1945 Chevy Truck – There weren’t many Chevrolet pickups sold in 1945, for a variety of very good reasons. In fact, between March 9, 1942 and July 31, 1945, only the Office of Defense Transportation could authorize the sale of a light-duty truck to the civilian market, and over those three years the output of the entire industry totaled 56,128 pickups. Then it really got complicated, especially for GM. While production was still technically allocated for the military, it was obvious that America needed more commercial vehicles to replace those that had been worked to death during the War. In late summer 1945, the War Department authorized a limited run of half-ton Chevrolet trucks based on existing 115-inch wheelbase designs, for sale only to qualified and essential buyers. Even that restricted production was soon cut short when a massive 118-day UAW strike started on November 21, stopping almost all of GM’s factories. It is thought that fewer than 6,000 trucks were titled as 1945 vehicles during this period, and some unknown numbers of those were previously built for the military.
In addition to its rarity, we would say this is probably the nicest 1945 Chevy truck you will find. Why? Well, the previous owner got a little excited and poured about $70k into this truck after purchasing it and it shows. When you see it in person you will think its even better than the photos. While the motor is a built 350, you would almost think it was a LS swap until you pop the hood. It starts up easily, is very responsive, and overall… drives great! Another important quality is that this truck is all steel. The fenders look to have been skinned in fiberglass but a magnet will stick to every portion of this beauty. During the restoration the previous owner decided to go with a Corvette Yellow and pair it with some very nice beige leather bucket seats. Even after our 50 mile test drive to a from the photoshoot, this classic Chevy still has under 600 miles since the build was complete