Pick of the Day: 1940 Chevrolet Pickup
By: ByTyson Hugie (ClassicCars. com Journal)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Pick of the Day: 1940 Chevrolet Pickup
Head-turner that sings Happy Birthday
Just when you thought you had seen it all in terms of classic car accessories, you come across something like this verbiage: "Novelty car. Barks like a dog, plays the National Anthem, Happy Birthday, and Jingle Bells." Say what? This needs a video to show all of that in action.
There is a lot going on with the truck from a cosmetics perspective, but it all works well. The two-tone green and black paint scheme is just the beginning; from tip to tail, there is a lot of brightwork to keep things sparkly. The truck is equipped with wide whitewall tires, chrome wheels, dual sideview mirrors, a windshield visor, shaved door handles, color-keyed running boards, wooden bed planks, and a dual exhaust system. One particularly interesting detail is that there are no individual taillights: Brake and turn signal communication is handled via one single LED strip that is mounted beneath the tailgate. The longer you look at this truck, the more customization stands out.
Model year 1940 marked the tail end of what was known as the "Master Series" of the General Motors A-body platform. This would be the final era of trucks that shared exterior design language with passenger coupes and sedans. Beginning in 1941 and thereafter (with what became known as the "AK Series"), pickups would receive more distinct engineering as people demanded trucks with more distinct towing, hauling, and all-terrain capabilities.
The interior of today's featured rig has been customized with a pair of gray cloth bucket seats that are separated by a padded center console. Other upgrades include modernized VDO gauges, a dash-mounted 8,000-rpm Pro Tach, a Grant steering wheel, a heater, and power windows. The hood opens on either side butterfly-style, and power underneath it comes from a 350cid small-block V8 mated to an automatic transmission. "When you raise the hood, all you see is chrome."
This parade-ready truck would be not only a head-turner, but also a conversation piece at your local cruise-in thanks to its musical talents.
Tyson Hugie
Tyson Hugie is a Phoenix-based automotive enthusiast who has been writing for The Journal since 2016. His favorite automotive niche is 1980s and 1990s Japanese cars, and he is a self-diagnosed "Acura addict" since he owns a collection of Honda and Acura cars from that era. Tyson can usually be found on weekends tinkering on restoration projects, attending car shows, or enjoying the open road. He publishes videos each week to his YouTube channel and is also a contributing author to Arizona Driver Magazine, KSLCars.com, NSX Driver Magazine, and other automotive publications. His pride and joy is a 1994 Acura Legend LS coupe with nearly 600,000 miles on the odometer, but he loves anything on four wheels and would someday like to own a 1950 Buick Special like his late grandfather's.
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In a way this vehicle could be said to just have the APPEARANCE of being a classic, because it's right up there with the recent models otherwise. But is there ANYONE on this site who wouldn't want to wheel this baby around the town? I'm the farthest thing from a truck driver and I'd LOVE to do it.
nice truck
Yep. Even though I'm not a truck person, I do like this one.
Seems to me I should stick to cars instead of trucks. I thought that from the tone of the comments on NT more members would be pickup truck people.
I have several trucks
Okay, you're one, are there no others on this site? My father's business had a big one, it was necessary.
I would love to drive that around. Looks like they did a tremendous job on that truck.
It's as if the only original thing about it is the outer shell - everything else is up to date.