1948 Chevrolet Suburban

Several automotive companies in the United States used the "Suburban" designation to indicate a windowed, station wagon type body on a commercial frame including DeSoto, Dodge, Plymouth, Studebaker, Nash, Chevrolet, and GMC. The (Westchester) Suburban name was, in fact, a trademark of the U.S. Body and Forging Co. of Tell City, Indiana, which built wooden station wagon bodies for all of these automobile and light truck chassis and more. Chevrolet began production of its all-steel "carryall-suburban" in 1934. GMC brought out its version in 1937. These vehicles were also known as the "Suburban Carryall" until GM shortened the name to simply "Suburban". GMC's equivalent to the Chevrolet model was originally named "Suburban" as well, until being rebranded as "Yukon XL" for the 2000 model year.

1948 never looked soooo good with a resto-modded version of the Suburban. Loads of custom work such as chopping, pre fabricating, reworking, use of beautiful materials for the interior, throw in a powerful engine, and we have a 1 off version that no one else will have in their driveway. It needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated.

Exterior
The beneficiary of the body being stripped to bare metal, then worked on the roofline to be chopped 3 inches, adding in a few extra coves in the sides, a curvaceous change to the hood line, dual stacked off angle headlights flanking a blacked out “woven triangular pattern grille, well rounded fenders, a single solid rear door, frenched caddy tail lights and a custom grille are just a few of the contributing factors that work together to create this beautiful resto-mod. Straight steel panels now bathed in root beer brown with just a hint of some orange flourish pinstriping. Window surrounds have been blackened, running boards have lost their rubber coating, the bumpers have been shaved, and now a custom grille leads the way. For some extra interest and bling, chrome steel wheels with spider caps all wrapped in wide white wide rubber tires on all 4 corners. The Suburban definitely has an individual look.

Interior
Swinging the custom doors we are greeted with two tone white and brown vinyl in tuck and roll vertical brown below a smooth white field above. Power window toggles are now inserted and a smooth brown armrests is within the tuck and roll brown lower panel. Inside more two tone vinyl with tuck and roll brown inserts on front buckets and these are sporting clean smooth white bolsters with brown piping on the edges. A custom center console races forward and great the original metal dash which has been completely modified and simplified. Now with Vintage A/C, custom white field and black lettered gauges, and a 3 spoke drilled rally steering wheel in front. A new digital Kenwood stereo with CD, Bluetooth and phone hookup capabilities is now neatly inserted into the central dash. This includes a drenched hidden electric antenna which springs to life upon powering up the radio. The back passenger portion of this truck is now pure cargo area with more tuck and roll lower panels and white uppers. We can also see a diamond plate panel in the rear cargo portion. The front is brown carpeting which is immaculate. A metal trunk is just behind the passenger seat. White vinyl for the headliner which remains nice and tight for this custom interior. Just as sweet as a root beer float! A dollop of vanilla ice cream please…

Drivetrain
Under the completely restored engine bay with more root beer paint, we can be blinded by plenty of chromed add ons to this caddy 500ci V8 mill. An Edelbrock 4-barrel carb feeds this Caddy mill. A turbo 400 transmission is on back and a 10-bolt rear is attached to put the power down to the asphalt. A new radiator with an electric fan keeps this hot engine cool as a cucumber.

Undercarriage
Now all sitting firmly on an S-10 front frame which is like new and totally rust free, our structural floor of this late 40's Suburban is all buttoned up. We can see nicely coated rustproofing throughout and no rust. Floor pans are solid and air shocks have been added to the rear leaf sprung suspension. Upfront disc brakes are now on and drums have been left on the rear but upgraded.

Drive-Ability
Anxious to go out in this beauty, we wasted no time and it did not let us down. Plenty of Caddy power, nice tight bodywork with no creaking on a tough curve which it carved like a perfectly cooked Thanksgiving Day turkey. Bias free panic stopping brakes and air, heat, and defrost worked swimmingly. The stereo and phone hookup were a breeze and worked flawlessly also.

When is a classic Suburban more than just a classic Suburban? Well, right here kids! Lots of bodywork, chopping, frenching and shaving, then bathing it in tasty Root beer brown paint, we have a fully customized suburban that is sure to turn heads, and the color is just so sweet!

Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.