Wow, check out this beauty. It’s a 1980 A64-BT powered by a Caterpillar diesel. It’s just one of the many great Autocar trucks that made the trip to the ATCA National Meet in Macungie PA.
Believe me when I tell you that there were many more than six Autocars in attendance but these few just happen to be the ones I caught on film. They sounded and looked even better in person so make sure to check out the Macungie videos posted a few days ago.
Geez, I sure do hope these two Oshkosh wreckers are actually in this video or else this title card is an awful tease.
Seven years ago I went to Walt Disney World for a vacation but in reality I went to film the legendary mass transit bus, the RTS. Back in 2012 the bus was already long in the tooth by modern standards and seemed even older when compared to the Giligs and Nova buses slowly taking over the Disney Transport fleet. I felt like I was in a race against time to capture these old machines that were still using Series 92 Detroit Diesels. Of course they were highly mufflered but that unmistakable tone was still there. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the MTA was still running these buses until May of 2019! According to the MTA nearly 4,900 buses were ordered by the authority between 1982 and 1999.
The age of the diesel powered transit vehicle in NYC is quickly coming to a close. Most likely the RTS will be the last fossil fueled bus of significant quantities ever purchased by the MTA.
It really is impossible to capture all the great trucks that attend an ATHS national show. Oh, you can try but chances are you won’t have any fun while mad dashing through the rows squeezing off photos left and right. I’ve found that an early morning stroll through the show field is as peaceful a start to the day as one can get. As an added bonus there are no golf carts!
I promise that my breathing is not that heavy in real life. The microphone on the camera happens to be right at the top and it makes me sound constantly winded. I’m getting old but I’m not that old…
Do you doubt the greatness that is Macungie? Join the ranks of the believers.
Between the ATHS national show in Reno and the ATCA national meet in Macungie we’re are going to spend the rest of the summer looking at antique trucks. This year I tried the strategy of arriving late, leaving just enough time to browse the field for awhile and then enjoy the mass exodus that usually takes place around 4ish. Usually the sun is shinning bright at this time making for fantastic photos but it decided to take a break until the very end. So much for the golden hour!
One of the appeals of the ATHS National Show moving west to east across the country over three years is the wide variety of trucks and regional influences captured. An east coast show is always heavy with overbuilt trucks wearing huge rubber and decorated with pin stripping that would make Michelangelo smile. A show in the center of the country is bound to have plenty of farm style trucks from the makes of International, White and GMC. Bouncing out to the west coast you find that chrome adorned Peterbilts and Kenworths will get you home.
As you can tell I definitely had my preconceived notions of what kind of trucks I would see in Reno. I will admit that I didn’t expect to see too many Autocars if any at all. That was a pretty foolish thought on my part as Autocars were always popular in logging and mining across the country. In fact I would be willing to bet that I saw more Autocars out west than I did at any single show back east last year. Heck, combine all the all shows and they still couldn’t beat Reno. Crazy!
Anyway, you’ll see a few of the beauties mentioned in the video above. By now we all know that I love the scream of a Detroit but a few of those old rigs had that sweet sounding old style Cummins with that low growl that just seems so right for the time period.
You know you’ve made it in the trucking world when you can bring a fleet of trucks to the ATHS national convention. Case in point, the Dalton Truck and Larry Lemmons rigs. Not only do they have variety but they are also beautiful shades of green. You can’t ask for much more. Oh wait, some are Detroit powered. Now everything is perfect. The first half of the video after the old chain drive clunker (I mean that in a good way) are the Dalton trucks. The second half are the Lemmons machines.
We’ve seen plenty of Autocars on the site over the years but not too many that look like this couple!
John was passing through Cobourg, Ontario recently when he came across a pair of ACLs fitted with low impact tires for field work. And if you are wondering what kind of work these trucks do think manure.
You may have noticed that this second ACL is wearing a different looking badge on the hood. If you could zoom in closer you would notice dates denoting the 100 years of Autocar trucks up to that point of time. I’ve never been able to find out if these trucks featured anything more than just a badge. If you know let us know. Thanks for the share John!
Do you have a truck you would like to see featured in Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!
From the moment I saw this truck at the ATHS National Show in Reno I knew I had to hang around it nearly as much as possible in an attempt to catch some sweet Detroit startup action. A few years back this very same truck was at the national show in Des Moines but I was never around when it fired off…although I did hear it! This time the stars aligned and I heard the 16V71 Detroit roar to life and lumber onto a trailer. This truck has undergone intense restoration and modification to bring it the masterpiece level you see below. Enjoy!
