiful restorations of these old Chevy trucks are found everywhere.
Among the many places where you can find parts for old Chevy trucks one of the biggest and most respected is Jim Carter Classic Truck Parts, located in Independence, MO, just outside Kansas City. They have catalogs for Chevy and GMC pickups made between 1934 and 1972 and they also have a huge junkyard full of old Chevy trucks.
