We’re on a vintage photography roll here these days, and I’m happy to keep the party going. I’ve always been a big lover of the genre, and the more to share, the merrier. And these B/W photos were posted at the Cohort, by Ralf K, and he notes that they were from a Tacoma, WA. photographer’s collection of 4×5″ slides. Why exactly this photographer shot a whole number of new ’55 – ’57 Chevy trucks in all sorts of guises is unknown. And although there’s a decided theme, they’re well worth it. And there’s two very different subjects at the end.
This first truck is a 5700 series 1955, and powered by the brand new Chevrolet 265 V8 (4.2L). Sadly, I can’t find a ’55 or ’56 Chevy truck brochure on line, but this is obviously a raised forward cab (LCF), which shortened the wheelbase some. And that little V8 probably made all of 120-130 net hp. But that was still more than the 235 six, which was the base engine in these trucks. The 261 six, with gobs of torque, was also available on the 2 ton and up versions.
Hunter Fuel Co. in South Tacoma. I’m guessing they still sold coal too, given the dump bed on this Chevy.
Fuel companies are a bit of a theme in this collection. And this heating oil delivery truck is a ’57, as per the lower badge on the hood. And it sports a V8 emblem too, which would presumably be the new 283. Having driven an early 60s medium Chevy truck with a 283, I can assure you it was the highest-revving truck engine I ever encountered back then. Exhausting through a set of dual shorty pipes with cherry bombs, it sounded like a Corvette, but one being driven flat out and shifted at redline every time.
Here’s a nicely-trimmed ’55 panel van.
I’m going to say this is a ’56, a tandem-axle dumper with tall extensions on the bed.
Is this a way of encouraging legal drug sales instead of using the neighborhood drug dealer?
Another ’56 dumper in action, although at appears to be staged, given the lack of a pile behind it.
A tank body of some sort on a ’57 V8 chassis.
A ’55 hooked up to a semi-trailer. And it appears to be a six. it may seem odd to us now to think of a semi truck with a gasoline six making some 110-120 net hp, but average truck speeds were generally much lower then, typically no more than 45 mph on the open highway. If that’s the elderly owner standing there, maybe he wasn’t ready to take the plunge into a newfangled V8 yet. The sixes were a tried and proven commodity.
This one is labeled “Fife Fuel Company”. I’m not sure all the trucks are related to that business, but small trucking companies were not uncommon back then. And there’s quite an age range in those trucks. Three of them are Chevies; the old one on the right I think not. it’s a bit too late for me to figure out, but one of you will likely know.
Two new ’55 service pickups for the So. Tacoma Refrigerator Service Company.
And a ’56 pickup for Buck & Sons, which appears to be an ag machinery outfit.
I love this one; it’s a ’57 stub nose moving truck with what I initially thought might be an aftermarket sleeper compartment, but is more likely an extra storage compartment. Maybe for all of the moving blankets. Note all of the license plates on the front bumper; back then trucks had to have one for every state they operated in, or something like that. I remember making note of them when I was a kid. 283 power for those long hauls!
Update: CC Commenter tiredoldmechanic left a comment that the Buick “nailhead” 322 V8 was available on the large Chevy trucks in this era. I did a bit of digging and confirmed that it was available on the largest 9000-10000 series trucks in ’56 and ’57, as in 1958, Chevy’s own big-block 348 arrived. The Buick was modified for HD truck use.
Just for good measure, here’s a colorized version by George Murphy. Not bad, but I doubt the front wheels would have been a different color than the rear wheels.
Another fuel service truck, a ’56.
And a ’57 V8 tandem-axle feed truck.
The AFIFI Temple ready to roll in a parade.
And this somewhat random shot of a Chevy dealer rounds out the set. They’re obviously excited about the Corvette.
I love these old 55-57 chevy mediums, and there were still a few in service when I started pulling wrenches for a living 25 years or so after they were built.
