Willy McCoy's 1947 Chevrolet 2-Ton Wrecker

06 March 2006
# 1455

From Willy:

         I'd like to submit this picture of my recent "inheritance." My Dad, W.C. McCoy, Sr., had his own shop just south of Jacksonville, NC until he passed away in 1982. The shop and equipment went to my step-brother who had helped him build it up while I was busy doing a career in the Navy. Dad was always big on the Advance Design Chevys. There were always a couple dozen in his junkyard. This late 1947 2-ton was one he converted to a wrecker and it was one of his pride and joys (along with a early '55 pick up).

         Years ago, I heard that the wrecker was pretty much a loss from (what I understood at the time) a broken frame. To be honest, I thought it had gone to the crusher years ago. Last month I was talking on the phone to my sister who still lives in the Jacksonville area and she asked if I'd be interested in Dad's old truck. I thought she was talking about the '55. I knew that while it had been totaled in a head on collision years ago, the cab still remained. I made the comment about it just being the cab, and she said, "No, the wrecker." Now that caught my attention real fast!

         It turned out that the frame was good and solid. What happened to it was that the GMC 270 engine that Dad put in it ended up with a badly cracked block. My step-brother bought a new wrecker and put the old '47 out in the yard. A few year ago, he was clearing out the yard and asked my sister if she wanted it rather than send it to the crusher. So she and her husband went and pulled it behind their house where it sits now and has endured some slight damage in recent hurricanes.

         Dad could never leave anything alone and this '47 is proof of that. In addition to the GMC 270 engine, he put the DeLuxe trim on, custom built the wrecker bed himself, put axles from what I believe to be a mid '60s Chevy truck under it, front bumper from a Trailways bus and I'm sure the list doesn't stop anywhere near there. My step-brother painted it back in the '70s in the colors it's now. You can still make out "McCoy's Garage, Verona NC" on the doors.

         I'm going out there when school lets out to haul it to where I live now (Tennessee). My plan is to put it back on the road, but not as a total restoration. A '55-'62 235" six should do fine for me to putt around town with it. That and fix the body back up and I'll be happy with it.

Thanks,

Willy McCoy
Bolter # 10458
West Tennessee