I don't know much... well... anything, about 50's trucks. But whenever I look at buying a vehicle I always look at the same things. One is obviously rust. Not just rusted fenders etc either. it's good to look at the various seams in the body, as well as all the points where the body mounts to the frame. I would highly recommend crawling under the truck to inspect the frame etc. Next is the doors. After looking for rust, open and close the doors a couple times to see how they latch, and note any sag in the door when you open it. Then see if the lights and other controls work, look at the condition of the gas tank (inside it). Then look at the "business" part of the truck, engine, suspension, steering, breaks, and see that nothing is stuck. After that, just look at the overall truck and decide if that's somewhere you ould like to start a project.
That being said, it's a 50+ year old truck, if it's better than other projects you have seen, go for it. I bought my '66 in pieces with a lot missing and serious cancer in the floor, because the price was right for me and the most of the cab/bed/front clip are in good shape compared to what I've seen.
