1949 Chevrolet 3100 5 Window

Description

Post WWII, Chevy claimed the title of best-selling truck in America with their Advance-Design series every year from 1947 through 1955. They looked good and they were made well. These days, they look better than ever and they are still influencing the shape of retro design vehicles to this very day. Check out this nicely upgraded example of a popular classic pickup.

The ads in 1949 had pictures of Chevy trucks loaded down with materials, working hard, and the headline "Get a better day's work out of your Truck Dollar". We doubt, however, that anyone will load this one up with firewood again and take the chance of scraping up that bright Red paint. The look starts with that chrome bumper and 5-bar grill up front. There are louvers cut into the top of the hood, and a split windshield leads the way on the cab. From there you get the door windows, corner windows, and back window, hence, the reason for calling it a 5-window pickup. There is a bowtie step tread on the running board and at the back, you will find the louvred look on the tailgate echoing the look on the hood underlined by a simple chrome bumper. Drop that tailgate and you will find a nicely dressed out wooden bed with polished rails and a gas door.

Open the door and you will find a Red door panel that is nicely quilted in the center with smooth upper and lower panels. The seats reflect the same treatment with quilted Red seating surfaces and smooth bolsters. A four-spoke steering wheel is leather wrapped in black and mounted on a tilt column. Behind it a machine turned panel runs from side to side. It has white faced VDO gauges mounted into it with the speedometer in the center flanked on each side by engine gauges. Running along the bottom of the dash is a polished panel with the A/C vents mounted in it. The Vintage Air controls are mounted in the center just over the Sony FM/CD player for your listening pleasure. The shifter for the 3-speed automatic rises from the floor and the passenger side gets a polished glove box cover. A full headliner and tan carpets complete the look nicely.

Pop the hood and you will find a 350 cubic inch motor nestled down in a neat and clean engine bay. The inner fender wells appear as polished aluminum panels adding a nice overall shine to the bay. A polished aluminum air topper holds down a tall filter feeding air to a Carter AFB 4-barrel carb that then runs through factory GM intake and exhaust manifolds to dual Flowmaster mufflers. Polished aluminum valve covers mirror off the polished firewall as well as the inner fenders creating a clean and reflective look. Even the brake booster is polished up nicely. Power flows back through a 3-speed automatic transmission to a 10-bolt rear end mounted on leaf springs. The front end has a control arms with coil springs and the rubber meets the road through 235/70R15 old school steelies with hubcaps and white wall tires.

This is a good-looking truck with some trick louvred work on the hood and tailgate. Come on down and check it out.