’49 GMC catches Mike’s eye

When Michael was out looking at properties one day, a ‘49 GMC with a for sale sign caught his eye. He drove around the block a few times before finally getting the courage to ask about it. 

“The guy was on the way to some sort of a swap meet, and said if he didn’t sell it, it was mine to buy on that following Monday and it ended up being mine,” Michael said.

Michael said the truck was in rough shape when he purchased it. The motor didn’t work, much of the glass was broken, and nearly everything needed to be replaced. The truck did come with a spare cab in the bed.

The color, sometimes referred to as general blue or royal blue, comes from a toy model Michael kept on his shelf. Michael gave the model to his son, and when he purchased the ‘49, decided to paint it to match the model. 

“It drives like a fairly new truck,” Michael said. “We ended up putting it on an S10 Chevy frame — 80s version. I understand their universal frame. So really, we took the old parts off, put this new frame or newer frame underneath, and then we changed out the motor.”

Under the hood, Michael put a V8 305 Chevy engine in it and automatic transmission. 

“And then basically around that started putting the parts back together getting many of them from you guys,” Michael said. “I loved that because I could talk to someone and always found the people I spoke with knowledgeable.”

While Michael didn’t do the work himself, all the work was done locally in his hometown in Nebraska. A newspaper there did a story on how all the work was done locally. 

“It was just hard to find somebody willing to do the bodywork for me. Most of the guys just want to do collision work, that sort of thing,’ Michael said.

While the ‘49 isn’t a daily driver for Michael, he said it easily could be. 

“Just every time I have a sunny day here, I’ll take it out,” Michael said. “I’ve had people literally follow me to my home. I pull it up and park it in the driveway and I look out and people start taking pictures.”

“If it weren’t for you guys,” Michael said. “I couldn’t have done it.”