If you've been planning on building an old Chevy pickup, you should
probably save yourself the usual aggravation and just buy this one
instead. Featuring a 1951 5-window cab, an awesome color
combination, a fuel injected V8, and some choice luxury options,
it's exactly the way you'd do it for about half the price of
building your own. What's holding you back?
The Advance Design pickups are probably even more popular today
than when they were new, and with the market's new-found interest
in vintage haulers the last decade, they're getting harder to find
by the day. The best ones preserve all that's great about the
original design and simply tweak a few design cues and update the
hardware underneath, and they totally nailed it with this one. The
matte black paint keeps it looking simple, as if it could still
head out into the back 40 and get the job done, and I think that's
a big part of the appeal. Finish quality is decent overall, with a
clean bodywork and paint that is about right for a commercial
vehicle. It's all steel, no fiberglass reproduction parts here, and
the fit of the various pieces and parts is quite good, but if you
want to show it at some point, you might opt to finishing off the
edges and jams a bit to match. Or leave it as-is, it definitely
still has a killer street presence the way it looks now. Keeping
the horizontal chrome grille was a great call, giving this truck an
old-fashioned look that's even more appealing with the subtle
modifications like the deleted bumpers and roll pan out back. The
warm, red wooden bed is surrounded by walls with black spray-on
bedliner material and those classic taillights are now filled with
blue-dots for a classic hotrod look.
Bright red and tan are always a great choice inside a black
vehicle, and the handsomely appointed interior of this pickup is
light years ahead of where it was originally. That might be the
factory bench seat, but it's wearing a newer two-tone seat cover
that uses pleats for a proper period look and a custom center
console that houses a Lokar shifter, a couple cup holders and
speakers waiting to be powered by a new stereo. Custom door panels
match the seat and help soften the interior a bit from the original
steel pieces, and the carpets are plush although they could use a
little detail. Custom gauges from Dolphin fit into the original
holes in the bright red dash, so no cutting was required to get
that trick look and a banjo-style steering wheel with a thick
wood-rim is a comfortable amenity for the driver. A modern A/C
system was discreetly tucked under the dash and painted red to
match, although it needs a service to blow cold again. It's not
overly finished or fully refined, but it's very comfortable and
features an upgraded look and feel to this 5-window, making this
the kind of truck you're going to have a hard time resisting on the
next sunny day.
A later-model 350 Vortec V8 slots right into the old truck's engine
bay, giving it a far more useful powerband for today's traffic than
the original six. Topped by a Vortec Spider electronic fuel
injection system and augmented with a serpentine belt system, a
fresh alternator, a thick aluminum radiator to keep it all cool,
plus a few chrome and polished pieces, it looks slick and runs and
drives superbly. Upgrades like power steering and power front disc
brakes, not to mention newer control arms up front and lowering
blocks in the rear, make this Chevy feel far more modern and
capable. A modern 4L80E 4-speed automatic spins a heavy-duty
10-bolt rear end, which is an easy fit in the back of this vintage
pickup. Mid-length headers feed a custom dual exhaust system with
throaty Flowmaster mufflers was recently installed and the entire
undercarriage is very tidy. Obviously, the stance was modified a
bit, and it really hunkers down over those bright Rev wheels
wrapped in staggered 215/45/17 front and 245/45/17 rear performance
radials to complete the resto-mod look.
A slick truck with the right features, why would you build when you
can buy today and start having fun immediately? Call now!
ClassicCars.com has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States, successfully making the Inc. 5000 list in both 2015,
2016, 2017 and 2018. This prestigious accolade represents the continued growth of the company, and ClassicCars.com's dominance as the world's largest online marketplace for
buying and selling classic and collector vehicles.
The Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards recognized
ClassicCars.com's first-class Customer Support team with a Stevie Bronze Award in 2019, celebrating the team's skills as exemplary customer support specialists.
In 2016 The Journal, brought to you by ClassicCars.com, was celebrated as the SECOND MOST INFLUENTIAL automotive blog in the world by NFC Performance.