Barn Find: 1958 Chevrolet Apache Stepside
As far as desirable, reasonable, and doable project pickups go, this 1958 Chevrolet Apache stepside is hard to beat. It looks solid and I would hope that even those who are on the Ford end of the Ford vs. Chevy debate can see what a great looking project this is. It can be found here on eBay in Rockville, Maryland with two dozen bids, a current price of $6,300, and there is no reserve.
I love the look of this truck as it is, but I can also picture it nut-and-bolt restored and painted back to its original Polar Green. Patina is hot right now and if that turns you on as much as it does a few million other people, this truck probably looks good to you right now. I love the look of it right now and I would just get everything working great again and drive it as it looks now. 1958 is when Chevrolet changed from two headlights to four headlights.
That’s kind of a sad view, anytime you see a flat tire it’s just depressing. But, you can see how good this truck looks, other than the stepside box tailgate and inside the bed itself. It needs a new wood floor but those kits are available from our friends at Eckler’s or several other suppliers. You can see that even underneath, there is heavy surface rust but it doesn’t appear to be structural rust.
Your eye instantly catches the trashed bench seat. Like that time when you saw your friend at the beach with a Speedo on, it’s impossible to unsee that hashed and trashed seat. Luckily, that scary seat can be fixed, of course. The rest of the interior looks faded but in decent condition. The seller says that this truck was last driven 15 years ago and then parked in a barn. In case you were wondering, yes, it has a rifle rack.
The engine should be Chevy’s Thiftmaster 235 cubic-inch inline-six which had 145 gross hp and 215 ft-lb of torque. There is no word on if it runs or not but if not, I’m sure that most Barn Finds readers would have it going again in no time. Are there any fans of Chevy’s Task Force pickups out there?
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Comments
This looks like a good promising project. Something that is fairly complete and straight. I wouldn’t hesitate to tackle a job like this one if I was in the market. It would be restored right down to the pointy hubcaps, and I’d have some fun with it…
I wouldn’t give the seller $500 bucks,,,,but, I know, it’s 2020 and at 35 bids and over $6g’s, there’s clearly a market for it. Again, if someone is spending this kind of change on a truck that needs everything, they have one motive, resto-mod.
I owned a similar ’58 step side from 1990-2015, was running and driving but needed help, tried to get five large for it, settled for $4500, so this price is in the ballpark.
I met R.Lee Ermey, the Hollywood drill sergeant, at SEMA in 2017 he had told me the previous year that he was waiting on delivery on a 58 apache, saw him the following year and I asked how it was coming. He said that it was so nice in its as is condition he didn’t do anything to it, just drove it. Such a kind, soft spoken guy who loved his cars, 11 in his collection, and he loved being at SEMA among all the gearheads! Sadly he passed shortly after I met him. Great experience, and when we parted he called me by my Name.. His SEMA badge had his name “gunny”.
RIP Gunny…
Sorry this is OT but thought you guys would enjoy. Stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
A true DI never forgets the names of his people. RIP Gunny.
Oooohrah! Semper Fi, carry on.
Possibilities abound with this one. To bad it’s so far up north or I might try getting my hands dirty on this beast.
Hope someone does something great with it, no matter which way they choose to go.
God bless America
Now this is one that will buff out! Buff it, repaint all the white, throw a Pendleton Indian blanket over the seat and enjoy.
I worked for a farmer in high school who had a pickup just like this on complete with the 6 cylinder and 3 on the tree we used to pull hay wagons filled with bales get two full wagons behind it and it was working that little 6 and the clutch pretty hard. It was a very good reliable old pickup!
This truck brings back memories of my high school days of working at my uncle’s auto body shop.
One day my uncle told me to take a 1958 Chevrolet truck like this one to the sandblasters across town. He tossed me the keys and I got in, looked down and saw a clutch, got back out and walked back into the shop. Looking at me oddly, I explained that I really did not drive a stick shift on the column, having only driven a VW beetle stick shift a couple of times. He said, “you do now” and said “go”.
Of course the first right turn leaving the shop was a long, steep upgrade. Lovely.
I managed to get up that hill and across town and back with that truck and myself surviving, although I’m sure the clutch lost about 1,000 miles of wear in the process.
After that experience, stick shifts were easy to drive.
It’s a worthwhile education. Today a manual is considered a car theft deterrent. I wonder what they would call a Model T?
One of the best looking ’50s trucks. It’s ugly now but the good bones are worth a restoration.