It takes a special set of skills to bring a 1940 Autocar U-10 back from the brink of extinction. Thankfully the crew at Eastern States Construction Service possessed these skills along with the desire and the vision to save this old rig from the scrap man.
The U-10 was found languishing in a Boston junkyard four years ago. At the time it had a small fuel oil tank out back and was rumored to have been used in the delivery of lamp and cooking oil. As with many trucks of this time the cab is a unique marriage of metal and wood. To restore the cab two shipwrights worked for a month and half removing all the sheet metal and replacing nearly half of the rotted wood supports.
If you’re lucky enough to drive this classic you’ll be sitting on top of a Hercules gas engine connected to a Warner four speed transmission. A Schramm air compressor hangs over the rear axle now and is powered by a 4 cylinder gas diesel engine. No, that is not a mistype. The large engine is started on a gas and then switched over to diesel at the appointed time. Too cool.
A huge thanks to Stephen and the folks at Eastern States Construction Service for keeping this Autocar rolling!
Got an Autocar you think should be featured on Autocar Mondays? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com