One-Family Owned: Grandpa’s 1949 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup Truck
Check out this “Grandpa’s Daily Driver” 1949 Chevy 3100 pickup from Kansas. Based on all the patina, dings, scrapes, scratches, and other personality traits, I’m guessing it spent most of its working life on Grandpa’s farm. The seller, who bought the truck from a grandson, has it for sale with No Reserve here on eBay in Great Bend, Kansas. The truck comes with a clean Kansas title and as of this writing, had generated 38 bids with a top bid of $6,300. Kudos to the Wizard, Larry D, for sending us another great Kansas truck to feature.
I wish we knew more about this history of this truck (starting with why both doors are painted green). According to the seller, this ’49 3100 half-ton Chevy short bed with the standard three window cab (five-window cabs were an option) was found stored in a barn in Kansas, on blocks, wheels removed, and the front clip taken off. He put everything together enough to be drivable, but it will still need a few bolts in the fenders and grill. The lower splash pan and fender supports to the firewall also need to put back on and are included with the truck.
Grandpa’s unpampered daily driver had been passed down to a grandson about 20 years ago who had plans of restoring it. The “restoration” was started, but stalled after the grandson got married, had kids, and moved to the east coast. The seller states he was able to “gather up the pieces and haul it home.”
Based on the photos and the description of it being “99% rust free,” this appears to be a solid old pickup. The seller shares that beyond surface rust, the only two rust spots he could find are on the driver cab corner and a small spot on the passenger floor. When the grandson started the restoration, he slapped a lot of bondo on every ding. The seller claims there is no rust hidden by the body filler and includes a photo of the clean underside of a fender.
According to the seller, a new starter and water pump were in the cab when he bought it and they’ve both been installed. The fuel tank was flushed out, the radiator was filled with antifreeze, a tune up was performed, and the only engine available in 1949, the 216-cubic-inch Thrift-Master inline-six, “started up and sounds really good. Smooth idle and quick rev, just like it should.” The seller also shares that it “runs and drives great but will need at least a master cylinder as there are currently no brakes.” The truck’s odometer shows about 98,000 miles, but it’s not known if that’s the actual mileage.
Inside the cabin, the interior looks original and is rough as a cob, but we’ve seen worse on 72-year old cars and trucks. The floorboards look solid and the seller states all the gauges work. We’re not sure if the radio was removed during the grandson’s restoration or not, but like the rest of this truck, the cabin appears to have solid bones.
Original, surviving, no-nonsense workhorses like this ’49 Chevy 3100 have a cool charm of their own. Every scratch and ding probably has a story behind it. I’m curious to see what the next lucky owner does with it. Make it safe and roadworthy but keep the rough edges? Perform a stock restoration? Convert it to a street rod? What would you do with Grandpa’s pickup truck?
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Comments
That’s what I learned to drive on…a ’49 and I was about 11….back it down in the garden and fill the bed with taters and pull it out. Dad put a ’55 v8 in it a 265….fun times….
Same here, but ours was a ’53.
I learned to shift on our ‘51!
Nice old truck but the doors are off of at least a 51 as it has vent windows (49’s did not have vent windows) also the cab is missing the drivers side vent that would have been on a 49. So either someone cut out and replaced the vent with a patch or the cab is also at least a 51.
Yes indeed Jim, the doors are ’51s. They are the only year with a vent window and door handles that turn down to open. ’52 on they went to push button door handles. The doors being a different color could mean they were swapped out, but as you pointed out the cowl has louvered vents on both sides, not an opening vent that you would expect on a ’49. Hmmm?
It’s not a ’49. It’s a ’52, easily determined from the serial number. The doors are from a ’51.
Like some other comments,I learned to drive on this era truck, when I was 10 to 12 years old. On the farm during harvest a drivers licence was not required.
You just needed to know how to drive and the better you got the more driving you got to do. I loved it!
How refreshing, no wailing or gnashing of teeth over the authors use of the word “patina”. A late model chassis and drivetrain would fix everything.
It’s nice to see these trucks in original condition. I have no idea about the different doors except to say that the original ones probably weren’t worth putting back on. If this was to come my way, I would do a driver-quality restoration and enjoy it. A great way to haul the beer to the picnic…
Dang…. Wish a 49 business coupe would show-up in this condition…this could be a sweet rod…no body work…no clear coat…hyper-functional
Is that a 3 speed or a 4 speed?
I’m pretty sure it’s a 4-speed. I don’t think that GM offered a floor-shift 3-speed after early ’47…