What a Great Panel Truck!  This body style is rarely seen in today’s world. When new, they were usually used for carrying merchandise to the fast developing residential neighborhoods of the 1950”s. They were very successful in delivery of groceries, laundry, dry cleaning, or for any company that carried items from a supplier homes or business.

Our feature truck this month is one of the survivors of this era. This 1952 Chevy Panel Truck is owned by Richard Hernandez in Los Lunas, New Mexico.

He discovered the panel truck abandoned in a residential neighborhood backyard 20 years ago. The surrounding vegetation showed someone had lost interest several years before. The lady of the house up front stated her son; the owner, was incarcerated in a prison for years to come!

To Richard, retired military, it had great potential. The panel truck was soon at his home several miles away! As it was an unexpected purchase, he bought it with the future years in mind. The panel truck was placed in storage. When the time was right, he would begin a major restoration from the bare frame up. This all began about 2010. As it was to be Richard’s hobby, he would proceed with the project for almost 10 years to get it to the show quality today.

His “pride and joy” may look all original but under the body is a combination of later model mechanical updates to allow it to easily drive at higher freeway speeds.

The fuel injected later model Chevrolet V-8 gives this panel truck so much extra performance it could create a speeding ticket collection! Richard is careful.

Mustang II front disc brakes and the rear differential from the same vehicle gives the panel great stopping ability and a nice cruising that is just right.

A real attention getter wherever it is seen.

For the Perfectionist:

During the Advance Design years {1947-1955), GM offered a special panel truck as an option. This deluxe model was designed for a company wanting to give a more upscale appearance to their retail customers.

During the era of one car families, the lady of the house looked more toward home deliveries for essentials. GM knew there was a demand for this type panel truck in nicer residential neighborhoods. They targeted stores and shops that provided home deliveries. With a relatively small investment GM added a stainless steel trim package that gave their pre-existing panel truck a very special look. The chrome grill and bumpers plus stainless trim around the windshield and side door windows was already being used on the deluxe pickup.

GM then created some extras for their panel. Three horizontal strips at the lower edge of each fender, a long narrow horizontal spear toward the top of the front fenders, and a stainless edging surrounding the two rear door windows added to the panels’ appearance. Wheels were body colored with three stripes, not black as on the standard model.

You can contact Richard at: Rebels3SQD2010@gmail.com