If you're on a budget, look at mid-'60s GM and Ford pickups... especially a stepside Chevy. They're cheaper, easy to get parts for, and look dynamite.
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Aug. 28, 2011 6:03 p.m. darkbuddha Reader
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Aug. 28, 2011 7:44 p.m. wlkelley3 Dork
Gotta agree the 53-56 Ford truck are the best looking. Followed by the Chevy Cameo then mid-60's Chevy then late 50's Chevy followed by the early 50's Chevy. But I always have a soft spot for the not so popular so Studebakers are defintatly near the top of the list followed by the International.
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Aug. 28, 2011 10:24 p.m. MitchellC Dork
ditchdigger wrote:
It's got to be a COE for me
This is cool simply because it follows a design language completely foreign to modern passenger vehicles. I love the huge gap between the fenders and the top of the hood.
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Aug. 28, 2011 10:30 p.m. Feedyurhed HalfDork
Lots of us have developed a hankering for one of these......myself included. The auctions seem to prove this out as the 50s and 60s pickups and wagons are going for much more money these days.
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Aug. 28, 2011 11:18 p.m. Ranger50 Dork
While I agree on the 55 F100, I am partial to something more like these:
37 Ford pickup:
OR a 41 Willys pickup:
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Aug. 29, 2011 5:42 a.m. ddavidv SuperDork
Fords and Chevys will always be the easy to build, affordable choices. The early "fat fender" trucks are, and have always been, hugely popular with the rodder crowd so there is plenty out there that makes turning them into something more modern a bolt-on affair. Even though I'm a Ford guy, I tend to feel the Chevy wins in the styling department.
In 1955, Chevy really turned pickup design into styling. I'll do without the gaudy Cameo bed though, thank you.
Ford didn't really catch up until 1957. These trucks are very unrepresented and rarely seen for some reason. This design went through 1960 with a change to quad headlamps:
In 1961 Ford began what I feel is the 'modern' age of pickup design. To me, the Chevy is just a cluttered mess during the same period (61-66) but redeemed themselves in 1967. With the adaptation of Twin I Beam suspension in 1965 these trucks drive more-or-less like a modern truck.
Dodge and International, while fine trucks in their own right, simply didn't have the styling pizzaz of the big 2. The only other one that got it right (and more in an industrial way than a sexy automotive way) was the Jeep Gladiator. Good luck finding one of those that isn't rotted to pieces. 
Not really fitting the original thread title I know. But, the mid-50s through 60s trucks offer vastly bigger cabs for one thing. Wider frames make engine swaps easier. Even the stock drive trains for the period were quite capable of modern speeds and decent durability. Posted before, but my totally stock (except for front disc brakes) 1965 earning it's keep:
Unable to hotlink, so clicky
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Aug. 29, 2011 6:04 a.m. Will HalfDork
Ranger50 wrote:
While I agree on the 55 F100, I am partial to something more like these:
37 Ford pickup:
Just to be clear, this is a phantom, a body style that never existed. There's nothing wrong with that, but the real 37 Ford pickup looked considerably different, since it didn't use Ford passenger car sheet metal (or in this case, fiberglass).
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Aug. 29, 2011 7:53 a.m. 93EXCivic SuperDork
Studebaker
or the Ford
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Aug. 29, 2011 8:12 a.m. stuart in mn SuperDork
ddavidv wrote: In 1961 Ford began what I feel is the 'modern' age of pickup design.
With the adaptation of Twin I Beam suspension in 1965 these trucks drive more-or-less like a modern truck.
I have a '66 F-100, and it does drive pretty well for a 45 year old truck. The differential has 3.25 gears, so it's quite happy going down the road at 65mph. I haven't done it to mine, but power steering and power disk brakes from a newer (up to 1979, I think) F-series are a bolt on affair.
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Aug. 29, 2011 9:22 a.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork
'57 chevy is my overall favorite:
although i prefer the quad headlights of the '58 - '59 (gmc shown for extra obscurity):
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Aug. 29, 2011 10:33 a.m. slantvaliant Dork
This, in five-window form, please:
My first motor vehicle looked something like this:
I never drove it under its own power. One that got away. -
Aug. 29, 2011 5:03 p.m. ddavidv SuperDork
stuart in mn wrote:
Have you not found my web site yet?ddavidv wrote: In 1961 Ford began what I feel is the 'modern' age of pickup design.
With the adaptation of Twin I Beam suspension in 1965 these trucks drive more-or-less like a modern truck.
I have a '66 F-100, and it does drive pretty well for a 45 year old truck. The differential has 3.25 gears, so it's quite happy going down the road at 65mph. I haven't done it to mine, but power steering and power disk brakes from a newer (up to 1979, I think) F-series are a bolt on affair.
Disc brake conversion for 65-66 F series pickups
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Aug. 29, 2011 8:42 p.m. Wally SuperDork
I like my trucks to look like trucks, This Autocar is a nice looking '50's truck
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Aug. 30, 2011 12:56 a.m. EvanR Reader
Really? No one said this??
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Aug. 30, 2011 2:02 a.m. MrBenjamonkey HalfDork
Best looking truck of the era is either the Studebaker or this generation International c-100 stepside.
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Aug. 30, 2011 3:33 a.m. fasted58 Dork
these were always a fav of mine
