Photo: Mecum
The Chevrolet 3100 is a constant presence in the news, despite the fact it hasn't been made new for close to seven decades now. The half-ton representative of a line of pickup trucks Chevy used to call Advance-Design is constantly being reimagined by more or less talented hands in America, and the general public (myself included) seems to be a sucker for the model.
We've seen over the years a wide assortment of 3100s come to light, each of them different from the other in scope, execution, and style. Most of them are very likable, visually, and mechanically impressive, and that's why they change hands repeatedly for ever-increasing sums of money.
The example we're here to look at now will be trying to do the same at the end of the month in Dallas, Texas, where auction house Mecum will be sending it under the hammer. And it goes there looking like no other Chevy 3100 we've seen in recent times.
It's the lack of a roof over the cab that makes it special and instantly noticeable in a crowd. It is a bold choice for the unknown crew behind this project, one that clearly makes the truck a sight to behold.
The 3100 looks thanks to the roof chop like a combination between an old-school hot rod and a show-quality workhorse. It's a choice of style that strangely enough works, as despite it being immediately noticeable, the pickup does not step too far into weird territory.
We would have liked it even more had its body been modified a bit more, and painted in something more alluring than the awful blend of House of Kolor blue and pinkish flames that lick their way from the front over the fenders and doors.
I mean, there's a huge disconnect between the seemingly amateurish exterior and the stunning interior, with its clean and straight tan seats, dashboard, center console, door panels, and wheels (I choose to ignore the carpets in there). And the same happens at the rear, where the blue of the bed sides makes the clean two-piece tonneau cover in tan look undeservingly out of place.
It's somewhat of a bitter taste seeing the truck like this, and it kind of makes you feel you're staring at a missed opportunity.
The mechanical bits of the truck are not shabby though. The 1999 Chevrolet S10 frame on top of which the all-steel body of the 1947 3100 was dropped holds a ZZ$ 350ci engine rated at 355 horsepower and rocking a Holley carburetor, automatic transmission, and Flowmaster dual exhaust.
The truck is selling from the Mecum lot as a 1999 Assembled Vehicle, and it plans to do so with a little over 20,000 miles (32,000 km) on the clock. There is no estimate as to how much it is expected to fetch, but there seems to be a reserve on it.
The example we're here to look at now will be trying to do the same at the end of the month in Dallas, Texas, where auction house Mecum will be sending it under the hammer. And it goes there looking like no other Chevy 3100 we've seen in recent times.
It's the lack of a roof over the cab that makes it special and instantly noticeable in a crowd. It is a bold choice for the unknown crew behind this project, one that clearly makes the truck a sight to behold.
The 3100 looks thanks to the roof chop like a combination between an old-school hot rod and a show-quality workhorse. It's a choice of style that strangely enough works, as despite it being immediately noticeable, the pickup does not step too far into weird territory.
We would have liked it even more had its body been modified a bit more, and painted in something more alluring than the awful blend of House of Kolor blue and pinkish flames that lick their way from the front over the fenders and doors.
I mean, there's a huge disconnect between the seemingly amateurish exterior and the stunning interior, with its clean and straight tan seats, dashboard, center console, door panels, and wheels (I choose to ignore the carpets in there). And the same happens at the rear, where the blue of the bed sides makes the clean two-piece tonneau cover in tan look undeservingly out of place.
It's somewhat of a bitter taste seeing the truck like this, and it kind of makes you feel you're staring at a missed opportunity.
The mechanical bits of the truck are not shabby though. The 1999 Chevrolet S10 frame on top of which the all-steel body of the 1947 3100 was dropped holds a ZZ$ 350ci engine rated at 355 horsepower and rocking a Holley carburetor, automatic transmission, and Flowmaster dual exhaust.
The truck is selling from the Mecum lot as a 1999 Assembled Vehicle, and it plans to do so with a little over 20,000 miles (32,000 km) on the clock. There is no estimate as to how much it is expected to fetch, but there seems to be a reserve on it.
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