May/June 2024 Vintage Truck

The May/June 2024 issue of the magazine is available in our gift shop now and will be available on newsstands soon. Our cover feature is Doug Seybold’s 1940 Buick pickup. Story by Bob Tomaine • Photos by Al Rogers

Cover Story | 1940 Buick pickup

ONE HOT ROADMASTER

Doug Seybold’s 1940 Buick pickup is a genuine factory fire chief car!

Pickups based on passenger cars have been around since almost the beginning of the automotive era­—some in regular production, some built in low numbers, and some as one-offs. They have varied from simple, bare-bones conversions to vehicles carefully designed to make the best compromise possible.

Ford’s Model T pickup appeared for 1925 and is likely the most widely known example of this trend. Even a quick look reveals exactly what it is: a Model T coupe on which the “turtle deck” had been replaced with a small box, but Ford’s was not the only approach. Chevrolet was among the manufacturers in 1936 whose business coupes still looked much like business coupes even when they had pickup beds. The trick was to remove the trunk lid and place a small box inside the trunk. The American Austin and its post-bankruptcy successor, the Bantam, produced pickups through the 1930s that were as unmistakably car-based as the Model T.

•••

Buick calling

Where did all these models leave the customer who needed a stylish pickup but was loyal to a brand that did not offer one? If the customer had connections, the problem had an elegant solution.

“Buick Engineering called the manufacturing department and said, ‘Send over four Buick Roadmaster coupes,’” said Doug Seybold, the Cleveland, Ohio, owner of the 1940 Buick fire chief car featured here. “This is one of the first off the line—in the first 200 cars, roughly. This was in September, I believe, of 1939.”

To read more about the 1940 Buick pickup, pick up a copy of the May/June 2024 issue of Vintage Truck magazine!

Articles in this issue include:

FEATURES

• What Happened to Your Truck?!
  Northwest Seaplanes’ “float trucks” get double- and triple-takes!
  Story by Brad Bowling, Photos by Eric Neurath

• One Hot Roadmaster
  Doug Seybold’s 1940 Buick pickup is a genuine factory fire chief car! Story by Bob Tomaine, Photos by Al Rogers

• Highboy Redux
  Mike Kaszycki’s 1974 Ford F-250 4X4 Custom has been in the family longer than he has!
  Story and Photos by Brad Bowling

• Hidden Hoosier Hauler
  Greg MacKenzie discovered his 1917 Indiana Model T in a crawl space! Story by Robert Gabrick, Photos by Al Rogers

  DEPARTMENTS

• Letter from the Editor

• Letters to the Editor

• Dodge Garage: 1950 Dodge B-2-C-116 3/4-ton pickup

• The Road Less Traveled: Packard

• Books in the Bed: Reviews by Robert Gabrick

• Aid for the Anxious Amateur: Fuel Friends and Foes

• Classifieds

• Show Guide

• Granny Gear: Ran When Parked

If you can't find Vintage Truck on a newsstand near you, call 800-767-5828 or visit our Gift Shop to order current or back issues. To subscribe, call 888-760-8108 or click here.