Hitting the road (again) in a Hydra-Matic ’53 GMC

Bill Miles’ 1953 GMC pickup. Photos by Daniel Strohl.

When Bill Miles feels a travelin’ jones coming on he doesn’t shop around for discount flights and cheap rental cars. Instead he tunes up his 1953 GMC pickup and hits the road.

Since buying his Hydra-Matic equipped hauler out of the pages of Hemmings Motor News in 2000 and tending to its mechanical needs, as well as performing some updates for the sake of drivability and safety, Bill has racked up about 55,000 miles including a 5,200-mile cross country run in 2009.

His latest adventure is taking him on a tour of the Midwest with stops at an American Truck Historical Society meet in Iowa and the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana. Bill plans to then head South and take in some more attractions including the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, before returning to his home just west of Boston.

As time and travel permit, Bill plans to update his blog, Heading West, with photos and descriptions of the places he visits.

The original 270-cu.in. six, which has since been replaced by a 302-cu.in. inline six.

Bill is a regular at Hemmings events with his GMC and a few years back we profiled the truck in Hemmings Classic Car. Since that story was published, Bill has rebuilt and installed a 302-cu.in. inline six in place of the original 270, to give the truck a little more grunt on hills. Check out the full story, Shiftless Wanderer, in the March 2014 issue.