A coworker called me a few years back and said that his uncle, who was scrap dealer, had pulled in an old truck I needed to look at. He knew I liked “knee knocker” bodies and I prefer 6 cylinder engines over v8’s. I went and looked and as you can see in the first picture it was very rough. But, I saw potential and the old truck “spoke” to me. 250 bucks later she followed me home. I had it running the same night and just did little things to it along that first winter.

It is a rather unique find in that it is a 3/4 ton with a double low “granny gear” but also in that it is equipped with a 230 6 cylinder. After working along it eventually became my daily driver. I really feel at home driving it. My daughter at age 14 got out and hand sanded and spray painted to give her a cool patina look. The truck earned the name “ol Betsy” and has become something of a local celebrity. I have worked in auto parts for almost 30 years and ol betsy has become my calling card. People look for that truck to be at work to come in and deal with me. I also have those daily visits from people wanting to know if she is for sale and my answer is “not while i’m alive”! In fact the boss at the store I now manage asked me to park her in the front of the store rather than the employee lot in the back so my customers will know I’m there. And it has worked.

Aside from the points distributor being changed out for a factory HEI for obvious durability of the ignition system, everything else is bone stock and I intend to keep it that way. I have renewed several things like pedals, decals, window rubber, and glove box through LMC. They have been a valuable resource in keeping this true survivor on the road. No, she’s not a fancy souped up show truck, she’s a worker that never stopped and is the epitome of what the auto parts business and companies like LMC are all about.