One of the interesting aspects of talking with owners about their vintage trucks is that you can learn as much about the owner as you do about their truck. Whether it is intentional or not, the truck often tells us a lot about the history, interests and attitudes of its owner.

So, when I stopped to have a chat with Trevor Hooper about his 1928 Chevrolet, I was wondering what the wine barrel on the tray would tell me about his life. It didn’t take long to find out, since he quickly explained that his grandfather used to own a vineyard. But that was just the start. As we continued talking, it became obvious that the truck ties in with many strands in Trevor’s family history.

Vintage Wine

He explained that, “I grew up on my grandfather’s vineyard at Bakers Hill, about 73km east of Perth on Great Eastern Highway. It was simply called Bakers Hill Vineyard, and he owned it from 1913 to 1953. I lived there until I was 12 in 1955. 

“The ‘Hooper and Sons’ sign above the cab refers to the fact that my grandfather had two sons; my father and uncle. My uncle continued making wine at the vineyard until the mid-1960s. As it turns out, I also have two sons. In fact, I am the only Hooper in the family with two sons, so the sign is doubly appropriate.”

However, Trevor is more interested in restoring vintage vehicles than growing vintage wines. Before acquiring the 1928 Chevrolet truck, he already owned and restored a 1936 Chevrolet sedan. Cars from the 1930’s are classified by car enthusiasts as being in the post vintage category. He wanted to own a vintage vehicle as well, which meant that he needed to find one from the period 1919-30.

Vintage Truck

He was looking for a tourer or a truck, and saw this Chevrolet truck in a newspaper advertisement. The previous owner was a fellow member of the Veteran Car Club of Western Australia, and had been in the trucking business. However, he didn’t have all the skills needed for the restoration, and decided to sell it instead. Trevor purchased it in February 1996 and completed the restoration in 2013. During that period, he also worked on other projects with one of his sons.

He commented that he has seen two other trucks in Adelaide that are like his, which has a wooden cab, that was common for bodies built in Australia at that time, unlike the metal cabs used on the Canadian model. 

He thinks the body for his truck was built locally, in Western Australia. He added that, “The design of my truck is slightly different from others that I have seen. In most, the tray goes right up to the seat and the cab sits on the tray but, in this one, the cab is attached to the chassis. Another unusual feature is that it has a part cowl, like a tourer. You don’t see that in trucks very often.

“Several things were new for the 1928 model. It has push rod covers and twin exhaust manifolds, instead of a single. In previous models, the push rods had been exposed. It was also the first year for the 4-speed gearbox, and for drum brakes on all four wheels. The engine has aluminium pistons instead of cast iron, the only year that Chevrolet had these until the 1950’s. 

I obtained the aluminium pistons from another Chev motor. There are no gaskets on the rocker cover and side plates, so the oil just leaks down the motor.

“The 4-cylinder engine has 171 cubic inches (2.8 litres) displacement, with a bore of 3 inches (9.34cm) and stroke of 4 inches (10cm). It has a compression ratio of 4.5:1, and produces 35 brake horsepower at 2200rpm.”

Restoration

Trevor’s truck was broadly complete when he obtained it, but needed a lot of restoration. He explained that, “The tinwork of the fender and bonnet had been removed and were in rough condition. The wood of the cab was all rotten, so I rebuilt it using marine ply, following the original pattern.

“One change I made was to extend the cab slightly. It was originally two inches shorter, and I found it too tight for comfort. It was quite difficult squeezing into the seat and sitting behind the steering wheel, so I cut two inches off the tray and extended the cab back, to create more space. I decided not to paint the interior or rear of the cab, because I liked the wood grain finish, so I varnished it instead.

“The suspension was the most difficult part of the restoration. The spring hangers were very worn, so they had to be removed, refurbished and then refitted with new rivets, like original. Another challenge was getting the cab dimensions correct for fitting it onto the chassis, up against the bonnet and engine cowling. Getting the windscreen pillars to line up properly was especially tricky.”

Trevor did the metal working and spray painting himself. In fact, the only part of the restoration that he didn’t do was reboring the cylinders. He picked up the necessary skills over the years, working with his Dad on the farm, and then working in the automotive spare parts business of Toyota and several other companies. Some of the spare parts needed for the restoration came from the huge collection at the Veteran Car Club of WA, including the water pump, gearbox (so he could build one out of two), and recirculating ball for the steering ball.

Trevor changed over from a 6V electrical system to 12V to make the truck easier to start, and also because 6V batteries are expensive. The 12V battery is inside a wooden box, sitting on the rear end of the driver’s side running board.

Trevor intends to make another box for the other running board, for his tools, but hasn’t done it yet. Instead, he keeps his tools in the metal box on the tray, tied down with a length of old hemp rope.

A Closer Look

You might not notice it at first glance, but the truck has wooden wheels at the front, and steel ones at the rear. 

At the front, there is an ornate thermometer above the radiator, an enamel Chevrolet badge, original ‘bullet’ headlights and modern indicator lights for safety when driving. 

Trevor explained that it originally had a honeycomb radiator core, which has been replaced with a tractor-style heavy duty one, since the radiator is bolted directly to the chassis and gets shaken around.

The inside of the truck is simple by modern standards, with a single squab seat. The dash instrumentation includes a drum speedometer, odometer, trip meter, battery and oil pressure gauges, choke, ignition and light switches. 

There are two original levers on the steering column; a spark advance/retard lever on the right side, and the throttle on the left. An extra, more modern lever controls the turning indicators.

The two-piece windscreen is split horizontally, and has a single manually operated windscreen wiper. As with many trucks from the 1920’s, this Chevrolet does not have the modern layout for the floor mounted pedals. The accelerator is in the middle, clutch on left, and brake on right.

Roll Out the Barrel

To complete the connection with his grandfather’s vineyard, Trevor mounted a large wooden wine barrel on the tray, which had been used on a vineyard in the southwest of Western Australia. He added an enlarged copy of a label from one of the wines produced at Bakers Hill by his grandfather.

The vintage truck doesn’t carry heavy loads these days, since the barrel is empty. However Trevor commented that, “This was a 1.5 ton truck but, at the time, people used to load them up to 5 or 6 tons.” Obviously they didn’t worry too much about the warning on the build plate that, “Overloading or over speeding will void your warranty”! 

*Keith Hall