This truck was assembled in late September 1961 (240th E7 off the line for '62) and delivered to Beach Motors in Temple, Texas. Although the P2 wide box was standard by 1962, this truck was equipped with a P1 narrow box. It came from the factory with only OD listed on the production order, but the dealer installed things like climitizer, radio, and lighter. From what I have been able to gather from the second owner, a good friend of my father and uncle, the truck was originally owned by a local newspaper company and used to haul papers between Temple and Waco, Texas.
The second owner bought the truck off Beach's used vehicle lot sometime in the summer of 1965 to use as farm truck on his cotton/corn farm. Over the next 23 years, it was used on almost a daily basis doing regular farm work in addition to being the initial driver training vehicle for the owner's three children. In the early 1970s, the 259 was getting a little tired so my father and uncle found a 289 out of a 1963 Cruiser, went through the motor (installing R1 cam) and replaced the original power plant. In the spring of 1988, the truck was side-swiped on a gravel road and pushed into a deep ditch. Truck was hauled back to the farm for retirement...
In 1991, the second owner hauled the truck to an empty lot in Rogers, Texas, with a for sale sign on it. A busy highway runs through the town, but everyone who stopped to look at the truck were not willing to pay the $1200 because of the amount of body work needed to get the truck back on the road. My uncle had recently finished restoring his 5E7-112 and knew this truck and its history (my father tells me it was used a number of times to tow the 1951 Starlight coupe to the local drag strip). He and the owner agreed on a price and the truck was his.
Other than body work, the rest of the vehicle was in good shape. It still had its original headliner and padded dash (still do) and the drive train was still in good shape. Working for the next year under a pecan tree and in a tin shed, my uncle did all the body work, something he taught himself to do. Although I could only visit occasionally, I helped out where I could. My uncle had a friend who worked for a local body shop, so he arranged to have the truck painted on a Saturday morning, paying the guy "off the clock." The truck came from the factory in Reef Blue and a local paint retailer tried to match the color.
After finishing the truck in 1993, it was a regular attendee of Central Texas Chapter meets all over Central Texas, as well as occasional used to haul a 16' livestock trailer to sell stock once a year. When my uncle passed in 2002, he wanted the truck to go to me and has been in my ownership ever since.
In 2005, my wife and I moved to the Lehigh Valley of Eastern Pennsylvania, but did not have a place to keep the truck. In 2007, we purchased a home that had an old garage the truck would fit in. So...during that summer we traveled back to Texas and I drove it back over two 13 hour days.
I am constantly trying to improve/update things, but I still like to use it for what it was built for: to work.
Truck is lot of fun and always has lots of people looking - my uncle was always embarrassed when people would talk about how nice the truck looked - he used to always say, "oh, its just an old farm truck..."
The second owner bought the truck off Beach's used vehicle lot sometime in the summer of 1965 to use as farm truck on his cotton/corn farm. Over the next 23 years, it was used on almost a daily basis doing regular farm work in addition to being the initial driver training vehicle for the owner's three children. In the early 1970s, the 259 was getting a little tired so my father and uncle found a 289 out of a 1963 Cruiser, went through the motor (installing R1 cam) and replaced the original power plant. In the spring of 1988, the truck was side-swiped on a gravel road and pushed into a deep ditch. Truck was hauled back to the farm for retirement...
In 1991, the second owner hauled the truck to an empty lot in Rogers, Texas, with a for sale sign on it. A busy highway runs through the town, but everyone who stopped to look at the truck were not willing to pay the $1200 because of the amount of body work needed to get the truck back on the road. My uncle had recently finished restoring his 5E7-112 and knew this truck and its history (my father tells me it was used a number of times to tow the 1951 Starlight coupe to the local drag strip). He and the owner agreed on a price and the truck was his.
Other than body work, the rest of the vehicle was in good shape. It still had its original headliner and padded dash (still do) and the drive train was still in good shape. Working for the next year under a pecan tree and in a tin shed, my uncle did all the body work, something he taught himself to do. Although I could only visit occasionally, I helped out where I could. My uncle had a friend who worked for a local body shop, so he arranged to have the truck painted on a Saturday morning, paying the guy "off the clock." The truck came from the factory in Reef Blue and a local paint retailer tried to match the color.
After finishing the truck in 1993, it was a regular attendee of Central Texas Chapter meets all over Central Texas, as well as occasional used to haul a 16' livestock trailer to sell stock once a year. When my uncle passed in 2002, he wanted the truck to go to me and has been in my ownership ever since.
In 2005, my wife and I moved to the Lehigh Valley of Eastern Pennsylvania, but did not have a place to keep the truck. In 2007, we purchased a home that had an old garage the truck would fit in. So...during that summer we traveled back to Texas and I drove it back over two 13 hour days.
I am constantly trying to improve/update things, but I still like to use it for what it was built for: to work.
Truck is lot of fun and always has lots of people looking - my uncle was always embarrassed when people would talk about how nice the truck looked - he used to always say, "oh, its just an old farm truck..."
BP
Like Bob P. I also like the look of the 8' P1 boxes (probably why I still have one). 
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