63 cowl & chassis photo

[52-fan]

My bother pointed out a photo that he saw on eBay and commented that the body looked much older than the 63 chassis it was mounted on. After looking at the photo I had to agree. Look how much the windshield area and door set back mimic the 28 Studebaker housecar that was discussed several months ago.



Of course, in the world of trucks moving an older body to a newer chassis is not unusual, but this body must have had a long service life. I wonder if the same company built both bodies.

[41 Frank]

While there are some similarities in the two bodies I believe both were built for their particular chassis. In the world of trucks, RV's,school busses, milk trucks, etc functionality is the most important criteria, not style so much. Go look at a 1 ton U-haul truck sometimes, while most use the whole factory cab they still look a lot like the 63 truck body you pictured. The chassis pictured were manufactured as a flat faced cowl and the body companies to this day still adapt their bodies to the same configuration. The upright windshield is still with us today as styling is not really factored into building those bodies.

[stude53]

Frank, I agree about the ageless design of trucks. I also enjoy looking at re-purposed special truck and bus bodies into campers, RVs, vending trucks, etc. People with imagination and not much money can still come up with some pretty useful vehicles.

[52-fan]

The reason that I questioned the age of the 63 van body was that there are oddities that the 28 and this truck share that are not seen on later bodies. The triangular window resulting from the door hinge post being moved back is one thing in particular as well as the flat windshield visor. Most cowl and chassis conversions use the stock door post location and build from there.

[fargoguy]

Isn't that 63 Moving truck in someone's collection? Chester Bradfield's? I know i've seen more recent pics of it.

[52-fan]

It would be nice to see an interior shot of the 63 dash area. In the 28 the stock dash is surrounded by the fabricated extension of the cowl.

[studegary]

It was common for truck bodies, especially moving vans, to be transfered from a worn out or damaged chassis to a new chassis and kept in service.

[52-fan]

When I was in college, I sometimes worked for a Red Ball mover on holidays and the like. When he went from his 57 Chevy truck to a new one in 1970 he had the frame of the new truck lengthened and the old van body transfered over. The new truck with a 427 engine and air conditioning was quite a step up from the plain six cylinder 5 speed truck he traded in.