04 January 2013
# 2999

Owned by Eric Olsen "OldSalt57" Bolter # 30130 Samish Island, Washington

1957 GMC 150 4x4 NAPCO

"Moose"

More pictures of my old truck

Join the discussion about this truck in the DITY Gallery

From Eric :

I was born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. When I was a boy, I fished with my Father who had homesteaded in Cohoe in the late 1940’s and bought a set net site to gill net salmon. Set netting is a form of commercial salmon fishing that is based from the beach. We used a 12’ skiff my Dad built and would anchor six nets that were 35 fathoms long (210 ft). The salmon swim into the net and get caught by the gills.

I live in Washington state now on Samish Island. I work in Alaska all summer, May to September, as the Captain of a 157 foot passenger ship called the Mist Cove. We take 24 passengers in 12 staterooms for week long adventures in Southeast Alaska.

Back to the truck: we had a number of trucks over the years -- old military weapons carriers were very popular up this way. I had a 1965 GMC as a high school student in Seward.

My favorite truck was a 1956 GMC 4x4 that I learned how to drive in when I was 11. I could barely see over the wheel but driving up and down the beach was fairly safe. It now rests in the bushes rusting away.

That old Task Force truck was always my favorite and I wanted to have one of my own. So, I started searching and found "Moose" on Craigslist. The truck was in California but the owner drove it up to Oregon where I met him and took ownership.

This GMC is titled as a 1957 but there seems to be some confusion because the serial number and the body don’t entirely match up. I posted the question in the forums on Stovebolt and the answers came back indicating anything from a 3/4-ton to a 3-ton truck. It drives like a 3 ton truck!

I wish I knew more or could find out more of the history of the truck. What the previous owner told me before I bought it was that he inherited it from his wife, who had inherited it from her late husband, who bought it in 1959 in Idaho. From the stories passed down, I think it was originally built for the U.S. Forest Service as a plow truck.

He did make several videos of the truck (I think for selling it). In there, he describes it as a 1957 GMC NAPCO 150 4x4 with NAPCO running gears, original colors. He states it's a "military edition," stock lifted. These videos were done in 2011. There is even one of the videos that he shows how to shift with a hi / low splitter and what he calls a brownie box.

The power train consists of a 270 cubic inch inline 6 cylinder 4 speed with a high / low splitter in front of the transmission. It also has an air shock reservoir under the front bumper that supports all four shocks.

I hope to start restoring Moose and plan to keep it original.  I drive it now as needed but I did just a purchase 1967 c10 Chevy for a driver.

Eric 

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