Marvin St. Louis of Bashaw found his ultimate truck in Stony Plain. The 1957 white truck looks classy, but has a peppy 350 motor and a few extra additions for cruising.

Marvin St. Louis of Bashaw owns a 1957 Chevrolet 3100 truck.

“I bought the truck from a guy in Stony Plain. I like the style of this truck and had been looking for one like it for a long time. Then I found this one,” said Marvin.

The Chevrolet Task Force is a light-duty (3100-short bed and 3200-long bed) and medium-duty (3600) truck series by Chevrolet introduced in 1955, its first major redesign since 1947.

“I like the style, year and the colour (white). I wanted white and I was lucky to purchase this one the way it is. I did a few things to the truck. I put on a hitch, the original bumper back on the rear and a few things under the hood,” explained Marvin.

These trucks were sold with various minor changes over the years from 1955 until 1957.

“It has a fuel injected 350 engine with a C4 transmission. When these trucks were built, they came with six cylinder motors and a three on the tree transmission. I wanted some modern conveniences, so this truck is exactly what I wanted,” shared Marvin.

GM redesigned their truck line for the second half of 1955, but sold both designs that year; the previous design became known as the First Series, and the all-new design as the Second Series.

“The dash is original, but the gauges have been updated. The body and style is original. I picked up a trunk that I put in the back that says St. Louis on it. I thought it would be a nice addition since my name is St. Louis. I found that at an antique store in Montana,” he laughed.

In 1957, the grille changed to a more open design and the hood was given spears resembling the Bel Air.

“It is a pretty basic truck. This is my fourth (fifth now) season with the truck. I try to go to a few car shows every year. I just enjoy driving it around,” said Marvin.

For the first time in GM history, trucks were available with optional power steering, power brakes, and V8s. A column-shifted three-speed manual transmission was standard, with an optional floor-shift four speed manual or Hydramatic automatic. The electrical system received an upgrade to 12 volts.

The new body featured the truck industry’s first wrap-around windshield and an optional wrap-around rear window for Deluxe cab models. Headlights became integrated into the fenders.

The cab is taller in size and in-cab steps replaced the running boards of previous models. A step between the cab and rear fender aided access to items inside the pickup bed. Redesigned bed fenders were carried through the next generation body that ended in 1966.

The 1955 Second Series Task Force was the first year for new body style. Fenders have single headlights and a one-piece emblem is mounted below horizontal line on the fender. In 1955, it was the only year for the mid-length seven-foot bed. The GMC inline-six remained 6V for 1955 only. In 1956, the trucks had a wider hood emblem. Two-piece fender emblems are mounted above the horizontal fender line. It was the last year for egg-crate grille. 1957 was the only year for more open grille. Hood is flatter with two spears on top, similar to the 1957 Bel Air. Fender emblems are still above fender line, but are now oval-shaped, as opposed to previous versions in script.

In 1958, all light-duty trucks were called Apache, medium-duty trucks called Viking and heavy-duty trucks called Spartan. First year for factory-equipped air conditioning. Significant redesign of front end, featuring a shorter/full-width grille, four headlights instead of the previous two and parking lights are now in the grille instead of being in the front of the fender. The hood is similar to 1955-56 models, but with a flat valley in the middle. A new styleside all-steel bed replaced the Cameo/Suburban versions; called Fleetside by Chevrolet and Wideside by GMC, available in 6.5 foot (2.0 m) and eight foot (2.4 m) lengths.