Well, let me tell ya ’bout this 1939 Chevrolet pickup truck. It ain’t no fancy new car, that’s for sure. It’s an old workhorse, from back in the day when things were built to last, ya know?
This truck, they call it a “classic” now. Back then, it was just a truck, somethin’ you used to haul stuff around. Hay, potatoes, whatever you needed. My old man, he had one kinda like it, though his was probably older, maybe a ’37 or somethin’. He used to say, “This ol’ Chevy, she’ll get ya where ya gotta go.” And he was right, most of the time.
- They made these 1939 Chevy trucks on a chassis, a frame, that was 113 and a half inches long.
- That’s a lotta inches, I reckon, but it made the truck strong.
- They called it a “Cab and Box,” which makes sense, ’cause it had a cab for sittin’ and a box for haulin’.
The engine, it weren’t no powerhouse like these newfangled ones, but it got the job done. A six-cylinder, they called it. Eighty-five horsepower, somethin’ like that. Not much by today’s standards, but enough to pull a load. The thing weighed near 3000 pounds, so it was a hefty fella, this truck. You felt it when you drove it, that’s for sure. No power steering, no fancy brakes. You had to wrestle it a bit, but that was part of the fun. At least, that’s what the menfolk said.
Now, you see these things at car shows, all polished up and shiny. People payin’ big bucks for ’em, too. Hard to believe, seein’ as how cheap they were back in the day. I heard tell they sold for somethin’ like $572 brand new. Can you imagine that? These days, you can’t even buy a good bicycle for that kinda money.
Used 1939 Chevrolet Pickups ain’t all that easy to find neither. You gotta look around, and when you do, they ain’t cheap. I seen some online for as little as eight dollars, but that’s probably for parts or somethin’. A good one, runnin’ and drivin’, that’ll cost ya a pretty penny. But I guess that’s how it is with old things. They become valuable, even if they weren’t worth much to begin with.
Some folks, they like to soup these old trucks up. Put in a bigger engine, fancy wheels, air conditionin’… Lord have mercy! Air conditionin’ in a truck from 1939! I seen one advertised, said it had a 350 V8 engine and power steering, even power brakes! Mustang front end, too. Sounds like a whole different machine, to me. But I guess that’s what some folks want. Me, I like ’em the way they were, simple and tough.
They made other trucks back then, too, I reckon. But the Chevy, it was always a popular one. Farmers liked ’em, businessmen liked ’em, everybody liked ’em. They were reliable, affordable, and they got the job done. That’s what mattered back then. Not how fancy it looked, or how fast it went. Just whether it would start in the mornin’ and get ya where ya needed to go.
You know, some of these old trucks even had different tires depending on what you were gonna do with ’em. Heavy duty tires for haulin’ heavy stuff, regular tires for everyday drivin’. They thought of everything back then, even though they didn’t have all the fancy computers and technology we got today. Shows ya, sometimes the old ways are the best ways.
So, if you see a 1939 Chevrolet pickup truck, take a good look. It’s a piece of history, a reminder of a time when things were simpler, and maybe a little bit tougher. It’s a truck that was built to work, built to last, and built to get ya where ya gotta go. And that, to me, is somethin’ worth admirin’. It ain’t just some old car, it’s a part of our story, part of who we are. And that’s why these old trucks are still around, still runnin’, still makin’ people smile.
And they made station wagons too, on the same kinda frame, but those weren’t for haulin’ like the trucks were. They were for families, I guess. But the truck, that was the workhorse, the one you could count on.
These new trucks, they’re big and fancy, with all the bells and whistles. But I bet they ain’t as tough as these old Chevys. I bet they ain’t gonna be lastin’ as long, neither. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to, that’s for sure.
And that, I reckon, is all there is to say about the 1939 Chevrolet pickup truck. A good truck, a tough truck, and a truck that’ll always be remembered.
