I recently aquired a 1945 Chevorlet 1.5 ton big bolt (though it's rated for 6,500 lbs thanks to some extra helper springs and a beefed up frame.) it's a 100% Missouri truck; the cab, frame, and drive train were built in St. Louis and the stakebed was built in Washington Missouri by a Co. called Reichers Truck Bodies (thats still in business!) It has some features that I haven't heard of being very common. First off its technacally a 1946 model year truck built completely from parts left over from the 1941-1945 wartime restriction trucks (my father told me they're called Interun trucks, or something of that nature); therefore it has all painted trim instead of chrome. It also has 7.50-20 wheels and tires, an oil filter, and a 235 engine coupled to a four speed transmission and a two speed rear axle that gives it a wide range of gears (which is nice when you live in Missouri Ozark hill country). When I first got it I had it hauled from St. Louis to a buddy's farm in central Missouri, then I drove to my buddy's farm the next day and drove it a little over 60 miles to get it to Loose Creek Missouri (just 15 miles east of Jefferson City) where it now takes residence at the family farm alongside my 1939 John Deere B and a host of other antique and vintage farm equipment.

Last edited by Peggy M; 04/17/2025 9:37 PM.
Life is all about how you see it; when most people see my old big bolt they see just an old obsolete truck, when I look at it I see a piece of American history from the days when vehicles were meant to last, not be driven for a decade then thrown away like today's "better, more reliable, modern" cars. Even though sofar my (67 in 2012) year old truck has proven more reliable and less problematic than most of my friends trucks from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.