Today’s vehicle is a 1953 Chevrolet 6100 Cab Over Engine (COE) owned by George Perez. I photographed it at Hot Wheels Legends Tour held at Mattel Inc in El Segundo, CA. It is finished in black with a black interior. The wood in the bed and the stake sides are made from Ipe wood. It is powered by a 283 cu in, small block Chevrolet V8 engine, with a Rochester 2bbl carburetor and mated to a GM 3-speed automatic transmission with 4.10:1 rear axle. It is sitting on a 1969 C20 3/4 ton Chassis. Slowing this baby down are drum brakes in all 4-corners. It has independent front suspension with coil springs, stabilizer bar and double action shock absorbers. The rear suspension is solid axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs and double action shock absorbers. It is sitting on 24″ wheels wrapped in 30 series Lexari tires. To give it the low look, George did a 4″ body drop so the drop body is actually dropped around the suspension.
The truck was an original Sinclair Oil truck from Long Beach, CA. George acquired it from the owners son. It was pretty beat up and in disarray it was painted in John Deere green with white lettering and had orange carpet on the inside. The bed was 6 feet longer and they used to move 50 gallon oil drums around the Long Beach facility.
There were 289,885 trucks produced in 1953. This is a great looking truck that has pride of ownership written all over it. George’s subtle and not so subtle changes make this truck stand out. What a great truck to take to custom car shows, and Cars & Coffee events. Thank you for riding along. Frank
