Owner: Howard Jones During the recent annual convention of the American Truck Historical Society in Yakama, Washington we noticed that among the 813 registered trucks there was a Chevrolet that may be the only survivor of this design. The vehicle was a 1946 Chevrolet 2 ton with a Thornton dual rear drive. How unusual! This non-General Motors accessory allowed all four rear wheels to give pulling power. There is no disconnecting two wheels when on a highway! This was featured in the 1946 “Chevrolet Silver Book” which has pages of accessories that were not dealer or manufacturer’s products. Sorry, the pages from this book are so small in the Thornton photos. A few other photos taken at the convention are also included. The owner had made an opening in the new bed so there was a good view of the differential by the general public. This particular Chevy with Thornton drive is said to have carried a D-6 Caterpillar dozer off road in the 1950’s to clear the right of ways for local power lines. It also had a large water tank mounted to the front of the bed. The odometer reads 15,775 miles. It will reach a speed of 40mph on level ground. More details on the Thornton Drive and its current owner will be with our August 2013 Feature Truck of the Month.
A Real 4 X 4!
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