I came across this pic the other day ... not a Ford, but still a pretty cool truck.

The pic was taken in 1962 at the Eureka sand dunes in eastern California (I'm the kid in the center). My dad special ordered this 1959 GMC Carry All with factory installed NAPCO 4X4, I think he paid around $3500 for it. It was our family car for many years (my 5'2" 100lb mom took her driver test in it), but in later years the back seats were removed and it became our truck. This truck was taken offroad pretty much every weekend for the first 10 yrs of it's life. The little research i've done tells me this is an extremely rare vehicle with maybe as few as 200 of them ever made. The truck was given to me a few years ago and it now sits at my parents house as a rust-free, unrestored all original truck. Hopefully in the next few years I'll have the time/money to start going through it ...

 

That's really cool stuff, man.
Beautiful truck, if you restore it, or have to do any work for that matter, I would like to see some pictures current state just to see how well it's preserved.

 

Damn i didn't know they had color picture back in 1962 hahaha.


Nice picture by the way.

 

A few years ago, I was looking through a bunch of slides my grandfather took and found this one and a couple others. I had a few prints made ... the pic posted is just a picture of the print (no scanner).

Another pic I found was taken from the back seat while we were driving, which shows me standing on the hump, hanging on to the steel dash and looking out the front window. Child car seats, seat belts ... what the heck are those?! LOL

 

very neat! hope you can restore it back to its former glory.

 

That's awesome! I would like to see those, and other, pics you're talking about. I would also like to see some pics of it's current state and if you restore it.

 

Looks like the rig they road tripped with on the movie Wild America.

 

The 1961 Plymouth Belvedere I took my drivers test in didn't have seat belts.
They were 'optional equipment' in those days and the only guy who would fork over money for them back then was Ralph Nader, until he made it so you had to fork over your money, ...and not optionally.

 

Interesting. That's a neat ole' truck you have there. Very cool that it's still in the family after all these years. What's that thing on the roof?

 

Love It!!!

 

A little more about the truck ...

• GMC's all came w/ I-6's, Chevy's were equipped w/ I-6's or Pontiac V-8's. This truck is a 1/2 ton truck.
• GM didn't have a 4X4 system, so NAPCO (North American Power Co.) kits were installed (1959 was the last year NAPCO kits were factory installed in GM's). NAPCO kits were also available for Fords and Studebakers
• Truck 4spd (start in 2nd), starter pedal (next to the gas pedal), 2hi-4hi-N-4low transfer case, no power brakes/steering
• 2 door w/ three rows of seats. 1/3 of front seat folds forward, second row is 2/3 width and third row is full width. All seats originally came w/ seat belts
• All metal interior w/ headliner over the front seat. Hard rubber floor
• Vacuum windshield wipers (gauges include a vac gauge), Heater is a separate unit at the front passenger feet. No defrosters. Tube AM Radio.
• Rear has a tailgate and upper opening window, side windows slide open

Dad installed the spotlight on the roof (like cop cars have on the A pillar). As a kid, that thing was fun to play with. We had a approx 14' travel trailer we took on vacation w/ us. Unfortunately, the trailer was sold in the mid 80's. The yellow color was also special order (Mom wanted yellow ...).

In the early 80's, dad sold the truck to a friend of mine and then bought it back about 2 yrs later. During that time the motor was either rebuilt or replaced. Other than that the drivetrain is all original. The body is basically dent free and 100% rust free. The only parts that are missing are the hubcaps (front caps had holes for the hubs) and the rear seats (which I'm hoping are still somewhere at my parents house). It's a really cool truck which I have fond childhood memories of ...

 

Man thats so cool to find a pic that old.

 

Thanks for sharing the picture and story with us.

 

Great pic, and nice truck!

 

That's awesome. Looking forward to more pictures.