COTM: 1950 Chevy 3100 Keeps It Classic

When Butch and Carol purchased a 1950 Chevy 3100, they wanted to restore the 7-decade-old truck, but keep it looking original.

Purchased almost six years ago, the Vanilla Shake colored pickup was very rusty to start, Butch said. From the windows to the gas cap, all the parts appear just as they did in 1950. 

“My wife’s only request was to keep the truck as original looking as possible,” Butch said. “So that’s when really all the modifications came in. Because we use the original steering column, the three-speed shifter operates the automatic transmission, it looks 100% original, other than the pedals and even the pedals, we tried to find something that looked, you know, era-appropriate, if you will.”

Carol said designing the color scheme and searching for parts that looked original was the most fun part of the restoration. When searching for someone to work on the truck, she wanted to find someone that would understand her wish to keep it original.

“It’s really cool, because I’m a girl, and I’ve designed this truck. And the guys love it,” Carol said. “So that kind of makes me feel good.”

Carol found the color when they were at a car show in Maryland. She noticed a Chevy car with a cream-like color. Carol left a note on a napkin in the front seat asking the owner to call her.

“Never thinking he would, but he did,” Carol said. “He asked me what I was rebuilding and I said, ‘A ‘50 Chevy truck,’ and he said ‘Okay, as long as it’s not the same as my car because it took me three years to find the color.’”

Carol received the paint’s name and number. Sometime later when they were looking at original parts and design, she discovered that Vanilla Shake was very close to an original color. 

Carol and Butch’s hard work has paid off. In addition to turning heads on the street, the truck has garnered some awards at shows. At a VFW show, the 1950 3100 won Best Paint and took home some unique hardware: an award shaped as a Gnome. 

“That’s one of the coolest awards I’ve ever seen,” Butch said. 

Butch’s advice for anyone looking to do a restoration: find the right people. 

“I think the things that I learned the most is there are a lot of knowledgeable people on different sites that are more than willing to help you,” he said.

“it’s just that it’s great to work with suppliers, like you, you know. Your folks have been great. You know, when you order an absolute ton of stuff at one time, and they pack in the box, sometimes stuff is damaged or cracked, or, you know, one of the windows was broken and it was just no hassle dealing with you folks. You know, which I think that’s what you look for in a supplier. You know, things happen. It’s called life.”