Grn52chevy’s Journey first started here in the Welcome Center. This is my 1952 Chevrolet 3100 pickup that has been in my family for three generations. It was assembled at the Oakland California assembly plant in October, 1952. It started life purchased new by an older gentleman in California. In 1960 my grandfather, a US Navy WW2 veteran, was in his 30’s and running a small service station business in California. The original owner lived close by and my grandpa purchased the truck for $600 and used it to promote his business and it remained in immaculate condition around this time.
By the late 1960’s my grandpa became a farmer and the truck throughout the 1970’s was driven by my dad and his siblings to and from school and was used for doing odds and ends around the farmhouse. There are stories about how one of my uncle’s as a teenager crashed into the back of a 60’s Chevy sedan and the front fenders were replaced and the entire truck repainted. The truck color was not changed and was repainted keeping its factory green. The front fenders, grill, and splash apron are different colors underneath, evidence by some of the green paint that has chipped away over the years. The passenger side running board has a large dent in it from when my grandpa was up in the mountains loaded up with firewood and the brakes failed and he stopped the truck using a tree stump. There was also a hole in the back window from a cattle horn that went through it. My dad had so many fond memories with this truck growing up.
In 1987 the truck was passed down to my dad when he was a soon to be a father and wanted the truck to be passed down to me one day. So at that point it was pretty much retired and was infamously parked in my grandpa’s driveway for many years. In 1999 the truck went into storage for the next twenty years. My goal is to maintain and preserve its history and restore it to good running and driving condition. All while learning more about it along the way.
