Built By The Greatest: 1949 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup
Post World War II pickup trucks are prominently featured here on Barn Finds. A good number of the trucks we’ve written about that still remain in original condition are located in the Upper Midwest, so it’s somewhat surprising to find this truck hiding just east of the Hudson River in Rhinebeck, New York. It’s currently available here on Craigslist where $3,000 is the minimum acceptable offer with a bid deadline of June 23rd.
This Chevy is one hundred percent original both inside and out, according to the seller, although at some point, someone decided it would be a good idea to fasten a Mack bulldog ornament to the hood. As a purist, I could do without that. You can tell by the way the tires have sunken into the ground the truck has been sitting for a while. And since there is a cover lying behind the truck, it appears someone has attempted to protect at least its top half from further deterioration. The truck looks fairly solid, although no mention is made of the condition of the frame. I hate to jump to conclusions but maybe there’s a reason no underneath pictures are provided in the ad? After all, this is a Northeast U.S. truck with vintage NY tags to show it’s been in that part of the country for a long time, maybe since it was new.
It appears tightly framed, dark photos are all the rage on Craigslist these days! Is it some type of avant-garde approach to photography? Carelessness? Poor iPhone skills? Or again, a deliberate means of avoiding showing the true condition of the truck’s interior? I guess I’ll never know but you can be sure if I was in the market for a Chevy Advance truck, I’d be hightailing it down to Rhinebeck for an in-person look and no, that mud wouldn’t prevent me from crawling underneath this thing for a good peek at the frame.
The ol’ Chevy inline 6 is in non-running condition with no information provided as to when it last breathed life or whether it still turns freely. For some reason, I’m optimistic it can be brought back without a whole lot of trouble. That’s likely supreme ignorance on my part since I actually lack the mechanical aptitude to make it happen! So what do you think of this survivor? Sure, the term survivor is overused but I deserve at least a little credit for refraining from using the p-word to describe its paint! I also tried to do the truck fair justice by not suggesting it be converted to a rat rod. Darn it! Now I just did so! These are trucks that were built by a generation of men and women who took exceptional pride in their work. This Chevy symbolizes toughness, hard work and it came from a time when things were made to last. To each his own but I would hate to see it represented as anything other than the utilitarian truck it was intended to be back in 1949. To me, it was built during a special time in our history by truly extraordinary people.
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Comments
Although I was never a big fan of Advanced Design trucks there were many who were. And I appreciate them just the same. Sure were a lot of them out west in the Chinook Belt but the vast majority of them got well used. The ol’ Stovie babbit-pounder will carry on for a long time to come. I’ve seen lots of them taken from someone’s scrap heap and rebuilt to fully functional. Don’t expect a lot of oil pressure though; you’ll only get 10-12psi hot, and at road speed. If this one was to head over to my place, I would give it the full restoration, then it would be driven and used. Don’t keep it the garage…
It seems everyone is taking these and putting them on S10 frames. It must not be too hard or expensive, because there are certainly allot of them out there. I think this one would be perfect candidate for that, of course you would have too keep a SBC in it.
Please no!!!!!!! This is such a cool truck to restore, and it actually is my dream truck. Restore to its original glory, and cruise the street.
Same! Too original for the resto-mod.
This is what I learned to drive on. My dad had a ’49, he pulled the six banger and installed a 1955 265 v8…..I’d back it down in the garden and we’d fill the bed with taters we dug….with the gearing so low the lil 265 was screaming at 70 or so…..wish I had that ole truck…..
This might show up at the Rhinebeck dust off this weekend. I don’t go for the auction he is running, probably knows nothing about cars and is out for the maximum $$. Guess if you want it put the scratch in front of him and hope for the best. sure looks solid from the top. Good luck to the new owner. see you inn Rhinbeck this weekend!
Cheers
GPC
BTW if you are far away and are interested, let me know- can look at and send u some pics. 845-635-3662, Charlie. Celln 845-554-6095.
I won’t be taking you up on that, but it’s a nice gesture.Enjoy the show
By all means get it running, sort the brakes, the electrics, and put ‘er back to
work! I grew up with trucks like this and
I sure could make use of it now. Can’t
put 2X4’s or 2X6’s in my SIL’s ’08 Nissan
Sentra, you need an honest to goodness
work truck for that and one of these old
Chevys would foll the bill just fine. Sorry
Geomechs, but I’d have to have a 235 with full-pressure lubrication instead of
the original 216 babbit pounder. I really
don’t think the 216 could keep up with
today’s traffic. The swap would be done
to keep the truck out on the road working
where it needs to be.
Putting a 235 or bigger (I’ve got an acquaintance running a 302) is not a problem with me. I have to admit that I tend to prefer precision bearings as well, and they do NOT come on a 216 unless you get everything machined for them. The old Blue Flame engines are righteous in their own right and a lot of people are running them. I’ve worked on both and they both have their problems. Bottom line: I do like Chevy sixes…
So Muhammed Ali built this one? Cool.
Hmmm….Wish I knew what the “Buy it now” price was.
It’s so interesting how I won’t see a certain type of vehicle for a while and then suddenly I see 2 or 3. I was just looking at this one:
https://louisville.craigslist.org/cto/d/radcliff-1950-chevrolet-pickup-truck/6873054889.html
Still for sale ????