Need help with history of truck

[bulletracer2]

I bought an apache 3dr crewcab with a suicide door 8ft longbox stepside
This truck has no vin that I can find i would assume its at least 1958 dual headlights the metalwork on the roof is too perfect
To be seamed together. Meaning it's not a hack!!!

Now I know about the Orville crewcabs but they have 6ft atepside three st with regular doors
The hinges aren't a add-on modification as well this truck had been in the scrap yard since the 60s could it have been the prototype or something I can't find anything like it anywhere
Is it a one of??

[Fred n' Ethel]

Got a camera ?
Would be helpful to see several pics .... from several angles.
Sounds interesting.

[1project2many]

Agreed on the pictures. Is it possibly a government or railroad rig? Is there any paint or any sign of a logo that might help? Is the third door driver's or passenger side?

I did some internet searching for similar trucks with no luck. But I found out where Chevrolet designers found the inspiration for the Avalanche:

[_Ogre]

gm manufactured nothing but standard cab trucks back in the day
military, forest service and railroad had coach builders modify standard cabs into 3 door crew cabs
though mention of the 3rd door being suicide sort of indicates it was an early homebuilt custom job
pics would certainly help

[dsraven]

ya, what ogre said.
pics please
is there a spot on the door pillar where a vin may have been attached at some point?
gm heritage center may be able to help you out. really nice fella there.

[dsraven]

got this from an earlier post by task force era a gold registered guy here so you could find him if you searched for that name.
here is the thread
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=434998
here is what he says,maybe he has some more info?
If it's in fact real, it woulda been built by Orrville Metal Specialties in Ohio and only have 3 doors. Only a handful were built by them and they were mostly military vehicles.

[dsraven]

here's a little write up on the task force trucks. kinda interesting. lots of pics
http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/t...ruck-id-guide/

[1project2many]

If it's in fact real, it woulda been built by Orrville Metal Specialties in Ohio and only have 3 doors. Only a handful were built by them and they were mostly military vehicles.

Orville was not the only company building specialty vehicles. In fact there were a number of suppliers willing to do this. Armbruster was a good example of a longstanding custom body builder willing to manufacture custom trucks. Notice the third door on the opposite side of the truck from an Orville conversion? https://barnfinds.com/armbruster-apa...vrolet-apache/

Other companies include Stageway Coaches, Crown Steel (also in Orville OH), and Proctor Keefe.

[Fred n' Ethel]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

Orville was not the only company building specialty vehicles. In fact there were a number of suppliers willing to do this. Armbruster was a good example of a longstanding custom body builder willing to manufacture custom trucks. Notice the third door on the opposite side of the truck from an Orville conversion? https://barnfinds.com/armbruster-apa...vrolet-apache/

Other companies include Stageway Coaches, Crown Steel (also in Orville OH), and Proctor Keefe.

I would have never guessed that the aftermarket was so vast in the day.
http://www.coachbuilt.com/com/index.htm
Many of these have excellent ads and illustrations as well as detailed history.
VERY interesting, wish I had time to go through all of them in this index, thanks for the links !

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by dsraven

got this from an earlier post by task force era a gold registered guy here so you could find him if you searched for that name.
here is the thread
[url] Only a handful were built by them and they were mostly military vehicles.

Air Force used them on flight lines for crew and munitions delivery.

[bulletracer2]

Let's see if this uploads the image

[bulletracer2]

Passenger side

[_Ogre]

sweet ride

looks like a military green for sure. they typically didn't have a vin, more of a id tag
definitely worth looking at to rebuild if they didn't mess it up to bad getting it up and down from there

i had a 57 chevy moredoor that was old military, cars had vin tags for some reason
it had daily maintenance stenciled under the hood

[bulletracer2]

The green is not military its over top of that red

[bulletracer2]

Found the plate

Can anyone decode it or do anything with it ??

