1950 Chevy 3100
with matching trailer

"The Blue Light Special" Owned by Gary Mindel "gmindel" Bolter # 21441 Alanson, MI Join the talk about this truck in the DITY Gallery

More pictures of my old truck

From Gary :

Here is my 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup truck.

The very first time that I saw this exact truck was the week before I graduated high school. Every time I thought of buying a Stovebolt, I thought about this truck. I finally bought it 24 years later, and it was still owned by the same guy!

I have since owned the truck for over four years now.

When I first bought it, almost nothing worked on it. I did drive it home (three miles) but it almost cost the life of my 18 year old daughter. When we went around a corner, the door flew open and she nearly flew out.

For the first three years, I was able to get almost everything working, except I still am working on that speedometer gear. I took this truck completely apart and restored it. I used a 1949 parts truck to fill in the gaps. I then took the '49 frame, rear end, grille and box to create a matching trailer. I also used the trailer to practice all my skills (cutting, welding, body work and painting) on first.

I built my own paint booth in the garage and laid down a nice single stage metallic paint. The dark blue metal flake matches the light blue. It took me about 10 months to do the body work, but it is finally on the road.

In the past, I have enjoyed entering it into a fund-raising car show.

When I bought this truck, it had a blue light under the dash. It makes the cab glow in the dark, so I kept it, and named the truck, "The Blue Light Special." It was enough to make all of my friends laugh.

Thanks,

Gary Mindel

Wow, great story. Hard to believe you were able to still get your hands on your "first love" after 24 years! Awesome. Impressive work, too. Bolt on! ~ Editor

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