On the Road: 1995 Chevrolet 1500 Silverado

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Thanks to two Calgary neighbours, a well-loved pickup truck is getting a second life. In 1995, Mark Soehner ordered a brand new Chevrolet 1500 Silverado with extended cab from Jack Carter Chevrolet. The pickup, built in Oshawa, was Soehner’s third truck.
His Chevy came with the 350 cubic-inch engine and two-wheel drive. plus oil and transmission coolers because he was interested in purchasing and pulling a 22-foot holiday trailer.

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“When I was looking for a pickup, that Silverado had everything I wanted in a truck,” Soehner explains.

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Then, in 1997, Soehner bought a new holiday trailer. On his first RV trip, he pulled a short distance out to the mountains. His second trip was across Canada to Halifax. That long-distance adventure was almost cut short just 250 kilometres into the trip when Soehner smelled burnt oil – it was coming from the Chevy’s rear axle. On a Saturday afternoon, he pulled into Medicine Hat, where the Murray Chevrolet dealership told him the truck couldn’t be looked at until Monday morning.

“We’d left with a full load of groceries in the freezer, but we managed okay and got the gears changed,” he says. “There were only 38,000 kilometres on the truck at that point.”

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Many other adventures with the truck followed, but in 2010, Soehner was involved in a rear end collision. He was struck from behind, and Soehner’s pickup slammed into the truck in front. His Chevy suffered major damage. “My insurance company wouldn’t make the repairs, much to my anger, and they wrote it off,” he says.

But Soehner wasn’t ready to write it off himself. He dismantled the front clip, had the frame straightened, and visited wrecking yards. Among other pieces, he bought a used radiator, A/C condenser, transmission oil cooler, front bumper, grille, hood and left front fender. He put the truck back together to the best of his ability and continued to drive it until 2017, when he bought a used 2009 GMC Denali that became his main driver. The ’95 Chevy, with 360,000 kilometres on the odometer, was parked in the driveway next to the holiday trailer.

When his neighbour, Clark Shanks, noticed the truck wasn’t being used anymore he asked if Soehner would sell it. Soehner didn’t immediately warm to the idea, but late in 2021, some 26 years after he’d bought it, he made a deal with Shanks and sold him the truck. Shanks, who was born and raised in Vancouver, is a journeyman boat builder and journeyman cabinet maker. He’s good with his hands and is a hobby mechanic who enjoys tinkering.

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“I was 14 when I built a flat-bottom boat from plans out of Popular Mechanics magazine,” Shanks says. “School was tough for me, because I’m dyslexic, but I was good with my hands and I discovered there are other ways to learn and other things that you can do. It’s not all about the academics, the trades are an excellent place to work.”

Regarding Soehner’s Chevy, Shanks says he was simply looking for a truck he could use to make dump runs and pick up wood for their stove. Immediately after he bought the truck, Shanks changed all fluids, the brakes and performed a tune-up.

“The truck is basically kilometred-out, but I know I can get another 100,000 or more kilometres out of the engine without getting into too much trouble,” Shanks says.

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Although the truck was mechanically sound, there was quite a bit of rust in the doors and cab quarters. Shanks bought aftermarket quarter panels, cut out the rusted areas, and welded in the fresh sheet metal. From Pick-n-Pull, he bought a replacement door and a better hood. The truck is now in primer, and Shanks will refinish it the original two-tone green and gold.

“I’d had my eye on the truck in Mark’s yard for quite some time,” Shanks says. “I thought it would be a good truck, and I got a good deal on it. Now, with the body straight, even if something serious does happen to the engine, I’d just replace the motor.”

Soehner adds, “I’d done 52 oil changes and there wasn’t a tick in the engine and it didn’t use any oil. The truck was too good for the wreckers in 2010 and 2017, and in 2021, when Clark bought it. He’s got the skills and ability to transform the truck, and I’m keen to see him finish the project.”

Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or [email protected]