At $35,000, Is This 1954 Chevy 3100 A Holiday Treat?

A popular theme this holiday season is “the little red truck hauling a Christmas tree.” Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Chevy only needs the tree to make that meme a memorable reality. Let’s see if its price tag is just as memorable.

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Last Friday, while others were out snarfing for last-minute holiday gifts, we spent our time here checking out a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 350SD SWB survivor. With its $3,800 asking price, that “Bank Vault Benz” might just be the one true gift that keeps on giving this holiday season. You all were in a giving mood as well, gifting the diesel Benz with an amazing 90 percent Nice Price win.

When you think about holiday traditions of the season, what springs immediately to mind? Is it falling snow? The hanging of holiday lights? Maybe it’s the annual ugly sweater contest held at work or the local pub. One bit of holiday hagiography that seems extra popular this year is the image of “a little red truck, hauling a Christmas tree.” It’s seemingly everywhere, and I think we deserve to get in on the game too.

Well, I’m short the tree, but I can at least bring you the Little Red Truck— notably this incredibly nicely restored 1954 Chevy 3100 pickup. You’ll just have to use your imagination—or maybe some holiday magic—for the festive conifer.

The truck alone is pretty sweet. It’s a five-window cab belonging to the Advanced Design series of trucks produced by Chevy from 1947 to 1955. This is a cab style that seems to be the most sought-after among collectors and is a pretty handsome style when paired with the vertical spare and wood-floored step-side bed.

It also presents in brand new “’tis the season” apple red paint over a frame-off rebuild. The restoration looks to have been well done and sensitive to the truck’s original spec and appearance. The wide whitewall tires (even the spare!) are an excellent touch too.

The cabin has new upholstery, headliner, and gauges sitting behind the original-spec steering wheel. It’s all very basic in here, right down to the rubber floor mats.

A 235 cubic inch “Thriftmaster” inline-six engine provides the truck’s power. First introduced in 1941, the Thriftmaster is probably best known for being the engine Chevy chose for the Corvette’s debut in 1953. It was added to the pickup line starting in 1954, where it makes 125 horsepower and 204 lb-ft of torque with its single barrel carb and a “runs on anything” 7.5 to one compression ratio.

Behind that is a Muncie three-on-the-tree manual transmission with non-synchro first for all you hair-chested types who are up to the challenge.

Everything under the hood looks to be in as-new condition and clean as a whistle. Also clean is the truck’s title, and it is being sold with current tags.

According to the ad, this Chevy is actually being auctioned, but there are some discrepancies there that we’ll need to go over. The Craigslist ad lists the truck at $41,000 but notes that it’s offered at auction and provides us with the link. That auction, however, has a Buy-It-Now price tag of just $35,000. Whatever the seller was thinking with this strategy, they’re just confusing people. We’re going with that lower price since it’s the cheaper option, even if we had to do a little digging to get there.

What’s your take on this “Little Red Truck, Not Hauling a Christmas Tree” and that $35K asking? Does that make it a solid deal for a cold Christmas morning? Or is that too much to haul this truck home?

You decide!

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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