Strange '73 1ton question(s)

[fourspeedwagon]

I have a 1973 1 ton dually that has a boxy cabover type body and a flatbed. The grill say Chevalier- my guess was some kind of Canadian contraption originally? My current question is about the rims. It has 16.5 inch rims with the big "rings". I was under the impression that a 73 wouldn't have these wheels. So then I started wondering if it is really a 72 that took a little time with the custom cab.
Any thoughts on the name, the wheels or a good way for me to identify the real model year would be great. Thanks! Greg

[Just call me Sean]

Pictures would be nice.

[fourspeedwagon]

The cab looks kinda like a double wide outhouse. Is there anything else I should photograph that would help answer my question?

[Just call me Sean]

Anything else? Like, other than the truck? No, just pictures of the truck will be fine.

[donut]

I can venture a guess. Don't really "know" anything about them, but have heard of them and just kinda filed it away under useless info. (my mind works funny).

Possibly a light duty commercial truck. Funny looking cab may resemble the larger commercial trucks of the era. The split rims also point to this.

My thought is along the lines of the '90's era Chevy Tiltmaster 1 tons. Vin decode may tell you more.

[andrewmp6]

It might be a c60 look anything like this http://www.trucksplanet.com/catalog/model.php?id=1308

[fourspeedwagon]

It looks more like a 70s version of the tiltmaster with the flat nose and driver seat over the front wheel. It also doesn't tilt. I'll try my best to get over to where it's parked and get some pics.
Is there a visual que to help me spot the difference between a 72 and 73 chassis? I'm certain the cab is something that wasn't produced in the Chevy factory. Thanks --

[farmall]

[fourspeedwagon]

Thanks for your "help"
If I had a pic handy it would already be up-

[nekkidhillbilly]

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topi...evalier-truck/

something i found. still no pics.

[fourspeedwagon]

Thanks Nekkid - That's the only other reference I've ever seen concerning a Chevalier. I tried to follow through on that posting but it was a newby poster that was only on that site 1 day and didn't leave contact info.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get a couple snaps of it- It's locked down in a friends lot waiting for me to bring it back to the house.

Still curious if 16.5 inch split wheels would be proper on a '73 vintage 1 ton.

[farmall]

Unbelievable. It does exist. And I thought it was just legalized pot

[fourspeedwagon]

Whoa! Farmall to the rescue!
Ain't she a handsome sum*****? Like a two hole outhouse on wheels. That's it, just like mine. Born with a face only a mother could love. Pretty sure the designers must've had something even more potent than a lil weed..

[donut]

Nah, look at the bread trucks of the era. Same rolling outhouse styling.
Thanks farmall.

[willett]

We have a bunch of "freightliners" sort of like that at work, They're 3rd party aluminum boxes that have freightliner grills and horn buttons. I wonder if that's the same deal.

[fourspeedwagon]

I wish it were aluminum. The cab is so heavy that I have to load the deck way to the back. If I put a load up against the headache, the front end drops so far it won't turn all the way.

[fourspeedwagon]

Dragging it home today behind my '68. Wheels are 16s not 16.5s.
Now that it's here what should I look at to differentiate between a 72 or 73 style chassis?

[DirtyLarry]

Those are Union City Body Company cabs mounted on a P-chassis. The cab based on a step-van. There was a GMC version too but I can’t remember what it was called. UCBC had an agreement with GM for decades to build these, Value-Van’s (GMC branded), and Step-Vans (Chevrolet branded). The cab and chassis version like this was the rare bird of them all. When GM sold the P-chassis to Workhorse in 1998 we had one of those as a yard goat at the chassis assembly plant in Union City, IN although the grill was pretty much all busted away. The legacy of the Value-Van and Step-Van lived on well after GM sold the P-chassis when Workhorse was born. The later step-vans sold as a complete vehicle under Workhorse were called FastTracks.

A bit of stepvan history here, but difference from the Chevrolet Step-Van, GMC Value-Van, Workhorse FastTrack verse a regular ole stepvan or walk in truck mounted on a stripped chassis by GM, Ford or Dodge was these 3 models were sold as a completed unit that carried GM warranty from bumper to bumper whereas a regular ole Grumman on a Chevrolet chassis was sold as an incomplete vehicle where the body company handled the distribution and the vehicle carried two warranties….one for body and other for chassis just like motorhomes.

