Flawless Farm Truck: 1956 Chevrolet 3200
Don’t let the whitewalls fool you, this classic pickup packs a serious hit.
We learned to drive — and to drive stick, no less — on a 1950 Chevrolet 3100. We can’t help but feel a strong swell of nostalgia for these mid-century pickups, like this 1956 Chevrolet 3200 that we ran across on Hot Rod’s website. You might guess it has something better-than-stock under the hood if its on those pages, and this Chevy doesn’t disappoint.
The owner bought it from a farm, with the original 235 ci I-6 engine paired to a Hydramatic transmission. Our old truck had the 235 as well, which was dead simple, and a three-on-the-tree manual. Solid, but certainly not adequate for highway speeds nowadays. The owner swapped in a built LS, which has been bored and stroked to 6.0-liters and topped with a Whipple supercharger. Power is estimated in the 650-700 hp range. Plenty for merging and keeping up with the flow of traffic. It’s paired with a build 4L60E automatic.
The owner had a ton of work done on the truck, from shortening the box for that coveted short-bed style, to a more modern suspension and front end. The suspension components are Mustang II-style components on this build. Before you cry sacrilege, we remind you that this is one of the most popular ways to get modern disc brakes and something other than a solid front axle under the front of these older trucks. Since none of the pickups of this vintage ever came with disc brakes, there’s no easy way to swap them on (unlike later trucks that ran into the disc-brake era). Might as well upgrade the suspension while you’re at it.
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