When Chevrolet launched its new “Advance Design” truck again in 1947, the “advance” half wasn’t simply intelligent promoting hyperbole—the truck itself was a quantum leap in refinement and functionality over GM’s earlier pre-war choices.
And the styling? Nicely, let’s simply say for those who ask somebody to image an old-timey pickup truck of their head, there’s a superb likelihood they’re picturing a Chevy Advance Design.
However by the mid Fifties, the Advance Design had superior far sufficient, and Chevy debuted an all-new truck for 1955.
Dubbed the “Activity Drive” line, these vans have been nonetheless derived from the GM A-body chassis that dated again to the Twenties. They carried on the same naming conference used within the earlier Advance Design fashions too, with 3100 denoting a light-weight obligation 1/2-ton quick mattress and 3200 reserved for the lengthy mattress model. 3600 and 3800 have been used on the three/4- and 1-ton vans, respectively.
In 1958 the numerical sequence beginning being phased out in favor of extra dynamic names like Apache (3100), Viking (3600), and Spartan (3800).
Curiously, the brand new Activity Drive vans have been launched halfway by means of 1955 and have been offered alongside the outgoing 1955 Advance Design fashions. (The mannequin overlap isn’t that uncommon within the automotive business although—heck, Dodge did the identical factor with the Dart and Aspen 20 years later.)
And identical to the Advance Design of which it changed, the brand new Activity Drive vans have been a large push ahead in truck design and functionality.
For starters, vans within the Activity Drive sequence may very well be geared up with the first-generation small block Chevy V8. The soon-to-be-legendary SBC powerplant bowed with a 265ci displacement and joined the venerable Chevy inline six engine on the choices sheet.
Different refinements have been baked into the Activity Drive recipe too, notably a 12-volt electrical system and non-compulsory energy steering, energy brakes, and an computerized transmission.
The styling was revolutionary as effectively, with wraparound glass to enhance visibility within the cockpit and a extra streamlined, fashionable grill and headlight therapy.
The Activity Drive line additionally introduced with it the Cameo submodel. The Cameo boasted car-like refinements and sleeker styling to cater to a broader truck market. Extra importantly, it featured a novel fiberglass mattress and rear tailgate design that gave the Cameo a contemporary, streamlined look.
In different phrases, the Cameo helped foreshadow the shift from utilitarian workhorse rigs to in the present day’s posh fashionable vans and SUVs.
When the unique Advance Design vans reached iconic standing within the collectors and sizzling rodders arenas, the Activity Drive technology wasn’t far behind.
And contemplating how simple it’s to change one in all these basic haulers, once we noticed this near-stock 1955 mannequin pull into the Summit Racing Retail Retailer car parking zone, we knew it needed to be a Lot Pictures function.
We’re not completely certain the painted wheels are inventory—however they give the impression of being darn good. All of the chrome and bodywork was spotless as effectively, so it’s clear it is a well-cared-for truck.
Alas, we couldn’t monitor down its proprietor to get particulars on the drivetrain.
We do nonetheless, know this explicit truck is a 1955 mannequin, due to the position of the fender badge—in 1956, it moved above the beltline crease.
One other simple clue is the smaller hood emblem, which elevated in dimension (with longer aspect spears) for 1956 too.
Because the Fifties got here to an in depth, so did the Activity Drive period. In 1960, Chevy debuted its new truck design—one which lastly shed its historic A-body underpinnings that dated again to Calvin Coolidge.
The brand new vans ditched the ultimate remnants of the 3100-series numerical designations too, in favor of the now-familiar C- and Ok-Sequence monikers—although the Apache title caught round for a couple of extra years.
Extra importantly, the brand new first-generation C-/Ok-series vans would set up GM’s truck design language for the subsequent decade and set the stage for the fabled “Squarebody” vans to reach within the early Nineteen Seventies.
