AutoHunter Spotlight: 1955 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup

Featured on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, is this 1955 Chevrolet 3100 pickup.

When someone in the collector community talks about a ’55 Chevy, everyone’s mind instinctively goes to the iconic Bel Air hardtops and sedans. But we can’t forget that Chevrolet made more than just passenger cars during that era. The brand’s pickups – and particularly the “Advance Design” versions from 1947 through 1955 – have an enthusiast following all their own. This 3100 from the final model year of the generation is being offered by a dealer in Houston with a clear title along with a tonneau cover, a radio, wooden bed planks, and a “Thriftmaster” 235cid inline-six paired with a three-speed automatic transmission.

About three decades ago, this pickup went through restoration and a fresh coat of red paint was applied to the exterior. The overall look is completed with chrome trim for the bumpers, grille, headlight rings, badging, and door handles and a black vinyl snap-in tonneau cover which goes over the bed. A set of steel wheels on whitewall tires provides footwork, and a matching full-size spare tire has been added to the driver side of the body.

Moving inside the cab, we see a clean gray cloth interior and admire the simple layout. Instrumentation is concise and consists of a 90-mph speedometer and a combination gauge showing fuel level, oil pressure, coolant temperature, and voltage. Even though the odometer reads 61,031 miles, the selling dealer states that true mileage on the chassis is unknown.

The Advance Design’s exterior design remained mostly consistent, but it’s worth noting that there were many changes over the truck’s nine-year lifespan. Among them, the transmission shift levers were moved, the fuel tank was reconfigured and relocated, the badging was changed, the shock absorbers were modified, vent windows were added, and the outer door handles went from turn-down style to push-button type. A big cosmetic update happened in 1954 when the grille changed from having horizontal slats to bearing a new crossbar design that became known as the “bull nose” as seen here.

Mechanically, this well-kept truck employs Chevrolet’s tried and true inline-six along with chassis elements like a solid front axle, a solid rear drive axle, and manually-activated four-wheel drum brakes.

This truck could be a nice blank canvas for a custom build, or it could be driven and shown as-is. As much as we all love a clean “tri-five” Chevy hardtop, there is a lot to love about the hardworking trucks like this one that shared dealership showrooms with the Bel Air.

The auction for this 1955 Chevrolet 3100 ends tomorrow, Friday, August 18, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. (PDT)

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and photo gallery