1953 Chevy 3800

Owned by Randy Fuller "Randy F" Bolter # 24473 Gladewater, Texas Talking about this truck in the DITY Gallery

More pictures of my old truck

From Randy :

Back in the late 60s, I owned a 1949 Chevy window panel. It was my coon hunting vehicle. I would have driven it for many years had I not run over a mail box that was made from 6" drill pipe (while trying to change the four track tape located in the glove box).

Fast forward to this year. I have not owned a truck in several years and each time I need to go to Lowe's, I must hook my trailer to my Jeep or borrow one from my buddy. This got me thinking -- why not get an old truck to use when I need to go to Lowe's and quell my desires for my old panel.

I started looking on eBay and found a few that I liked. The one I really liked was a 1953 Chevy 3800 located in Havanah, Arkansas, owned by Charles W. Combs.

I call Charles and he gives me the low down on the truck. It was purchased new by Kenneth L. Tillotson from Green Chevrolet in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Charles bought the truck at auction in 1993 from Mr. Tillotson. He says the old truck has approximately 39,800 miles on it and is pretty much all original.

I tell him that I will take the truck. He says come and look at the truck and if it is not as described, I am not obligated.

I live in Gladewater, Texas about 290 miles from Charles. On a 50 degree, foggy morning I take off on my Harley and ride for five hours (four of those hours were in cold wet fog). I get to Charles' home and fall in love with my truck.

I tell Charles I will take the truck and that I will load my bike on the back and drive it home. He says that the truck will make it back to Texas but he would feel better if I let him haul it to my home. He is insistent that he is going to haul the truck.

So we load it on his 30 foot fifth wheel trailer. The trailer has two flats. He backs up to put air in the tires and the trailer comes loose from the ball and crashes his tailgate. It is now 3:30 pm and I need to get back on my bike for my return five hour ride.

Charles says he will bring the truck to me later in the week and I tell him I would feel better if he let me come back next week and haul the truck back. At this point Charles' wife Treva tells me that I might as well not argue with him because he had made up his mind that he was going to deliver the truck.

I tell him thanks and will see him later next week. I get on my bike and head back to Texas.

I get home around 10:00 pm exhausted and am about to get in bed. My phone rings and it is Charles and Treva who are about an hour from my home with my truck. He says they are going to get a motel and will be at my home at 8:00 am in the morning.

The next morning they pull up and we unload my truck. I ask them to come in and have some coffee and visit. They say they would like to but they needed to get back so they could make the evening service at Church. So after unloading, they are back on their way to Arkansas.

Since I got my truck, Charles and I have talked many times. He always tells me if I am not satisfied with the truck, he will give me my money back.

Moral to this story is that I not only got My truck, but I also made a friend.

Gosh, what a great story. What a great-looking truck! Thanks for the details. Very motivating and encouraging about people. Enjoyed it a lot. ~ Editor

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