Some of my fondest memories of both of my grandfathers involved their pickup trucks. My mother’s father, Papa, had an old black ’41 Ford with a light switch in place of a key and a family of mice that lived under the seat. That old Ford was the first driving experience that I had. I must have been about 10 or 11 years old when Papa and I would go for a ride along the sandy tobacco roads on excursions to the fishing pond or just to ride around. Papa would slide over to the very edge of the seat and I would take the wheel. My feet could barely touch the gas pedal. I can remember just before sliding over he would say “don’t tell your grandmother that I let you drive this thing.”  After he passed away in the late 70’s, my grandmother sold the truck so that she could fix up her house. I will always cherish those memories and I wish that I still had that truck.

My Dad’s father, Paw, had a green first series’55 Chevrolet Deluxe Cab. Paw was born in 1900 and was a family man by the time the depression hit rural North Carolina. When he retired he raised strawberries and would deliver them in the truck. I remember seeing a picture of me and Paw standing beside the truck. My grandfather and the truck seemed huge to me at the time. I must have been five or six because Paw passed away in 1972.  

I still have Paw's truck. It sits under the shed at the farm beside the pile of tobacco sticks. The wood sides that Paw made are still there. They are still painted green. It is the same green paint that he used to paint the truck. He must have gotten a deal on the green paint because over the years I have found things that were painted that same shade of green.

Paw’s old green truck is the reason that I subscribe to Classic Trucks Magazine. I want to see what others have done with their old trucks. I want to get ideas about products and features and designs. So far there have been many beautiful examples of custom trucks. To me though, most of them are hot rods in the skin of a pickup. I want a Truck.  I want a truck that I can drive to the woods or across country.   I want a Truck that I can haul concrete block or run to the building supply store. One that I can drive to the Saturday night classic car gatherings  and on Monday I can drive for work.  I want a “Green” pickup truck: a truck that takes advantage of 2007 technology in fuel efficiency, driving, steering and handling.

I plan on fixing up that truck one day. I guess it will have to be sometime after my wife has her ’68 Mustang dream car finished. Some time before I restore that ’62 cabin cruiser that I bought 16 years ago for $200 when I was “in between jobs”. Some time after I build a workshop.  

Yeah, thats how it is for most of us. It would be real easy to write the perfect Alan  Jackson song just filling in the details about an old truck we grew up with.

It never ceases to amaze me how many trucks that we feature in Custom Classic Trucks are still owned by the original owner(s). I'd spend big stupid money to get back my dad's '58 Chevy big-window he bought new... even more stupider than what I just paid for my '56  Ford big-window.

Talk to you guys later.  

Brings back alot of memories We had a 52 ford that was in a wreck. A homemade bed was fabricated by my brother and the cab top was cut off. I learned to drive on this woods buggy, still wish I had it