[fourspeedwagon]

All of the stepvans that I see have their door aft of the front wheel for low entry. This one the door is above the wheel with a ladder to get up there, also with no protruding "nose". I called Union City Body and they claim to have only produced trucks with boxes attached. Obviously it's a low production truck so I don't have perfect faith that that claim is 100 percent. Thanks for your info Larry

[DirtyLarry]

Correct, but keep in mind step-vans are modular. The window frame, corner glass and one piece roof section are common UCBC steel body van parts that were used up until the mid 80’s. It doesn’t really matter where the doors are mounted as we built some trucks without doors all together, just one slide door or swing door on the side. These trucks look to be built of wide body step-van components.

I would be curious to know when you called UCBC as they were dissolved in 2005. Back in 1998 when GM sold the P-chassis division the parent company of UCBC bought it and created Workhorse. Workhorse and UCBC were sister companies. Then in 2005 after Navistar (International Truck and Engine Company) bought Workhorse they sold off the UCBC business unit to another body company that was a competitor to UCBC called Utilimaster. Utilimaster now owns the rights to produce UCBC service parts but there isn’t anybody there that would know anything about historic UCBC vehicles. They can barely find a UCBC part let alone know anything about UCBC history. Sadly, Navistar did a great job of driving Workhorse Custom Chassis straight into the ground and killed it in 2012 but they sold the Workhorse brand name to a different company that hasn’t done anything with it yet. Actually, Navistar did a great job of killing both UCBC and Workhorse.....very sad.

After college I started at Chevrolet Motor Division, moved to Workhorse in 1999 as the start up service team then ended up at Navistar where I’ve handled the UPS account for the past 10 years. I’ve been around these vans a long time. Like I mentioned, we had yard goat just like that in Union City they used to haul stuff around the campus with. The grill was totally busted away though. We also had a G-van cab mounted on a P-chassis with a flatbed as well. They were called G30 HDs

Somewhere I have a ton of old GM and UCBC brochures and literature. I know I at least one black and white picture of a truck like that somewhere in my stash and I am almost certain it is on a UCBC document more than a GM document. UCBC and GM also partnered on some weird stuff for the Mexican market where body parts were shipped to Mexico in kits and mounted on pickup truck frames and Isuzu tilt cab chassis. This truck almost looks more like the Mexican market trucks. Any chance it came from south of the border?

[fourspeedwagon]

Thanks again Larry- The company I called was today.. I'll have to check when I get home the number that I called but If they're out of business I'm gonna assume it's a company that is using their name (or close to) because they were selling parts for stepvans. Sneaky rascals.
There is a large Hispanic community in my area, the truck could've come up from there. I always suspected it may've come down from Canada but that is just because of the name "Chevalier" seems kinda French, especially if you pronounce it Sha-vall-E-A

[farmall]

This is where I got the pic.

http://www.usedcarsfsbo.com/asp/Item...=11%2F1%2F2012

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by fourspeedwagon

Thanks again Larry- The company I called was today.. I'll have to check when I get home the number that I called but If they're out of business I'm gonna assume it's a company that is using their name (or close to) because they were selling parts for stepvans. Sneaky rascals.
There is a large Hispanic community in my area, the truck could've come up from there. I always suspected it may've come down from Canada but that is just because of the name "Chevalier" seems kinda French, especially if you pronounce it Sha-vall-E-A

If you called UCBC today you actually called Utilimaster. They don’t have a clue on anything UCBC. They're just cashing in on selling parts for older UCBC body's. The UCBC was a far more superior body than a Utilimaster anyway. Utilimaster was extremely glad to buy UCBC to eliminate the competition. The only other competitor is MorganOlson, which used to be Grumman-Olson.

This one was Grumman-Olson body’s idea of GM P-chassis stepvan based truck but it wasn’t a forward control. It was just a lopped off stepvan. Frito-Lay bought many of these back in the 80’s. This one most likely was an ex-Frito truck before it became a fire rescue truck. I think one of the uniform companies also bought some of these. Either Cintas or GK Services. A truck like this one was not marketed by GM. It was just a GM chassis with a 3rd party body. 2 warranties, 2 invoices....

[fourspeedwagon]

I found a tag under the dash --
Mfd by Monarch Manufacturing Corp June 1974. Nappanee Indiana
Model CC -3 serial number 731
With another plate next to it that says incomplete vehicle mfd by GM Corp August 1972

A quick search doesn't come up with that company but I'll try later on a real computer instead of my tiny phone..

[fourspeedwagon]

---Double post---