1938 Chevrolet 1 1/2 Ton Truck

My Truck is a 1938 Chevy 1 ½ ton truck which started its life as a U.S. Postal truck. According to my research, it was used as a delivery truck for mail for many years in the Los Angeles region. At one point in time the truck was used in scenes of a TV series called the Desert Fox as a military vehicle. It was later sold to an Arizona resident and was relocated here.

I purchased the truck in 1987 it was drivable but in very poor shape. I researched its original use but decided to remove all the sheet metal from the outside which revealed that the wood structure underneath was rotten and falling apart. At the time the truck had only one seat for the driver with a door next to it in order to enter into the rear cargo area. All of the wood in the doors, floor, sides and roof were severely damaged by years of water damage and many areas had been replaced with plywood. I decided to make it a usable vehicle to use in parades for the grandchildren and other stationary events.

It took over 25 years of love, sweat, time and money. I was a working Firefighter for 20 of those years and in my spare time, the reconstruction began. I disassembled the entire vehicle piece by piece complete to the chassis. I sandblasted the frame, removed the wheels and had a body shop rework all of the metal body parts. It took several months to build each door from solid oak and to customize the window frames to contain operable windows. The rear of the truck is also comprised of solid oak. I had researched catalogs for many needed parts and the progress was very slow for the next several years. I finally got the engine, transmission and rear end rebuilt.

I then began on the fuel system, wiring, lights and cooling system. All of the chrome parts were re-plated and the wheel rims were powder coated. New tires were ordered and installed. A local shop painted the exterior for me.

The truck was finally ready for its debut and was in the St. Patrick’s Day parade along with the grandkids at which time they passed out candy. It has been at several local car shows including the Melrose Ave days. Then life took a turn. A year later our daughter suddenly passed away 8 days after delivering our last granddaughter, Naomi. The time and enthusiasm to maintain “Giggles” was lost due to these circumstances and new obligations.