Classic Pickups Are Just One Bid Away

By Richard Truesdell
Photos courtesy of Mecum Auctions

Among 140 lots, vintage pickup truck enthusiasts will find more than a dozen trucks from the postwar era that would be a welcome addition to any collector's garage.

Over the last couple of years, especially since the Great Recession, the collector vehicle market has been negatively impacted in many ways. The value of muscle cars in particular has plummeted but they remain beyond the means of most enthusiasts. At the same time, interest in collectible trucks from the 1950s and '60s has increased dramatically with a corresponding steady rise in prices.

This momentum will be better gauged this weekend when Mecum conducts its Salmon Brothers Auction in North Little Rock, Ark. A number of especially tasty trucks will cross the block, covering many categories: stock, restored, original and modified. Best of all, each will be sold at no reserve, including the 1955 Chevy Cameo pictured above.

In reviewing the lots, more than a dozen interesting pickup trucks were spotted. They included a 1949 Mercury M-47, a Canadian-built version of the Ford F-series, a 1949 Diamond T-201, a 1957 Chevy Cameo, a 1961 Corvair Rampside and our favorite, a 1973 Jeep Commando. There's even a 1993 Ford Lightning available.

Car-based pickups, like the Ford Ranchero and the Chevy El Camino, are well-represented at the auction. A beautiful 1957 Ford Ranchero sporting a 292-cubic-inch Y-block Thunderbird V-8 caught our eye. Blue and white and equipped with wire wheels, it certainly can be considered the precursor to today's modern sport truck. It would be a great way to attend a local cruise night.

Some vehicles — like a very rare stock 1945 Hudson from the period just after World War II or a tastefully modified Corvette-powered 1948 Studebaker pickup — should go for big bucks, yet there should be some bargains among the lots.

We checked out a 1971 Ford F-series long bed with a freshly rebuilt engine and air conditioning that might be more budget friendly and could do double duty as a daily driver, great for runs to The Home Depot to pick up some 4x8 sheets of plywood.

The Salmon Brothers Auction, with 140 vehicles, engines and automobilia, will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, June 16, at 4343 Roundtop Drive, North Little Rock, Ark. Previews will be held noon to 5:00 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. (All times Central Daylight Time). You can register to bid at the Mecum website.

For more details on the trucks, check out the photo feature at Automotive Traveler.com.