Factory or not??

[geezer#99]

Wondering about this truck.
Did the factory indeed build it or someone was creative?
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/...ationFlag=true

[LostMy65]

I'd wonder also.

[DakotaKid]

there was one of those near me that was a Conversion, not done by Gm, but a conversion company when the truck was new. i cant remember the name though. It was painted in BNSF colors, so im sure it was used by the railroad.

[The Rocknrod]

They were conversions, I forget the company also.

[padresag]

they were not factory built. they were dealer order. factory got it and delivered whatever was suitable for conversion to the coachbuilders that were consigned to build it . c/builders had access to all body panels. then it was delivered to the dealer. same as for school buses, firetrucks and whatever else was special orders.
This perhaps why you see a variety of styles as not everyone built the same way
ron

[TJ's Chevy]

Those crew cabs where never Factory from what I know. Story goes you could purchase a chassie and a company manufactured cabs to your desire( I think). Only "stock" ones I have seen are the 4 door versions.

[padresag]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Those crew cabs where never Factory from what I know. Story goes you could purchase a chassie and a company manufactured cabs to your desire( I think). Only "stock" ones I have seen are the 4 door versions.

when you order a stretch Caddy limousine do they get the bare chassis or do they get the car and then stretch it . same went for c/cabs
ron

[66Gilbert]

From what I know you would go to a dealership pick out a long bed truck 2WD or 4X4 and then you would choose which coach company you prefered and then if you wanted a 4 door, 3 door or a 2 door crew cab. Then you had a choice of keeping the 127" wheel base and the coach company would cut the front of the bed and end up with a super short bed or extending the frame 1 foot and cut the front of the bed ending up with a 6 1/2 foot long/short bed. The other choice was to extend the frame the length of the crew cab to keep the 8 foot long bed.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by padresag

when you order a stretch Caddy limousine do they get the bare chassis or do they get the car and then stretch it . same went for c/cabs
ron

Just saying what I heard.

[padresag]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Just saying what I heard.

My pappy taught me not to believe anything that I heard and only half of what I saw.I was more than likely half your age when he told me that
ron

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by padresag

My pappy taught me not to believe anything that I heard and only half of what I saw.I was more than likely half your age when he told me that
ron

Well that woulda made you 8 years old. lol Good info yer pappy taught ya.

[Clyde65]

Not factory.

There were 3 companies around the country that performed this and other modifications to GM vehicles.

Stageway by Armbruster is one of them.
http://armbrusterstageway.com/

A customer would go into a dealer and sign a sales order for the options he or the company wants, ie, 2 door extended, 3 door or 4 door crew cab, also stretches to Suburbans or panels.

Then the dealer orders a long bed from the factory along with door skins or any other pertinent body parts, the factory sends these to the conversion company ( most of the time they probably had one or two on their lot finished)

the conversion company would send to the dealer when finished.

Many of the 2,3 or 4 door crew cabs were for Forest Service, Rail Road, Oil companies and the like that needed to move some people and some cargo.

No real numbers exist but a good guess would be less than 100 per year were made. These were titled just like regular trucks and did not get any factory documentation or RPO etc.

and the truck you provided the link to is a 2 door, 1965 and is worth every dollar they are asking if it is in the shape it appears to be in.

I found one here in Texas about 15 years ago and my dad built it into a show winning truck.

I hope this helps...