Vintage 1951 White Motor Company, streetrod moving van, 427 Chevy, 400 Turbo

Description for Other Makes 1951

This 3rd owner, one of a kind, ultra rare moving van was built/restored in 1989, at the cost of at least $80,000. dollars, that's according to the previous owner..
It seems reasonable, as he showed me a mountain of receipts from the trucking company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, "Tulsa Truck Rebuilders", and what all they did to it, which was amazing.
Enclosed with the auction, is a magazine that did a complete cover story on the build of this "the world's largest street rod" We have the provenance on this truck also, as well as a photograph, and is included. It was bought new by D.J. Jones Storage and Hauling of Shamokin, Pennsylvania in 1951. -It has all the original sheet metal, but all the running gear has all been updated.
It wasbuilt witha new 454 Chevy V8 engine, and was used for several years. But the previous, (and 2nd owner), told me it didn't perform well, so right before I obtained the truck,which was about 20 years ago, he bought a brand new "Mr. Good Wrench" 427 crate engine.. It also has a 400 turbo automatic transmission, with a Gennie shifter, anda 2-speed Eaton rear axle. This low gear in the axle is great for going up the steep grades.. All of this running gearwas all bought brand new by him. He spared no expense in building this truck, as it was also actually his home. He made regular trips across the country in the late 1980's and 1990's, dealing in antique toys, and would set up at various swap meets and trade shows.
It has power brakes, power steering, 2 huge fuel tanks, air conditioning in the cab, as well as a roof A/C for the back portion of the truck, A large Onan generator, a breaker box with cables to plug into an alternatepower source when not using the generator, commode is still hooked up to the large sewage tank. This truck was at one time, the King of the Road, but is now needing a complete restoration. We spent around 3,000. dollars on the brake system, about 800 miles ago, but the brakes are no longerworking.. And the local company that did the work, Ken's Muffler and Brakes in Vidor, are no longer in business. We had all the brake drums turned, new brake shoes, a complete service job done to the whole system and wheel bearings and seals. The brakeshad gradually gotten worse, till they no longer work, and we don't know what the problem is.
So although the truck will run,shift and drive OK, it has no brakes. So if you buy it, plan on towing or trailering it away. We can however, store this moving van on our 20 acres, no problem, and as long as is needed for you, free of charge.. We have owned the land since 1974, and not going anywhere, so there would be no hurry.. We had sold one truck a couple of years ago, and it set here a year, before he finally came for it..But we will still need our money within 5 days. If that is a problem, let us knowBEFORE bidding, maybe we can work something out
Although this truck was made into a motor home before we got it, we pretty much gutted and took out all the cabinetry and such, as we needed the truck strictly for hauling cabinets in our cabinet business. But due to our lack of business, lack of fundsand hard times, we are forced to sell this once great truck. Since we've had this truck, we couldn't have put on more thanabout 5or 6 thousand miles on it, as we only used it to deliver our cabinets locally, which was about 2 times a month at the verymost. The longest trip we made, was a trip to the Pate Swap Meet in Fort Worth, and it was a blast. We have not used the truck in the last couple of years, but we always crank it regularly. The gasoline is old now, so that would need to be changed as well.
You can hear and see it run, but we can't drive it on the highway. The tires are ok, but nothing to write home about, as you can see in the pics. The original solid wood oak flooring is in great condition. There is an exhaust leak that sounds bad, so that needs to attended to. The generator hasn't been cranked in a few years. The air conditioners need refilling. There are rust areas on various parts of the sheet metal body, as you can see.
I think I have covered everything, maybe not, email or callwith any questions,BEFORE bidding, and we will be happy to answer them. All the hard work has already been done in actually constructing this truck, but as we stated, It needs a complete restoration, and we just can't do it.
Has a clear Texas title, in hand. PossiblePartialTradesConsidered, it doesn't hurt to ask, but will need cash. Also, no sense in asking us to take less, we can't do that.
This would make a great motor home again, or swap meet set-up truck, a regular delivery van truck for a business, or even a great horse trailer type truck, Kind of a creepy looking oldtruck, and the dogs go wild when they see it. It has double side doors on the passenger side, as well as double doors in the back, along with the tailgate.. I was told the tailgate in back was originally meant to also be used in moving pianos. ( We also have an original1949 White Motor Company truck for sale, with it's original inline 6 engine.. It comes with an extra complete running gear, engine, transmission, rear end and tires and wheels, some hubcaps... Both are supposed to be running engines. this '49 Whitetruck alone, with extra running gear, for 1,600. dollars, and IS NOT part of this auction ) It's VERY important to watch the enclosed YouTube video, for more information on this truck.
You can call us if you want, Monday thru Friday, at (409) 786-2616 from 7 in the morning, till about 2:30 in the evening, Central Time.Lon or Billy
( we've had some comments, saying that they like the patina just the way it is, the "ratrod" look,
and that they would prefer to just clear coat over the old black primer.. And keep the creep look )
1951 White Moving Van