(10/15/20) New 1956 Box Truck from Menards!

Wow pretty nice Mark!

Rod

Nice truck. Does anyone know if the decoration is correct for the truck era, or is more recent? Also, now that the truck model has been created, interested in seeing other liveries that might come about, and in retro designs. Trying to keep my layout in a general 50's era.

With a green cab, green cargo compartment and red wheels it could be a fine companion to the REA panel truck previously offered. Fleets in the mid '50s would not have had chrome wheels.  Painted solid or spoke wheels would have been used.  How easily can the cargo box be removed to facilitate painting or converting to a semi tractor?  John

Good looking truck. I would guess there are many companies that had that truck for city deliveries.

1956 era fills a void. I would repaint and darken the rims.

@O-gauger posted:

Does anyone know if the decoration is correct for the truck era?  Now that the truck has been created, interested in seeing other liveries in retro designs. Trying to keep my layout in a general 50's era.

The deco is modern (1970's- & on) & would not have been seen in the 50's.  That was the 1st thing I noticed.

Great looking truck.  The reported 2"W figure of the model would be a strong indicator that the model is indeed a true 1/48 scale.  For 1/48 scale, 2"W = 8'-0"W prototype dimension, which would be the overall width limit of a full-size commercial truck, and is usually the bed or the box on back of the truck.

A few other dimensions that might confirm true 1/48 scale: The width across the model's front fenders should be right around 1-7/8" to 1-15/16".  The outside diameter of the model's tires should be right around 3/4" dia. to 13/16" dia.  Of course, somebody will obviously have to confirm these dimensions with the model in hand.

1950's-era purists might find one major flaw with the truck - that being the 10-lug chrome or aluminum rims on the truck.  Commercial medium-duty trucks in the 1950's were pretty utilitarian, and had almost no major parts that were chrome-plated or aluminum/magnesium, like a lot of modern day commercial trucks do.  Instead, the rims would have been 5-bolt steel (or 6-bolt at the most), and in most circumstances painted a glossy black.

The "Menard's" decorating scheme seems a little too 'newish' for a 1950's era vehicle.  I'm almost thinking the scheme would be more believable for maybe the 1970's at the very earliest, and maybe even later than that.  But that's probably just a personal preference thing, and repainting and redecorating the truck wouldn't be very hard at all, in my opinion.

Regardless, this is still a great looking truck, and if it's anywhere from 1/43 scale to 1/50 scale, I'm definitely in for at least a few!

Great looking truck Mark  !

A Menards Building , would be a good addition to my layout

Brent

Please make one in ho. Johbn

Another vehicle for the era I model. Thanks Mark and Menards. Paul 2

Input needed:

I'm trying to come up with decorations/signage for another batch of 1956 box trucks that we are planning to produce and I am looking for suggestions. What are you guys looking for and what do you find attractive (color, branding, etc.). All help is welcomed!

Thank you,
Mark the Menards Train Guy

Piggly Wiggly, M&Ms, Morton Salt

REA express van would be great.

Kemps !

Hi Mark,

Here a few suggestions of companies I haven't seen much of (if at all) from the time period and whose branding I think would look great on a box truck:

Admiral TV's/appliances, Tide (to go w/your soap factory), Quaker State (motor oil), JELL-O, Pepsi-Cola, Sealtest, VanCamp's, Motorola, Kool-Aid, A&P, ALKA-SELTZER, Champion (spark plugs), 7up, Zenith.

Seconding the A&P.

Also IGA and Coke.

As you know, Sunoco is a major partner and supplier in motor racing, particularly NASCAR where Menards is a sponsor of Team Penske.

1956 introduced "custom blending" at Sunoco stations and the "Sunoco Blue" logo was the distinctive symbol of this new product feature.

"Sun revolutionized the oil industry when it introduced the Custom Blending Pump, a novel system for dispensing a choice of five octane grades of gasoline from a single pump. A model of the pump is currently on display at the Smithsonian." - Sunoco Website

The box truck could be delivering the new pumps to Sun Oil Company service stations around the country.

Well's Blue Bunny Ice Cream, LeMars, Iowa