My father, brother, and my "Holy Grail"..the elusive truck that will never be sold

My father, brother, and my "Holy Grail"..the elusive truck that will never be sold..I had to share.. 23 years ago(I was 11 when this started) I asked my dad to pull over on Lindsay and Baseline so I could ask this guy if he would sell his 1949 all original truck that had been sitting for a few years. The guy was approx 50 or so at the time and absolutely refused, but was really cool to talk to. About every 5 years or so I would stop in and check if he would sell it all the while it sat unmoved in his backyard. The last time I visited was about 8 years ago now and he wasn't doing super great but still had a strong enough will not to let go of the truck. Three weeks ago I was going to stop by and see how he was doing and noticed some yellow police caution tape as I approached his yard and noticed his fence was mowed down. I looked in the back and saw that the truck had been hit head on by someone who came off Lindsay road..Truck is a total loss now, and I didnt have the heart to stop and ask what happened.. Fast forward to Monday this week. I finally figured I would stop by and sit and talk with the old man I couldnt take it anymore.. As I approached the front door I could already tell something was wrong as I noticed two newer vehicles a jeep liberty and his 89 chevy truck that he was driving had m***ive amount of black widow webs all over them, and another liberty that was clean. As I aproached the door it was open which is unusual here in AZ right now as it is 100 degrees and most of us have ac on already. I knocked on the door and his wife answered(I vaguely remembered her). She explained that he had p***ed away two years ago and that she moved in with her daughter in her home in Tempe so the house sat empty. Her daughter was about two weeks away from moving the 49 chevy to her house to start a small restoration on the truck when a distracted driver came through the fence and hit the 49 head on..(The vehicle was a 2000ish explorer). Long story short they didnt have the resources time or desire anymore to keep the truck and were getting ready to sell it to the highest bidder on craigslist. Being that I wanted the truck for almost 25 years I gave her an offer probly more than it was worth but it was me, my dad and my brother who was also into these trucks for years "holy grail" unubtainium truck... She accepted the offer and I came back the following day and got my *** handed to me by the truck..IT took me 5 hours yesterday and 2 hours today but I finally got it on the trailer today and brought it home..














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Glad you finally got it, but damn shame that it got hammered like that. What's the plan for it?

 

some things were meant to be!
do not dis***emble the front end until you do a "pre pull". take the time to chain the truck to something solid [like a big tree] and pull the front end out as best you can, even tho you may have plans to replace it all, it will help straighten out anything you are keeping.
good luck.

 

Congrats!

 

I've seen a lot worse fixed, looks pretty solid.

 

I know that area pretty well, and I remember that truck before cellphonebabe (I'm ***uming) plowed into it.

Plans?

-CC

 

You had my attention at "m***ive amounts of black widow webs". We just don't have anything like that up here. I have only ever seen one black widow in my life and it wasn't here on the coast.
Good luck fixing up the truck, looks saveable with a donor truck.

 

Amazing story! definitely stay in contact with the last family, Im sure they would love to see it fixed up and it would give them a nice piece of mind to know they're father/husbands pride and joy is still living on.

 

Looks like the front end crumple zone worked like a charm. Didn't realize they had that technology back then.

Pardon me for my Chevy ignorance, but besides the back story and generally solid shape before the accident, what makes this truck so desirable? The 5-window cab? What appears to may be a 3/4 ton ch***is (6-lug wheels) with a short bed? Not sure, honest question.

 

I live off Val Vista and Warner, and I have been thru that area countless times, I didn't even realize that the truck was there. It is all replaceable if need be. That really is a shame that it got hit. How far off the road was it? It looks like it was a little ways off of the road and if somebody wasn't yackin away on the phone or what ever, should have been able to stop.

I agree that you need to keep in touch with the family. If you ever need help, let me know.
Mark

 

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It's getting totally out of hand when they are actually leaving the roads to plow into you. For those that don't keep up with the latest, "distracted driver" is the new politically correct term for cell phone addicted ***hat.

Congrats! Good to see you finally own the truck. Great story, and it will be fun to see it being built. Be sure to keep us updated.

 

Find ya a clip and have at it. Neat story and truck!