One note on the engines, the larger trucks could be spec’d with a 322 sourced from Buick, for sure in ’57 and possibly earlier. Quite common in old school bus’s and fire trucks. It was replaced by the 348 “W” engine in ’58. I suspect some of the tandems and tractors in these shots were probably actually Buick powered!
Great vintage shots, thanks for posting them.
Aha. I was really wanting to find a brochure to confirm the engine options, but couldn’t find one. Thanks.
You’re correct about that. 57 was the first year a chevy medium or heavy could be speced with the 322 nailhead. Yet the GMC line could be ordered with a larger Pontiac derived v8 since 55. This hawkins back to when gm must have wanted to maintain distinctions between the divisions. Example 55 Chevy 265 v8,56 265v8, 55 GMC 287(Pontiac derived)56 316, 57 347ci v8. Perhaps by 57 the Chevy marketing guys or dealers were wanting a larger v8 offering also,before the 348 came out in 58. The GM heritage site stated that some 371 Olds were used in GMC heavies. Of note these truck engines differed from their automobile brethren utilizing heavy duty lower compression pistons, camshaft and governed carburetor profiles to optimize low end torque.
On the inline side the 261 was a pretty common upgrade in medium market over the 235. I recently worked on one in a 55 chevy step van truck. The ultimate stove bolt is the tall deck 302 that grew out of the 270 military engine, beginning in 54 was only offered in the GMC line.
From what I found online, it suggests that the Buick 322 was available in ’56 too, possibly mid-year.
Strictly speaking, the GMC 302/270 is not a “stovebolt”, as it’s an entirely different engine family than the Chevy sixes.
Cool shots, Paul. Truck on the far right in the Mobil station shot looks like a Mack “E” model, probably an EF or EG.
What a great set of photos. I have always liked those 55-59 Chev/GMC trucks. Great way to start my Saturday morning. Thanks!
A few years ago, I bought a cheap 3 DVD set of old tv commercials, which had the following Chevy short film of their 1957 truck line going through the Alcan Highway:
That movie is awesome!!
Nice gallery, I like the scenery as much as the classic Chevy trucks.
Although diesel trucks quickly became the norm after the Second World War, US trucks were still imported or locally assembled in the post-war decades. In the pre-war years pretty much all US truck brands were imported on a large scale. After the war Mack was the last man standing, way into the seventies; thanks to their durability, although the exchange rates also helped in the seventies.
Here’s a neat duo of classic Chevy trucks. It says “Groothandel in levensmiddelen” on its side, which is a foodstuff/groceries wholesaler.
Source: http://www.oudedaf.nl/chevrolet.htm
Great pictures! Thanks for posting, Paul.
It’s nice to see pictures of these when new, or nearly so. A nice change from over-restored examples at car shows. Love the mediums, but sure do like the pickups and the panel. (Primo apparently liked add-on trim accessories.)
Brings back memories of riding to school activities in a neighbor’s then-decade-old ’57 Suburban with a 235 & 4-speed. It was the first time I’d seen the floor-mounted starter button in action. Other than the starter knob on Dad’s Morris Minor, everything we’d had in the family fleet just required twisting the key.
Might the dump truck have been parked with the box raised to keep from having water standing in it and rotting the floor? The ag dealer appears to have been Massey-Harris, but with one of your Olivers parked there-a Super 55. I really like the feed truck, these were a regular visitor to our farm when we were ramping up cattle production, before we got our own grinder-mixer. Always a pleasant interlude on the farm, to stop and visit with the young man driving the gas truck, or the feed wagon.
I liked the way the cabs of the larger trucks of this era were styled to match those of the pickup lines. Made it much easier for a young boy to learn and keep track of what was what.
They were the same cab, unless I’m mistaken.
Looking at the last photo. It’s no wonder that the dealer was excited by the announcement of the Corvette. With dull sedans like the one at the curb, the dealership must have been mighty boring. What a change the mid ’50s and 60s brought to Chevy!
That Fry Bros. tank truck looks like a milk tanker. The windows in the building look like the old Foremost dairy in downtown Tacoma. BTW, Graham is an exurb ( farther out than a suburb) of Tacoma. Lots of farms out there.
