Bob Penner's 1936 Chevrolet Maple Leaf Truck

16 March 2007
# 1884

From Bob :

           I first saw this truck 25 years ago in a neighbour's pasture and my Dad wouldn't let me buy it. Now I'm a Dad and I didn't need to ask (except my wife ). It is a1936 Chevy Maple Leaf truck with a very unusual grille. An old issue of Vintage Truck magazine had a copy of an ad from 1936 that showed this grille configuration on a 2-ton but I think this is a 1.5-ton. The farmer that I bought it from said it had just had a valve job before he stopped running it. Turns out that was in 1958! Might need another one soon.

           The truck has a stamped ID plate that has the load ratings and that it was manufactured at the GM plant in Oshawa, Ontario. But it has no model or serial number.

           Maple Leaf was a line of GM trucks manufactured in Oshawa, Ontario using mostly GM parts with a few Chevy bits and the odd local widgit. They were marketed in Canada with the idea being that Canadians might buy local. There may also have been a requirement under some form of the Autopact between the US and Canada to manufacture a percentage of vehicles as Canadian-built. Kinda like the requirement for Honda, etc. now.

           You guys on this site are just full of good stuff.

Bob Penner
"canuck"
Bolter # 8901
Manitoba, Canada