46 IN PROGRESS, you've started a good thread.
I was first introduced to Stovebolts with an entry-level 1954, 1/2 ton with serious rust-out but mechanically sound, when I was in the 10th grade. My father bought it for $100 and said that it was the whole family's truck and that it wasn't just for me. As it turned out I was the only one who ever drove it and learned a little here & there from a mechanic friend who had been working until he was 96 years old in the same garage where he made his living since 1919. He was a big fan of Chevrolets & Studebakers but could repair anything mechanical.
The '54 lasted me through high school and many 125 mile drives to the city where I went to college. The 235 died one Christmas eve and I moved on to other modes of transportation.
In June, 2001 I found a nice lookin' '46, 1/2 ton, all original, just with a newer paint job that was originally from Tennesse then moved out to New Mexico for retirement. I fixed the brakes and put the old boy back to work in S Louisiana. He's still on limited duty but does his share to earn his keep. He still has the original ticker, a 216, that was rebuilt by a p.o. in N.M.. His gait, (steering), is a little unsteady at times, his vision, (headlights), has somewhat deminished with the passing of time and he can't quite remember where his spare tire carrier is, but he sure remembers the good old days and is glad to be still around to tell any young upstart how it used to be.