Great shots. I could look at these all day instead of starting on my taxes. I grew up around a million of these Chevys in either school bus or worn-out farm truck form. Is it me, or does the kid with the bow-tie in the Oldsmobile not look that thrilled to be driving around the old guys in their fezes? The Robert Service “Dangerous Dan McGrew” style narration on the commercial is a hoot!
Cool old trucks we got very few Chevy trucks here GM’s Bedford range was the weapon of choice, similar to the Chev but with only six cylinder engines petrol and diesel and without the styling too, but they did the job albeit slowly, but you have to remember a lot of the NZ highway system of the 50s makes the Alcan highway look really good.
I stand corrected. Thanks Paul for clarifiying the years and GVWs the Buick derived engine was available in the update. Sources seem to vary on this 60 year old topic. My reading on commercial trucks tends to lean to the GMC side due to my infatuation with the 702 twin 6 and my fantasy to someday find one sleeping in the weeds.?
Great pics! Funny that Mobil station should be Fife’s. When we moved to the suburbs in 1976, the nearest gas station was Fife’s Texaco, owned by a family that had settled the area in the 1770s. Distaff relatives, maybe?
Re: the preponderance of fuel trucks. In James Wagner’s Ford Trucks Crestline book, he apologized that so many of the 1a957 photos featured LPG trucks and tankers – apparently the Ford PR department was fixated on them that year.
I’m thinking these were taken for a local Chevy dealer – perhaps the one in the pictures – to show off special bodies delivered to customers. My great grandfather did the same thing when he was selling Fords.
Here’s another interesting one: a ’57 Chevrolet 9700 fire truck spotted in rural Arkansas.
That one is really interesting–not only is it unusual to see an LCF fire truck, but the cab is raised up even farther off the frame than usual. Note the two bumpers and the filled in wheel openings. An odd duck!
I really enjoyed these photos and I can remember when these trucks were everywhere.
All the comments above have me wondering what powered the school bus I rode daily when I lived in Maryland in the early ’60s. Somehow, I determined from the front end body panels that the GMC chassis was a 1958, and it obviously had a V8. I’d love to know what was under that hood.
Why did they use wheeled landing gear back in the day . Flat landing gear is much more safe
I’m just old enough to remember seeing these trucks in rural areas or out of service in industrial lots in the area, and I always loved how the basic cab and nose could be applied from everything to a little stepside pickup to a freaking semi back in the day. There’s something very innocent about shared designs like that.
Wonderful pictures and great trucks. Thanks.
Yes, he 322 Buick was offered in the larger trucks starting in ’56. I think it was called the ‘Workmaster’. GMC used Pontiac V-8’s in light and medium duty trucks, but some of their heavy duty models used a 370 cubic inch Oldsmobile V-8 up to 1959.
FWIW, a nice/legible ’55 full line brochure here on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-Chevrolet-Chassis-Cab-Truck-Brochure-Mixer-wl8177-T7TXHL-/350732904565?hash=item51a94f6875:g:kLIAAMXQaZxSHlpr
Similar ’56 here (the 283 seems to be the top engine, if I’m reading it right): http://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-Chevrolet-Cab-Chassis-Truck-Brochure-15160-QUOJ2J-/350751909875?hash=item51aa7167f3:g:gPkAAOxyJX9SIAEv
And this ’56 brochure (picture below) does show the 322:
That last shot is of 5602 S Tacoma way. After years of other uses it is once again a car dealer, though a classic car dealer. You can see most of the original architecture in the current google street view.
New Chevrolets can still be purchased just a couple blocks south. Though in recession the Chevy franchise ended up at the Buick dealer.
Here is a link to a slightly older photo. http://cdm17061.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p17061coll21/id/34369/rec/33 where you can see what that structure is holding up.
Do not know the year. One of the trucks my father used to drive.
Whitewalls on a heavy truck! That’s a new one to me…
Hope this is better —