"They're only original once" is the mantra of car lovers who prefer preservation to restoration. The only problem is the difficulty of finding an older vehicle in original condition good enough to be preserved. This is especially true in the world of old commercial vehicles which usually end up quite destroyed by the end of their working life.
That is why we were so intrigued when we came across this amazing original 1952 Chevrolet Panel Truck on Ebay. Although this truck certainly shows some signs of age it's amazingly rare to find an old panel truck in this kind of well preserved original condition.
According to the current seller this old truck has 34 years spent in a dry barn to thank for it's unusual condition. We aren't sure exactly how this truck was lucky enough to find its way into dry storage instead of a scrap yard after a life spent working for a Pennsylvanian Carpentry and Electrical company, but we're certainly glad it did.
As you can see this truck is a true time capsule, complete with vintage signage. Although it has a little rust and the truck is not currently in running condition (it does have compression and spark), we'd bet a few long weekends in the garage could get this truck back into a roadworthy state.
Bidding on this original panel van has reached $4,805 with just a few hours left on the auction. The reserve has already been met so the panel van will find a new owner when the auction ends this evening. We can only hope they choose to keep this truck as close to its "as found" condition as possible.
[Ebay]