May/June 2020 Vintage Truck

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The May/June 2020 issue of Vintage Truck magazine will soon be available on newsstands. Our cover story about Mark and Kathi Tronstad’s 1948 Chevrolet Suburban was written and photographed by Candace Brown.

Mark and Kathi Tronstad, who live in eastern Montana, created a serious challenge for themselves when they decided their next vintage vehicle should be an early-
postwar Chevrolet Suburban. Finding one seemed impossible. They had owned pickups from that era and sold them. Now they wanted something of the same vintage but excitingly different.

“We wanted a Suburban, because it didn’t seem like there were any around,” Mark Tronstad said.

In July 2006, the couple was driving around when they saw a half-dozen old vehicles parked on some property. A sign in the front yard advertised car trailers for sale and showed a phone number, which they immediately called. They asked the man who answered if he knew of any old Suburbans.

“Well, yeah,” he replied. “I have one in my backyard.”

True to his word, the property owner had a 1948 Chevrolet Suburban. The once-handsome Advance Design people carrier had obviously been ignored for decades and was a complete mess. Pouring gasoline down the carburetor got the engine started, but the head had seven cracks. Body repairs had been made with lead, over which sat an ugly paint job in a tan color with some mysterious blue paint showing in places. A sun visor held an April 1958 calendar page. The front splash pan and the piece between the rear bumper and the body were both missing, along with the fog lights. The brand of tires the Suburban was wearing, U.S. Royal, had not been sold since 1961, and the original wheels had white house paint on them. To make things worse, someone had shot out every piece of glass in the truck.

Most people would have walked away from this challenge, but the Tronstads saw the potential beauty beneath the ugliness.

“It was exactly what we were looking for, and the price we negotiated was about what we wanted to spend,” Tronstad said. “It’s like it was meant to be.”

To read more about our featured Chevrolet Suburban pick up a copy of the May/June 2020 issue of Vintage Truck magazine!

Articles in this issue include:

  • The Horse Power Wars
    Howard Bowers’ 1914 International Model M-W helped wean America off the hoof!
    Text by Robert Gabrick, Photos by Brad Bowling

  • Thriftmaster Calvin
    Mark and Kathi Tronstad’s 1948 Chevrolet Suburban
    Text and photos by Candace Brown

  • The Assembled Truck
    Bob Rayot’s 1934 Ford Pick-up was an eight-year-long NOS restoration!
    Text by Robert Gabrick, Photos by Bill Erdman

  • Camiones de Cuba
    Our man in Havana reports on the local truck talent!
    Text and photos by Tom Gibson

  • Letter from the Editor

  • Letters to the Editor

  • Dodge Garage: 1957 Dodge W-100

  • Delivery Designs: 1959 Studebaker Lark Panel Wagon

  • Independent Trucks: Why my 1960 Willys Jeep pickup is named “Loretta”

  • The Road Less Traveled: William Durant’s Star commercial vehicles

  • Hey Loren!

  • Aid for the Anxious Amateur: Alternator Replacement Time?

  • Classifieds

  • Show Guide

  • Granny Gear: Hey, Oz! Don’t Forget the Scarecrow!

  • Gallery: Photo courtesy Leondia Walchle

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