Little Red Caboose

Marilyn and J.C. Ash of Sand Springs, OK, purchased this Rampside in 1993 from the estate of Walter Schwamb in Broken Arrow, OK. They also own another '64 Rampside and a '62 Loadside. Marilyn had the following to say about this '64 Rampside:

"This truck was painted red with a white belt when we got it. I named it 'Caboose' and when we get it restored, which will be very soon, it will stay red with the white belt. We believe it was turquoise when new.

The truck had a car engine in it when we bought it. It now has a truck engine (replacement block). It has a 4 speed transmission.

Overall, the truck is close to original. It has a radio and I think the dash chrome is original '64. It has vertical fine stripes on the dash and radio. The glove box is smooth.

The factory-delivered price, according to the original invoice, was $2300."

Marilyn is quite correct that the truck was originally turquoise--the paint code confirms this. It was solid color originally. The vertical pattern in the dash and radio bezel is correct for '64 and the smooth glove box door is correct for a vehicle with standard trim.

This truck also has a delivery date stamped on the driver's door pillar. The June, 1964 date agrees with the production month, which is documented here.

I can't wait to see the results of the restoration. The truck looks pretty good already!

Marilyn shared the following in early November 2005:

"I'm enclosing a picture of Caboose at Christmas. The little truck is a big hit in our area during the holiday season. We light him up with red and white lights and moving wheels. Santa sits in the driver's seat and the bed of the truck is loaded with huge wrapped packages and a bike.

We live just off a busy highway so he is visible to a lot of people. We usually turn the lights on December 1, but if we are a little slow, the phone starts ringing and people stop me on the streets fussing about it!

We have been doing this for about 10 years but once he gets his new paint job, he'll retire, and we'll have to use another truck."

What fun!

In March, 2010, Marilyn shared several photos of their beautifully-restored Rampside, with J.C. proudly beside the truck in the first photo:

In October 2009, the truck scored 95.92 in the Concours at the 5th Annual Great Plains Corvair Round-up in Wichita, KS and won the President's Best of Show award. Congratulations, J.C. and Marilyn!

Information from the data plate

Copyright © 1998-2006 CorvairKid Enterprises. All rights reserved.
Last updated: March 20, 2006.