Words: John Gunnell

In 1998, the automotive world underwent an historic change that has had a major effect on the aftermarket industry for the past 19 years. According to figures complied by Wards Auto, that was the year the production of trucks in North America exceeded the production of passenger cars. Out of a total of 16,032,875 vehicles manufactured in 1998, an impressive 8,102,907 were trucks.

The trending popularity of trucks seems to carry over into the world of collectors. According to Jay Grams, President of Sales at the Volo Auto Museum (www.volocars.com) an increasing percent of the 1,000 vehicles they sell each year are light-duty commercial vehicles such as pickups, panels, sedan deliveries and small service trucks. Volo has about 400 vehicles on display at any given time and about 225 of them are for sale. About 10-15 percent of those are trucks.

Five separate showrooms house the for-sale vehicles, and one of them features only stock pre-World War II trucks. Most of these are Fords. The other four showrooms hold mostly postwar vehicles. However, there is at least one non-stock prewar truck included. It is a green 1940 Ford hot rod pickup with lots of cool touches, like pin striping, fender skirts, a sun visor, side boards and more.

There’s lots of chrome on this brightly finished workhorse, including a ribbed hood center molding, chrome headlight rims, a “towel rack” style front bumper guard, bumper end wings, fog lights, long neck mirrors, full wheel covers, chrome taillight housing rings and chrome exhaust extensions. The gas filler tube, exiting on the left rear fender, also has a bright metal cap.

The front fenders, rear fenders, cargo box sides and tailgate are all nicely pin striped in proper “Old School” style. So is the nose of the hood on both sides. The doors carry a “Rosie the Riveter” type graphic with “We Can Do It” lettered above it. The sideboards have National Hot Rod Assoc. plates that show a roadster and the inscription “Dedicated to Safety.” The truck has fully skirted pontoon style rear fenders. There is a windshield sun visor mounted, too.

Jay Grams told Hot Rod Hotline that he is not a truck buff himself, but he is on top of the trend towards trucks and knows he can sell iconic examples of the breed, like this “old school” style, dressed up Ford.

“We can sell trucks like this one as fast as we can buy them,” he said. “The truck thing is really happening and there’s lots of interest in hot rods. This is the best of both worlds.”