So, I have always loved the art deco trucks. I grew up with one... mostly. My Dad had one that he used for parades and around the ranch. He had a calliope that he built (see
pic of it on his '48 3100) that he used to take in the local parades as the music. Well at about age 10 I ran his front first into a loading dock mashing up the front end.
He never got rid of the ol' '46. It just sat in the field with his other bolts in various stages of restoration (he has quite the list including military WWII, pre-war dating back to 1928 and even advanced design ones with the newest being a 1955 big bolt semi tractor).
Anyway, back to the story. As an adult I decided to pay my penance and start gathering parts for the '46 that had been sitting for now 25 years. I began in the usual places; cruising the back roads of Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming and so on to gather the parts for him so he could bring his back to its former beauty. I'd find a suspension piece in Iowa, a hubcap in New Mexico; I even drove to Kansas City to get a front clip. Needless to say I got bit by the bug.
Finally this Spring I had acquired the last of the parts Dad needed for his (as an aside, his will probably be on the road next Spring). Time to find my own. Early in the Summer I saw an amazing '46 near Oakland... it was even assembled in Oakland that was in incredible shape show up on EBay... I hate Ebay. So I bid it up and then someone waited til the last minute and stole it from me. After my wife had to listen to me whining about missing out on this truck for a week she joined in my search. We found "Farm Fresh" on some obscure classified site... two days later, I was off to Eastern Nebraska with the Tahoe U-Haul trailer in tow. The previous owner didn't seem to know too much of the story other than it had won trophies in a few shows out that way.
Now, I am the proud owner of "Farm Fresh"
http://s1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/Comtboy/46%20Chevy%20truck/?albumview=slideshow (more on why I named that in a second)
After figuring out what I had, a few thousand dollars in parts from Jim Carter, Bowtie Bits, Filling Station and Chevys of the 40s, cursing a few times at seemingly unending brakes and electrical issues I have her where she can be a daily driver. (Dad is hunting down a seat locally for me).
In honor of my agricultural heritage I will be making it look somewhat like a huckster (thus the name Farm Fresh) with shelves in the back meant to hold bushel baskets of spinach or lettuce complete with a blue and tan striped canvas cover. The town I grew up in (Yampa, Colorado) used to be one of the largest producers of spinach and lettuce in the U.S.A.
Kind of like this one. I stole the idea from Tim Sheridan.
Happy motoring.
John Nielsen - Aurora, Colorado