 

6 lug was 1/2 ton.

 

Congrats on finally being able to purchase the truck. How to hell fast was that person going that hit it anyway. Thats a hard hit. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

 

Poor truck, im glad your fixing it. Keep us posted.

 

That will buff out haha nice score i chased a a36 coupe for years and the old guy would not sell stoped one day only to found out he let it go to the cusher

 

Great score!

 

Crazy story, as I am reading I can't help but to think that after sitting for 25 yrs it would be a pile of ate up lower third rust. At least if it was here there would be nothing left after that long and sure wouldn't think savable.
Good luck with what appears to be a solid truck.

 

Just needs a little lovin'
I'll watch

 

It may have been a total loss in 1949, but by todays standards That truck is very repairable! I do not see any rust and around here we have to replace the whole lower six inches of the cab just to have something decent. I would much rather push and pull on your cab than fix rust. although the cowl is bent, Once you get the mangled clip off of it and start pulling and pushing on the cowl, It should almost all come back out. You just need a donor clip, and possibly a frame, As if the frame is bent very bad at all (they are easy to find and in most cases cheap) Anyhow if this is your "Holy Grail" pickup. It is a good one to build.

 

Definitely worth saving! Cowtown is right, the cab, while dented, appears to be solid otherwise and all gl*** seems to be intact. The rear fenders and bed look real good too. Build that puppy!

 

That doesn't apply to AZ desert cars. They are usually 99% rust free, the only soft areas being parts of the floor pans where rain water got in and soaked the carpets. Often not even that, not even parked in thick brush.

-KK

 

Yup, "Arizona rust" is about all we ever deal with. That's when the corners of the windshield rubber shrink from the heat, break and let water down into the floor pan. Pisses me off, but it's a pretty common fix these days.

A good person to know here on the board that is local to us for parts is JERRY here in Phoenix. He seems to know where every A.D. truck is around town and has been driving his black primered '48 five window truck daily for about 25 years now. I have a '55 first series that has een in storge up in Cordes Junction for the better part of 3 years now that I finally have the room to bring down home and should be starting soon.

 

You may get lucky, looks like the Exolorer went over top of the frame. I'd love to have something that dry and straight to start with. Except for the front clip of course.

I'd be getting any black widows out of it somehow before entering it too!

 

Ah, black widows aren't a big deal, their EVERYWHERE around here. They move slow and are easy to see so ya just squish 'em from the top when ya see them. It does freak folks out from other parts of the country though I guess...

 

Old guy or not, he needed an *** kickin', ***uming you kept close contact with him and he had a memory left.

 

I was just about to suggest Grumpy's Chevy truck parts off I-17, but I just saw on his website they closed down thats a bummer. Even being a owner of an old Dodge truck I could still find a lot of universal truck stuff.
There is always the Chrome Guy in Glendale http://www.thechromeguy.com. He always has all kinds of parts for these and lots of shiny goodies to stick on it too.

 

Ah, for new stuff So-Cal is loaded with everything you'll need.

 

I got the front clip off the truck finally and the cab is worse than I thought. I wasnt too concerned about the spots where the fenders bolted up to it was more about the top where the hood seats too.. Will have to see. The frame barely got kissed but broke the leaf spring hangers. The engine may be a complete loss as i saw raw potmetal cracks in several locations. Looks like the only spot of true rust on this truck was p*** side near where a heater would normally be.. I may only be able to recover the bed from this wreck right now and put the frame and cab aside until I have a decent shop to do so serious chopping/pulling/stretching/etc to save the cab. In the mean time I have a 54 gmc that is minue the bed with heidts superride front suspension that the bed may find a home on for now until I find the correct 54-55 bed for it.. And yes the truck was kinda hidden off to the side of Lindsay road. If you google 909 Melody Rd Gilbert AZ you can see the truck in the back yard on the left towards lindsay still in one piece. I will post pics of the truck without the front end and maybe snap some pics of a black widow that transplanted itself from the 49 to my 54 ...I flippin hate spiders!

 

well that is a great story and Im sure the old man would be happy that you got the truck ! Good Luck with project and I hope you will keep us updated