1938 1.5-Ton GMC Truck

	Owned by Andy Smith "1946chevypickup" Bolter # 5716 London, Kentucky

From Andy :

        About six years ago, I put an ad in the newspaper wanting parts for my 1946 Chevy truck (Andy has several ... look at the bottom of the page ~ Editor ) . One day a man called and said he had one for sale about 50 minutes from me. So the next weekend, I went and looked at it and found it was a 1938 1 1/2- ton GMC truck.

        It was not what I was looking for but it had a good  body on it. The owner was only asking $350 for it. Apparently, it use to be an old water drilling  truck back in the 1930's to 1960's. It had been sitting since1965, not running.

        Over the next six years, I told my friends about the truck and showed them a picture of it. They all wanted it but no one had room for it.

        About two years ago, the man called me again and said he still had it for sale. He asked if I knew of anyone wanting it or if I could take it off his hands for $350. I still didn’t go for it.

        Fast forward two years 'til about two weeks ago when a friend of mine came over and we started talking this old GMC truck ... all day long. He said he wanted it so I told him one day I would show him where it was. The next day, he came to my house to see if I wanted to go look and see if the truck was still for sale or even there. So we got in in car and we drove the 50 miles to look.

        We got the the owner's house and the old GMC was still there after all this time. I walked up to the door to see if the owner was home. The dogs were barking and growling at me getting ready to bite me. Then the man opened the door and I told him I was there to look at the truck again.

        My buddy loved the truck and had a wrecker to bring it home. He asked me if I wanted it and I said that I did but I didn't have a way to bring it home. The road from this place was so bad -- curves and mountains -- that was the only reason I did not buy it earlier.

        My friend said he would tow it to my house for gas and the frame if I bought it.

        So I looked at it again and it looked in good shape still. I told the man I wanted it but it would be a week or two before I could get the money. He said it would still be there. So we left.

        The next week, I cleaned up some old junk around the house and took it to the junkyard and got the money for the truck. I called my friend up and said, "How about this Saturday we go pay for it and got the title done?" I called the man up and made an offer of $300. He said, "No way!"

        "$310?"

        "No ..."

        "$315?"

        "No ..."

        " $325 is all I can come up with." He said no and I hung up.

        So I sold some more of my things to a friend and came up with the $25 I needed. I called the man and said I would take it for $350. I said we'd be there Saturday to pay him and get the title done. Saturday around 3 o'clock, we went to the man's house to pay and get the title done. We told him we would be back tomorrow to get the truck, and then we left.

        The next day, around 1 o'clock my friend came with his wrecker to pick me up. We pulled up it the man's driveway and the dogs were barking at us again. The man came out and said, "So nice to see you."

        We backed up to the truck and the transmission was stuck in gear so we had to brake it loose. The truck had not moved since 1965. It took us about one hour to get it loose and hooked up. The man said goodbye to the truck and we headed to my house.

        All the people on the way home were all looking at it. As we pulled on to the road to get to my house, an old man on a motorcycle chased us down. He said his Dad use to drill for water with a truck like that. He offered me $3550 for it!! I turned him down.

        We headed for the house. When we got there, I told another friend about the offer. He said I was crazy to have turned him down. My friend in the wrecker said I was crazy, too. He thought I should have taken it, especially since I was only looking for parts to rebuild a pickup.

        My friend helped me get the truck off the wrecker. All I wanted was the cab and front fenders. So, I gave him the frame for helping me out.

        My plan for it now is to put it on a 1960 Chevy frame and fix it. I have had this 1960 Chevy for around 20 years and have still not gotten it home yet ... but one day soon. As for now, I'm looking for a passenger's side headlight buckets or both of them, windshield glass, driver's side door glass and a frame for a 1938 GMC 1.5-truck.

        I hate to admit it but I think I would have taken the offer, too! But if you really love this truck, then you did the right thing! Best of luck restoring the old ’38! ~ Gallery Guy

Andy has a slew of trucks: a 1946 GMC Longbed pickup; a 1946 Chevy Shortbed pickup; a 1941 Chevy Shortbed; a 1941 GMC with a 228; a 1946 Chevy 1/2-Ton Shortbed; a fourth 1946 Chevy truck; and a 1938 1.5-Ton GMC Truck. ~ Editor

-30-