I agree.
It should be noted that with the exception of the '60 Chevy, the trucks shown are all stepside pickups. I always liked the full bed better, not for styling but because is was bit more utilitarian, a bit more bed space.
However the Corvair Rampside was really cool too…
That’s because I was trying to post pics of stock trucks. VERY few stock truck pics out there! All the ‘sweepside’ (or whatever they called them - edit: Mopar called them ‘Sweptside’ in '57) truck pics were modded.
Really?
If you like, I can provide a link with dozens more photos of stock '50s and '60s pickups with full beds.
I’m guessing you weren’t around back then?
My 30 second search found lots of modified ones. Wasn’t trying to research the topic.
I have the advantage. I don’t have to research the topic. I was there. 
What is it about men and pickup trucks? Everytime I see one, especially pre-80’s versions, I wish I owned it … lol … have you ever seen that magazine “Classic Trucks”? Fun read.
I can’t speak for others, but I owned pickup trucks for 24 years total, and I really miss mine. There are countless jobs that would be a whole lot easier if I still had one.
I like the old ones for the reasons mentioned earlier in the thread. Ease of loading and unloading, and even ease of access and egress to the cab. To me these new monster trucks have no attraction at all. They’re designed to impress the neighbors rather than to make hauling loads easy and convenient. To me they’re a joke. Unless, of course, you’re actually using them for heavy duty commercial use.
I was very young when I learned to drive in a GMC pickup with running boards. I delivered groceries in that truck before I was old enough to get a license. The running boards were just matter of factly there out of acknowledged necessity. These days running boards are expensive fashion statements.
@wentwest Your 1946 Chevy pickup was manufactured back when trucks were no nonsense vehicles. A right hand passenger windshield wiper on your truck was an option. The “advanced design” 1947 Chevrolet pickup which came out mid-year 1947 did not have a windshield that opened as did the 1946 Chevrolet pickup and had a passenger side wiper as standard equipment. Also, you could get a heater in the advanced design pickups that made defogging the windshield happen. By the the late 1950s automatic transmissions in pickups became more commonplace. Pickup trucks by the 1960s offered almost as many options as cars. Pickup trucks by the 1970s had lost their identity.
A friend restored a '41 Chevy pickup (his birth year), and let me drive it. Now I know where ‘rides like a truck’ and ‘handles like a truck’ came from! I’m sure it was very good at what it did in '41, but not what I’d want today.
With king/wrist pin front suspension, 6.00x16 6 ply nylon tires, manual steering and brakes pre 1950s trucks were not for cruising the boulevards for sure. But they were built for a purpose and they filled that purpose well considering the technology available at the time. On the old GMC I drove long ago the master cylinder was under the drivers floor board and the clutch pedal was attached to the crank that actuated the pressure plate. And there was no solenoid switch. A plunger extended through the floor from the starter and pressing it key on or key off mechanically engaged the bendix and connected the field to the battery positive. If the starter failed there was no guessing where the problem was.
My sister ran across an old 1 ton Chevrolet with a 4 speed that was restored to near new condition and called for my advice on buying it for her husband who wanted an old truck to keep handy. I strongly advised moving on to something newer thinking that at 70+ the nostalgia would never overcome the nuisance and pain of trying to drive. My sister had driven it around the owners neighborhood with no problem but that doesn’t really compare to a drive to Home Depot. And if driven on a wet yard it would sink like a rock down to the axle. I might occasionally drive an antique pickup for the fun of it but someone would have to give one to me. I would never spend the money to buy one. Their fun to look at though. And it is a shame that no one builds a simple, basic truck today. That I would likely buy.
Just because I was curious, I went to Toyota’s website and tried to price a basic pickup. No can do. There is no standard cab Tacoma pickup. You have to buy an extended cab, and an automatic transmission, and limited slip differential. The most basic truck was $24,400. It has a complex audio system, electronic warning systems for collision with automatic braking, etc., etc.
Hmmmm.
Looks like a Chevy Colorado with a stick shift but a lot of other electronic toys is $21,000.
@Rod_Knox. Remember that pre 1950 cars did not have power steering or brakes. I think Chrysler introduced power steering in 1951. Ford introduced the ball joint suspension in 1954. Before that time, all cars in the U.S. had king pins. Also, before 1952, all cars had the brake master cylinder under the floor and the clutch pedal operated as you described. Ford introduced the suspended pedals in its 1952 models and moved the brake master cylinder to the firewall. Chevrolet cars didn’t get this setup until 1955. Even my 1955 Pontiac had the old.fashioned pedal setup with the master cylinder under the.floor and the clutch operated as you described the pre 1950 pickup trucks.
What interesting is that the postwar models of the Chevrolet pickup trucks came in the 1947 models, two years before the really new postwar models of the Chevrolet cars. The new postwar pickups in the Ford and Dodge lines.came in 1948–a year before the new postwar designs of the Ford and Dodge automobiles.
I found this as well. Toyota overall seems to be becoming more and more “Americanized”. Personally, it breaks my heart to see it.
It also leaves me wondering if in other countries the small, basic Toyota pickups, like those I owned before the “Tacoma” name was created, are still available but no longer available in the U.S. due to our overly cumbersome regulations… and/or perhaps political trade barriers enacted to protect our indigenous manufacturers.
As long as the pickup truck manufactures can continue to sell their huge oversized trucks, that’s what they’ll offer.
The “extra cab” compact pickup became popular 25-30 years ago, not for to jump seats but for the ability to recline the front seats, the regular cab compact does not have the space. Once regular cab trucks became unpopular with certain models they were discontinued.
The extended cab became possible when manufacturers realized the gas tank didn’t have to be in the cab behind the seat. Anyone else remember driving a pickup and hearing the gas sloshing around in the tank?
So I went to the Nissan Mexico website and found the NP300, the basic smaller pickup for sale there. It’s a standard cab, 1500 kg capacity including passengers, stick shift, 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine. Plain Jane. A bit under the equivalent of $14,000, plus who knows what in taxes, fees, etc.
https://www.nissan.com.mx/np300/
I’m certain you can’t import it to the US. I wonder if you could register it there and drive it here?
@wentwest - You could drive it here temporarily but you cannot register it. In order to register an imported vehicle in the US you must clear it through Customs, EPA, and DOT. If your vehicle is not made for the US market and is NOT conforming to current EPA and DOT standards (which is almost certainly the case for the NP300) then you have to post an EPA and DOT bond, then bring it into conformance, which is typically expensive, impossible, or both. I am licensed customs broker and I get this question all the time. Once I deliver the news to the prospective importer they typically abandon the prospective purchase.
On the off chance that you actually follow through and bring the vehicle into conformance with all applicable emissions and safety standards, you now have a gray market vehicle with no warranty and all parts have to be purchased abroad and imported, since local dealers and auto parts stores will have almost nothing that fits.
For Chevrolet 1966 was the last year the fuel tank was behind the back seat but that was two decades before Chevrolet built extended cab light trucks. The 4 door crew cab came well before the extended cab trucks.