Old cars and trucks are usually dropped off at the junkyard, but some owners opt to just park them in a barn or abandon them in the field behind the house. This 1953 GMC pickup truck is a slightly different story, as it was abandoned by its previous owner up on a mountain.
Recently rescued by a classic car enthusiast, this truck spent a whopping 28 years up on a mountain in North Carolina. But the story goes it was driven regularly until 1994, so it had a busy 40 years on the road. Why was it abandoned, you ask? Well, it turns out the floor rotted away and the owner was no longer allowed to drive it on public roads.
He decided to cut the rusty panels out, but he never got around to replacing them and he just left the truck in a forested area, exposed to the elements. Discovered decades later, the GMC was saved by YouTube's "FlatBroke Garage." And amazingly enough, the new owner got it running again.
Now sporting new floor panels, the truck is mostly a flower pot and a decoration vehicle parked in a yard. But don't let that fool you. Its inline-six engine came back to life after almost three decades of sitting and it still has what it takes to push the short-bed hauler around.
Fortunately, once he washed it and discovered that the truck is in better shape than he thought, the owner decided to restore it and put it back on the road. It has already taken its first drive in decades, but it's not exactly road-worthy. Hopefully, that will change sooner than later because this rare, vintage truck deserves another chance at life.
If you're not familiar with this GMC, it's part of the New Design generation that was produced from 1947 to 1955. It's GMC's identical counterpart to the Chevrolet Advance Design truck.
These haulers were initially offered with 216-cubic-inch (3.5-liter) inline-six engines. And it's probably exactly what this GMC has under the hood because this mill was retired after the 1953 model year. For 1954, GM offered 235- and 261-cubic-inch (3.9- and 4.3-liter) straight-six powerplants.
While rare, these trucks aren't particularly valuable. However, fully restored examples can go for as much as $30,000. See this abandoned truck come back to life and hit the road for the first time in almost 30 years in the video below.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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