[_Ogre]

i figured it was 38 series because of the 9 foot bed. 31 was 6 ft, 32 & 36 have 8 ft beds
US went from 3100 series in 57 to 31 series in 58 on the fender spears, not sure if canada followed suit
on the fender spears 3100 US converted to 1300 on canadian trucks, something got lost in translation at the border

LMC truck has a good vin decoder for gmc/chevy trucks unfortunately it doesn't cover the canuck trucks
a 2 second google search gave me this at oldgmctrucks.com

chevy 1959 3804 6 cyl serial #17774 gvw rating 6000 lbs or less

[1project2many]

What a cool old truck!

Is the red actually paint, or primer?

Is that spot on the driver's door from an old emblem?

Even if it's a GM prototype it would be custom built with most of the modifications done by hand. The assembly line was not set up to build 3 door cabs. The fact that it doesn't appear to be hacked together speaks to the quality of work that was produced. Look for lead in the roof and truck sides where the cabs were sectioned. The rear driver's window is smaller than the rest suggesting custom glass or glass from another application. The other truck builders appeared to use Suburban parts or modified doors to save cost. Look closely at the frame as well. It may have been sectioned.

[bulletracer2]

It looks more like a zinc oxide primer to me
I was always curious about the emblem
I'm thinking it's an Orville crewcab made like the
others for military use it it may have been a military
chauffeured street truck explaining 2wd and a suicide door
Possibly for a high ranking member chauffeurs open the door
Suicide doors seem logical

Issue is this even when I run the vin it told me

[bulletracer2]

So again I still know nothing about this truck lol

[Fred n' Ethel]

Originally Posted by bulletracer2

So again I still know nothing about this truck lol

Ogre's linked info looks far more accurate than what you posted.
Seems pretty clear ....

[1project2many]

The vin decoder you used is for passenger cars. The truck VINS follow a different format so that decoder doesn't work.

VIN decoders aren't likely to provide much more than what the service manual image above provides. When I checked on my truck back in the '90s folks at the Heritage Center said GM didn't keep track of trucks like they do now, and they lost many of the records in a big fire in the '60s.

Here's a neat page, mostly for older trucks. It has some cool body options which may help in your quest:
http://www.gregwapling.com/hotrod/ch...dian-chev.html

That website also mentions contacting GM of Canada to obtain a restoration packet.

"Canadian GMC Restoration Packet
The GMC is a little more difficult to obtain information for some unknown reason. I've found this Phone number 1 (800) 467-6853 (GM Canada Vintage Vehicles) to call and receive a similar Restoration Packet as the Chevrolets. This packet supposedly contains information on (trim codes, paint codes, body numbers, plant of manufacture, engine size etc.,).
Unlike the Chevrolet Restoration Packet which is Free, the GMC Packet Cost is $25.00 "

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by bulletracer2

So again I still know nothing about this truck lol

did you look at my post? i thought it explained everything pretty clear
you have a chevy 1959 3804 6 cyl serial #17774 gvw rating 6000 lbs or less

as for the military use: i agree unless you find some identifying markings under the paint or in the cab
looks like the drivers door has the paint coming of an emblem that might be revealed by judicious sanding

[bulletracer2]

Yes I read everyone's posts thanks
I appreciate all your help I really do
1. The b on the vin indicates 6000-10000
Not 6000
2. Still I do not know where it was manufactured who modified it and why

That's what I was getting at Thought that was pretty clear what you did give me was useful but not really what I was aiming for
But thank you all

[RanchTruck]

Why does it matter? You have enough to register the truck, so whether you want to take on restoring it is up to you and what you want out of the truck. Where/who originally made it has little to do with that now. None of the coachbuilt stuff is worth $ as "numbers matching" restored, so it's just another cool old truck that you can put together the way you want.

[1project2many]

I would suggest trying to follow the registration history. I was able to trace my truck back to the original owner, a farm and implement company in Nebraska. Not everyone has that much success but if the records were kept you might be able to see who the truck was bought from the first time it was registered.