I found the original owner and the second owner of my truck by carefully removing several layers of paint on the sides of the bed. Farmers used to paint their names on the sides of their pickups in Illinois. The original owner bought in at the Chevrolet dealer in Marion, Ill. It was used on their farm for quite a while, hauling things including cows. His scariest moment driving it was when it went off a levy bridge! Both he and the truck survived. Some of their children learned to drive in it. He sold it to another farmer in the next town over, who kept it for a while. After that it was sold to the guy I bought it from in Cobden, Ill. I bought it in 1976 and have had it since. I paid $125 for it - the guy's wife was getting ready to have a baby and they needed the money. I've got all three of the previous owners names, and fortunately they all kept it in pretty good shape, including fairly decent repairs after it went off the bridge. The frame had suffered due to frequent overloading and rust rot behind the cab, but thanks to a fellow Bolter, it has a nice solid frame now.
Samantha
