1947 Picture of farming truck - enough to ID?

[smg]

Don't know if there's enough of the picture to ID this truck used on a North Dakota farm in 1947.  ID help much appreciated!

[keiser31]

Looks like it could be a 1937 GMC?

[Brass is Best]

I'd say GMC also looks like a cold day.

[smg]

Thanks!

April in North Dakota!

[Gunsmoke]

Cab looks to have been chopped off at back, maybe originally a panel delivery or sedan?

[smg]

From pix I'm googling, it seems it's a "stake truck" - and their cabs do seem a bit "chopped off" to accommodate the sides.  I also saw something about a "grain bed" - could be appropriate for North Dakota grain-growing.  No idea of tonnage of truck - not sure it can be told from the picture.  I do notice the hood vents are vertical, and others I'm seeing in pictures online are horizontal.

[dustycrusty]

I

On 7/7/2021 at 11:09 PM, keiser31 said:

Looks like it could be a 1937 GMC?

Once again,  keiser31 nailed it- its a 1937 GMC, but i dont think it started out as a truck. That rear top chop-off is  just too abrupt to be a factory bob, especially in that late 1930's era when Aerodynamics and Art Deco were all the rage. The fellas over at Fisher Body woulda balked at being asked to build such an abomination and the G.M. design team leader who OK'd that hack-job woulda been shown the door by Mr. Earl himself!

 

I think Gunsmoke is correct that it was originally a panel or carryall, modified into a truck cab.

 

As to SMG's observation/concern over horizontal vs. vertical louvers in the hood side panels, it is an optical illusion fostered by the horizontal stainless steel trim pieces that (from a distance) obscure the underlying vertical louvers. On the stripped-down utilitarian models (such as the panel/ambulance below) you didnt get those shiny bits cluttering the view and the true method of ventilation-those high-riding vertical louvers- is revealed.

[smg]

This is really interesting - I appreciate your detective work, folks!  Since the picture was from 1947, and the vehicle seems to be 1937, the possibilities for local modifications make sense, adding in the necessity for improvising for getting through the depression and war years.