1951 Chevy 3/4-Ton

"Old Blue" Owned by Gordon Leidner "gleidner" Bolter # 5548 Davidsonville, Maryland Near Annapolis

From Gordon :

        I recently acquired a 1951 3/4-ton Chevrolet pickup truck. This picture to the left is how it looked "at first light" after being stored in a barn for 20 years.

        This truck was originally my Grandfather’s, which he bought new. Grandpa was a grain and dairy farmer in southern Illinois, and so the truck was used for farm purposes.

        After my Grandfather died in 1961, my Uncle took over the family farm and inherited the truck with it. So the truck was in continual use as a farm truck up until the late 1980’s, when it was put in a shed on my Uncle’s farm [ pix ] . That is where it sat for over 20 years -- home to mice, wasps, and an occasional raccoon.

        Fortunately for me, when my cousin gave me the truck in August of 2008, it was still in relatively good shape. Not much rust, and although the paint on the front side of the truck had oxidized pretty badly (the front end stuck out of the front of the shed a little, as you can see in that picture), the rest of it was in relatively good shape.

        My intention is to rebuild the truck (known affectionately as "Old Blue") and try to make it look like it did when Grandpa bought it back in 1951. I’ve hired a friend who has restored a lot of old cars. He is going to get it “stopping and running” for me. Once that is done, I will begin working on cleaning it up and making it presentable to the public.

        This will probably take a couple of years, since I’m not retired yet and between other responsibilities (such as Church) and hobbies (such as Astronomy). I won’t be able to work on it as much as I’d like to. Plus, this is my first project!

        I’ll provide updates as things unfold.

It's a lot of work maintaining a website, and you guys do a real nice job with yours!

Gordon Leidner
Great American History

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