I've always questioned just how fancy Chevrolet would have gotten with something as mundane as truck wheels...... (it always comes back to the forefront whenever the discussion of pinstripes & body color wheels comes up) Keep in mind 50 - 60 years ago trucks were build for farmers. Period. Imagine what an assembly line area would have had to look like with 10 different (body) colors of wheel sets sitting there.
Curt, I have a '51 packet it only shows stripe placement & states the three stripes are to be same as the beltline stripe on the cab. It does not indicate that the stripes themselves are optional or only comes with rpo 390.
Believe me, I'd love to have the solid truth on this one as much as the next guy. I'm an originality freak (Hey, I'm a Vette guy, we wrote the book on factory correctness). Here's why I still question it all...... I have a 1951 3100. I am the second owner. It had 50,xxx miles on it and had basically been sitting a garage for as long as I've been on planet earth! The original owner died in the mid 60's. I've talked with the family, etc, etc,.....The wheels had a couple of layers of paint over the original, I stripped them off carefully.......NO PINSTRIPES.......It is a 3 window cab.
Just to add something to the discussion on chrome shortages during the Korean era. I have an original '51 ad. The fine print at the bottom states "Continuation of standard equipment and trim illustrated is dependent on availability of material". It shows a '51 3100 with corner windows, chrome grille, hubcaps & bumper, bright moulding around the door & windshield glass & yes, pinstripes on the rims!!!!!!!
Who the heck knows...........
