History What is the difference. A question for mid 50s Chebby truck guys

This will probably not take long. It is a legit question at least for me.

I was looking at an ad for a First Series '55 Chevrolet Pickup. Got me to thinking.

Is the First Series Five Five just an AD truck? Was there any real difference? Was GM just getting rid of old parts or ????

 

Nothing factual here, but my take on it was they continued producing the '54 or near '54 (early '55) until they were ready to produce the all new '55.

 

First series 55 had a open drive shaft.

 

Yes, as saltflats sez, '55 had the open driveshaft of the '55 2nd series. The '54 had the torque tube of the earlier AD trucks. The other differences from '54 were paint schemes (grille was painted body color on the '54 and a white on the '55). The '53 Ford pickups caught GM by surprise and the '54 and '55 1st series Chevys were just slight facelifts of the AD design until they could bring the new Task Force series into production.

 

Chevy was pretty busy getting the new cars designed and produced...give them some slack for taking half a year to get the trucks completely redesigned, also.

 

Don’t think you could lose with either one.

 

Good question! I’d always wondered as well

 

And the hood side emblems were different than the 54. That, and the open driveline as stated above are the only two things I can think of.

 

I have the 55 1 series on here, and ronzmtrwrx is right. He he is exactly right.

 

Kinda like how early '47 Fords were the same as '46 Fords (until about Feb or Mar of '47) and the later '47s were same as the '48s. The transistional stuff has always fascinated me (but I am easily amused). Another example, the "Spring Special" trim and two-tone paint on later '54 Dodges was a precursor to the two and three-tone paint on the '55 Dodges.

 

And if you ever come across a glove box door or ashtray for a '54 / 1st series '55, grab it. One year only
and very scarce. Same goes for the radio.....

 

The top of the bed rail is different between them. Ad series has a slanted top rail and 55 - 59 up has the flat top rail.

 

Slanted top on the bed ended 53. Different chassis in 54-55 had less kick up to allow for a deeper bed. There are lots of differences year on year with AD trucks. And then there's my anomaly, a RHD 55 1st that retained the 53 style split screen cab and dash.

 

Wow. That’s interesting. There surely can’t be many of those left around.

 

I'd love to know the global production figures for RHD 55 1st Series. As far as I know all 55s in NZ were 1st series ex Canada. Can't be many, but I've seen a few around here.

 

Chevy slipped the curved windshield in there at some time for the later cabs. That’s a pretty big change and shoots down the old “just using up old parts “ theory.

 

The early '55s were still "Advanced Design", but mainly a stop gap model until (like Squirrel said) they could get the "new" trucks going with new sheet metal, V8's, etc. to compete with Ford and Dodge.

 

Weren’t the beds (not fenders) on the ‘55-1 the same as used on the 55-9’s?
My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I’d put a new tail gate on my ‘57 when I had it painted in ‘77/78. A classmate at school bought my old tail gate for his ‘55-1.
I can’t recall if he used it or not. But this thread sparked my memory of that.

 

Yes the tailgates interchange once the beds changed to the flat tops. The earlier slanted top beds are different.
Chevrolet did the carryover of the old model while introducing the newer model several times, in fact they did it
when they introduced the AD series as well.

 

''Weren’t the beds (not fenders) on the ‘55-1 the same as used on the 55-9’s?''
Same physical size, but .... the '54-5 1st bed sides are indented to fit early fender, and the '55 2nd - '59 indented for the late.

 

Radio delete plates too!

 

I believe the '55 First, was also 12 volt. I could be wrong. As mentioned, the '55 First had open drive.

Without a doubt, they are the best of the Advance Design Series.

 

Chevrolet did this a few times over the years with different models (car and truck), but I can only think of 2 right now...........

 

55 1st were 6 volt.

 

I have a '54 and am lucky enough to have an extra radio, speaker and block off plate sitting on the shelf.
Hoping it might be a good trade item someday. Bob

 

Interesting thought. Not totally on topic for this thread but AD Driveline related. The 3/4 AD trucks had an open driveline. Well not completely they had a stub shaft that was encosed from the back of the tranny (about a 1 foot to 18 inches long) then a common open driveshaft from there back. I had a '49 3/4 ton and thought that if I ever wanted to run a later rear on an AD truck I could just use the 3/4 ton tranny.

Lots of good info. Thanks

 

Beano, I have never been a Chevy truck guy but if the right 55 Chevy second series came along at the right price I could be happy with parking one in my garage, they are absolutely beautiful in my eyes. HRP

 

LOL there is a tri five chebby truck in the class ads now that is really reasonable. I think that @sodas38 has it.
I have never owned a Tri Five Chebby truck, the Five Six is my favorite, I think it has the best looking grill. For what ever reason my '50s era trucks have mostly been Fords, about half of them Ford powered. LOL

 

frame rails on 54 & first series 55's don't kick up over the rear axle as much as 53 on back

 

Here's something I've seen several times over the past 50 years .... late '55 fenders on early '55 trucks. One was a 3/4 ton that was still in the original buyer's family. The other was so long ago that the details are foggy ... anyone else ever seen this on a truck that wasn't altered or repaired ?