Welcome to another Wagon Wednesday. The Chevrolet and GMC Suburbans were arguably the originators of today’s truck based Sport Utility Vehicles way back in 1935, but they were nothing but the front end and frame of a pickup truck, with a metal wagon shaped body from the “A” pillar back. They were strictly utilitarian in nature, with not a hint of luxury features found in even the most basic models of the standard automobile. By 1960, the Suburban was still shared almost all of its components with its pickup truck brethren, with two doors, and a massive passenger or cargo area. Unfortunately, the competition was noticing that truck based wagons started to gain in popularity with International Harvester introducing a 4-door version of their Traveall Wagon in 1961, and Jeep introducing their 4-door Wagoneer in 1963. GM introduced a 3-Door version of the Suburban for 1967, and finally introduced a 4-door version for 1973, but those models will have to wait for another time. Let’s take a look at this spectacular 1963 GMC Suburban, and discover the charms of an early 2-door truck based carryall. This is a rare GMC Suburban that is being offered by the Frankman Motor Company in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and they have a number of classic cars available for sale (many of which will be featured this weekend). This Suburban is one of the best available in the country. According to the listing:

THIS 1963 GMC SUBURBAN “CUSTOM” 4X2 2 Dr. IS A TRULY FINE EXAMPLE….FRESH LT. GREEN / WHITE “TWO-TONE” PAINT AND FRESLY DONE INTERIOR IN LT. BRONZE…..POWERED BY A 305 FACTORY “RE-TOOLED” V-6 AS DENOTED BY THE “SCOTCH PLAID” VALVE COVERS THAT YEAR (EXTREMELY “RARE” FEATURE) ON THE 305 V-6 ONLY !!! EQUIPPED WITH A 4 SPD. MANUAL”EASY” COLUMN SHIFT TRANSMISSION …..POWERTRAIN ALL RE-BUILT A SHORT TIME AGO AND FRESH PAINT AND INTERIOR…..NEW FLOOR PANS INSTALLED TOO …UNDERCARRIAGE / FRAME ALL GOOD…..RUNS AND DRIVES VERY WELL…..

There are 42 images of this truck on the Frankman website, and the truck/wagon is magnificent in every way. Check out the “plaid” valve covers. The asking price for this wagon is $24,975, which is rather rich, but when was the last time you ever saw one of these? It is rare, and lustworthy, and you can see the listing here. Just let me know what you think of it.