How rare is a 1944 GMC half ton short box pickup? I came acrossed one in pretty solid shape and wondered if it was worth much. And if it would be a crime to mildly rod it.
1944 was in the middle of the war. My opinion is a 1/2 ton GMC would be pretty rare. Most trucks built for the war effort or even the few available to civilians were mostly 1 ton and up. Are you sure it is a 1944?
yeah. Guy has a ***le and says it has a stock steel bed floor which was a military option. It has original green and black paint on it.
really cool truck. better get it before some numbnut gets it and tosses the fenders and builds it as though it's a T Bucket.
Yep, I had an ex-army 1945 Chevy 1 1/2 ton flatbed and the green paint faded over the years to just about the same color as that one. When you opened up the hood it was still olive drab army. I'd grab that old truck if it was me.
I've got two '42s. thru stovebolt and oldgmctrucks.com i learned that there were only 520 made. i'd say that they're rare in the war years, but i don't know if that increases CASH value. sure makes them cool to me. buy it! drive it!
I doubt that would be a '44, because of the brightwork on the truck. There was no chrome work or stainless on these, or anything else, after roughly November 1941. From then on through the end of the war, all trim was painted - no chrome or stainless, since nickel, copper and chromium were considered essential to war production, and were unnecessary on vehicle trim parts. Hubcaps, grilles, trim - all of that was painted on both cars and trucks sold to the public. These are commonly referred to as "blackout" cars. Civilian production stopped completely on February 2nd, 1942 by order of the WPA. The extreme handful of 1/2-ton civilian truck production from that date through September 1945, would've been sold only to a select few people with jobs considered essential to the war effort. If you have the numbers off the frame or cowl tag, you might be able to verify the build year though General Motors Historic.
Although few were made for sale to civilians, GMC--like Chevy--built the same truck from '41-'46. The ones built in the war years did have painted grilles, hubcaps, etc., but so did most of the '41s and '46s. Most people who bought pickups back then used them like (gasp!) trucks, so most buyers did not opt for the chrome grille and trim, stainless caps ,etc. A '43, '44, or '45 is rarer than a '41 or a '46, but the only sure way to tell the model year on these trucks is by serial number. Also bear in mind that plenty of war year model trucks were built for the military, and the military sold off plenty of surplus trucks after the war.
Once the war ended and true civilian production resumed (for GM, it was October 1945 for trucks), then the chrome and stainless trim resumed. Very few '41, '46, and '47 trucks have painted trim. Most had the grilles, hood trim and hubcaps chromed, as well as the stainless trim on the headlights and windshield. This was standard on these trucks. The front and/or rear bumper may have come chromed or painted, Wartime production did not have any of that. The truck in question does, however. I'd say it's a '41, very early '42, a '46 or '47. Every true wartime production US truck I've ever encountered that is stock, has been totally devoid of chrome and stainless trim. Take my '41 Plymouth, in my avatar. It's a late '41 build (April '41) and had a lot of chrome on it. The hood trime, grille inserts, front bumper, door handles, window cranks, and taillight trim is all chrome, and the interior stainless is there, too. Plenty of '41, '46, and '47 trucks have brightwork on them.
the guy has a 1944 ***le for it. He said the bed floor is stock and steel. Did civilian models have steel bed floors?
I talked to him today and he said he was very firm on the price but i know money talks. Have you seen it in person by chance?
You're right. I was so intent on studying the paint color/fade the chrome trim work didn't even register. That '45 I had when I was a kid didn't have a bit of chrome anywhere inside or out. I'd be su****ious of the ***ling on this one for sure. I wonder though, if it could be possible that the body and/or frame was made in '44 but wasn't ***embled until after the war and was issued a '44 ***le because it already had a serial number from '44? That might explain the chrome on it?
Not sure about GMC but IH ***led theirs by the year they were sold. My 42 k3 has chrome headlight rings, door handles, window cranks, SS wipers which all could have been changed out over the years, as previously stated by others.
my '42s are both ***led and ch***is #'s confirm them as 42's. both have chrome grills, both have steel beds. some of the info i have found on this stuff just doesn't jive, info here included. stuff that i thought was THE identifier for these trucks 2 years ago is just dead wrong. i figure that they just used what was available in the factories on these trucks. yours looks pretty nnice, man......get it.
Had a 44 once no chrome and the bed was diamond plate very well done not shoddy but all diamond plate was told because of the war, was also green and black.Those trucks are very cool who cares what year,if it was around here it still wouldn't be for sale that's for sure.
Looks like it's got artillery wheels on it too, that's cool. What kind of mods do you have planned for it? A hopped up Stovebolt, a T-5 and a modern rearend? I think you'd be fine there, even the resto guys wouldn't give you too much grief. But if you want it chopped and bagged on an S10 frame or something like that, you're better off to find a cheaper, less desirable body to start with.
We had a 44 Chevy 1 1/2 ton my dad got new in 44 ( he was supplying beans to the war effort so was able to get one). I agree, someone might of change the grill and trim, I know ours had no chrome or stainless. See if the original weatherstripping & welting (or the remains of) is still there. All of it on our truck was cloth instead of rubber due to the shortage of rubber. Ours also had a painted cab floor with no mat of any type. Really broke my heart when we sold it at our farm auction a few years ago, only had 50,000 miles on it and still ran great. I wanted to keep it but I had no place to keep that big a truck.
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