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A Cool Old Truck

Tony Littman's

1961 Chevy 1-Ton Panel

18 November 04

From Tony:

Hi everybody! Here are some pix of my Bluetruck. It's a 1961 Chevy, 1-ton panel. Let me tell you a little bit about it.

I purchased this truck in 1976 from a shop in the Hayward, CA. area where I was working at the time. I'm in the floor covering business. This type of truck was quite popular in the floor covering trade before the advent of the '69 Ford Econoline and then the '70 (or '71) Chevy and Dodge vans which all could be obtained in the 3/4 or 1-ton versions. One outfit I worked for had four of these big panels all of which had the passenger seat removed (or never had one installed) so one could easily load the rolled carpet or linoeum and still close the back doors.

In regard to this particular truck, I was able to buy it when the boss realized that the right thing for him to do was go new and go with one of the modern vans. Well, I loved panel trucks in general and this style was right up my alley, being in the trade, so I didn't hesitate to buy it. Being an old truck then, it was pretty worn out already. One of the first things I did was take it to a front end shop and had all of the front end work done. Boy, did it feel good after that.

A couple of years later, I was driving in to Placerville and blew a timing chain. I got that fixed quick, but did bend a couple of pushrods (apparently) and felt that the motor was tired. So I went ahead and put in one of those 350 Targetmasters (remember those, anyone?).

Now, fast forward to today and wouldn't you know it, I still have the truck. I joke that it will probably live longer than me. I've always kept it going but that's about it. It's very tired but still fires up when I need it to -- like when my day-to-day truck (1998 3/4-ton GMC extended cab longbed w/utility shell) needs to have some work done. In fact, after I send this along I'll be taking the Bluetruck down to the Avery dump, offloading some demo'd flooring I pulled out during this past week.

Well, here's the rest of the story. I need to send the old girl along. It saddens me to say that, but at this time in my life, I need to eliminate some of my collection because I just can't seem to get to all of the things I need (or want) to do. Plus, saving on insurance and registration money will be helpful. And, I want to concentrate on fixing up my '42 Chevy (Miltary G-506) 1.5-ton panel (had that for years too). So if anyone wants to talk to me about it, whether just for info or are interested in having it, give me a call. The pictures I've sent along were taken just last week (Halloween 04).

By the way, I love this website. Looking at all of your trucks is really cool. Some great restorations, and just some great old trucks. I love 'em.

Take care all,
Tony

Tony Littman
Arnold, California