Vehicle Description
This 1953 Chevrolet 3100 5-Window pickup truck is looking for a
job. Willing to put in long hours, carry heavy loads, and look good
doing it, it can still be used as a truck. On the other hand, this
is also a nicely restored truck and these are great-driving
vehicles with a comfortable ride and dependable power in addition
to those timeless good looks. Capture the best of both worlds with
a hobby vehicle that you can use as Chevrolet intended without
worry, and still drive it to the local cruise night where it'll
surely draw a crowd.
White Diamond with black running boards is the right way to restore
one of these trucks, and this one is fully dressed with all the
right period accessories and parts. That's all perfectly OK since
Chevy would build your truck any way you wanted and the dealer's
parts department could do the rest. With the highly desirable
5-window cab, white oak lumber in the bed, and a side-mounted spare
tire, this one looks like it just got home from the dealer, ready
to get to work. The Advance Design pickups are a favorite among
truck enthusiasts, and they were one of the first trucks to take
into account that just maybe all those farmers and carpenters
wanted something that was stylish and comfortable as well as
durable and versatile. Up front there's a painted grille that's in
great shape, and all the body panels appear to be OEM. The bed's
finished with smooth white oak planks so it goes with the look of
the rest of the truck, which still shows off its blue-collar roots
with pride. It's nicely dressed but it doesn't mind being a truck
because it's not a perfect garage queen!
The interior covers the basics, and that's part of the truck's
charm. The bench seat will accommodate three, and has been
reupholstered in root beer brown vinyl for a bit of an upscale
feel. All the original instruments are in place, and the painted
steel dashboard is a handsome design that's functional, too. Like
the exterior, the interior is fairly spartan and correct, with nary
an option other than the seatbelts. It's a radio-delete truck as
well, but who's going to complain about that when they hear that
straight 6 singing up front. Three-on-the-tree shifting is easy
thanks to the large diameter steering wheel that puts the shifter
at your fingertips, and there's a modern turn signal unit mounted
on the column for safety. It's not exactly luxurious, but it's
comfortable and a great place to experience the charm of the
'50s.
1953 called for Chevy's 216 Inline-6 "Thrift Master" in these
trucks, but this 5-window has been given a little extra power with
a swapped in 235 Inline-6 that was installed in 2011. Borrowed from
a '62 Nova, it was fully rebuilt to handle modern fuel and makes a
very usable amount of added horsepower and torque. The engine bay
is tidy and the engine itself has been dressed up properly in
corporate gray enamel and a single-barrel carburetor. A shiny
chrome valve cover and chrome air cleaner brighten up the somber
engine bay, but then again, this was for work not play. Underneath,
there's a 3-speed manual transmission spinning the original rear
end, and you'll be surprised by how much fun that manual
transmission adds to the big six. It's quite clean with satin black
paint and a custom dual exhaust with Glasspack-style mufflers that
sounds pretty darned good. Factory steel wheels were painted black
and fitted with trim rings and center caps and are wrapped in
235/75/15 blackwall radials.
Fun hobby vehicles don't get much more practical than this, and
when they're also handy around the house, well the argument is easy
to make. Call today and give this truck a job!