Patience Rewarded
Bob Becker of Madeira Beach, FL is newest owner of this Floridian Rampside and he's very happy to have it back. Yes, Bob is not only the sixth owner of the truck but the third! Ed Bittman of St. Petersburg, FL sold it to him in June, 2008. Ed had purchased it in late 2002 from a man in Ocala, FL— the person that Bob had sold the truck to in about 1986.
Patience is a common theme for this Rampside: Ed did not take possession for over a year when he bought it due to it being tied up in a legal dispute and Bob had to wait over 20 years to own the Rampside again.
Ed and I communicated about his truck for many months before he took possession of it. Along the way we found that this truck has at least two interesting aspects:
October 2002: "My wife and I finally got to see what will hopefully be our Rampside some day. It's still tied up in legal land. No radio or heater; no other accessories at all. Body is in great condition as is the interior but doubt it's painted the correct colors. Could '736F' mean a fleet truck with a special paint job from GM?" (We later determined that someone had replaced the original trim tag with one from a '61 FC. We can tell that's the case because the engine displacement is listed as 145 CID, instead of 164, and paint code 736F was valid for 1961 only.)
January 2004: "Boy did I get surprised today as I was looking over the Rampside. Last evening I pulled the carpet that was in the truck out and saved it for a pattern if I ever find a rubber mat. This morning I discovered a clutch pedal. It was disconnected and flat on the floor. Upon more inspection it has the hole in the gas tank. The shifter hole was neatly covered up with what appears to be a factory plate. Someone did a super job making the dash an automatic one. I do not plan on going back to a stick." (In August 2008 Bob told me that he was the person who made this switch. The truck originally had a 3-speed.)
Ed sent several pictures in January 2004. The truck looked quite good, especially considering how long it had been sitting. Ed did some cleaning before these photos were taken and much cleaning afterward. He said there was mildew everywhere!
When I spoke with Bob in August, 2008, he told me that he bought it as a teenager in about 1977 for $300. The seller lived nearby, in Pasadena, FL, and had purchased the truck from his employer, Meisner Marine. Meisner had bought the truck new and used it as a company vehicle.
Bob said the original paint color was a light green and there is definitely such an original color for 1964 Chevy trucks.
Information from the data plate
Description |
Description |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
missing |
Unknown (*) |
missing |
Unknown (*) |
none |
N/A |
(Click on a heading in the table for more information on that item.)
(*) The truck appears to have standard trim (code STD) and may have been code 503 or 533 paint originally (Light Green without or with a white stripe).