Autocar Mondays – Level Best

I know there a few of you out there that don’t look too fondly on the Autocar ACL line of trucks. You have to admit that the DC/DK line of trucks was a tough act to follow but with each passing year I think the ACL did a decent job. Like their predecessors the ACL has lead a long life with many still found on the roads today. This twin steer model was photographed by John in Ontario, Canada. In addition to the dual front axles the rear spread on the rear tandems is a common Canadian calling card.

Do you have a truck you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!

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PSA #3741-515854

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The Large Car

If you are fan of the “large car” than you felt right at home walking the show the grounds of the 2017 ATHS national convention. Lowered suspensions. Stretched frames. Chrome everything, they were all there. Now some of the models you will see below might not technically fall into the large car category but that is just label made up by the man to keep us down.

If I had something witty to say it would be here but I don’t so yet again I will let the trucks do the talking.

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An Old Standard

In these dog days of summer let us partake in the time honored tradition of looking at snow fighting equipment. Here is a photo of truck 212 of the Syracuse DPW fleet. When you see this truck on the street along with its twin (possible triplet?) you know winter has set in for the season. I took this photo right at the start of the new year when the truck was at the local spring shop.

A few days later truck 216 showed up in the soon to be auctioned section of the DPW yard. That’s not a good place for a dedicated snow fighter to be parked in winter. To this day it is still located in this lineup. Sad!

Over on the county side of things they have decided to keep their Paystar in active service…as of now.

In the gallery below we have many items starting with more Syracuse DPW trucks that went across the block, new trucks, old trucks, working trucks, and a bunch of OCDOT trucks basking in the evening sun.

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American Truck Classics

Take a look at this one! If I didn’t know better I would have said it came straight out of 1933 via a worm hole. Even better than seeing this truck in person was seeing this truck move under it’s own power.

Don’t worry, I won’t hold on you. Check out the video below for some footage of this is CJ Mack along with many other great classics. A real nice variety of makes and models.

A few stills from the featured video.

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Autocar Mondays – Retirement Home

Ed recently visited the Autocar retirement home at the William M. Larned quarry near Rotterdam, NY. In this photo four Autocars can be seen with at least one of them in still running order. Ed tells us that as recently as last year two of these fine rigs were still on the road.

Do you have an Autocar you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!

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Classic Trucks of Iowa

For your Sunday morning enjoyment, a selection of trucks from the 2017 ATHS National Convention.

There are some nice trucks in this gallery. How about that Ward Lafrance in Estes colors? Yes please.

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Old Ford Trucks

The other day we spent some time looking at the latest trucks of the Ford Heavy lineup. Today we visit the trucks that paved the way for those models. You have to wonder how long this LTL9000 has been working the woods as it’s relatively free of the usual heavy damage common to log loaders.

Below, just another L9000 dump truck and what appears to be a former City of Syracuse basin cleaner truck. Just recently this truck made it to the street corner from the back of a property loaded with random items. One has to wonder why it was ever sent to surplus as the cab looks to be in great shape.

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A Walter in Iowa

While cruising the lots of the Iowa 80 truck stop and all the chrome plated modern age large cars I somehow found myself staring through a chain link fence at a Walter Snow-Fighter! It’s a truck I certainly wasn’t expecting to find. Outfitted with double wings like any good Walters this particular truck is equipped with a material spreader out back instead of the mason style body equipped with counterweights that is common on these old trucks.

There were a few other cool old trucks parked along with the Walter. I wondered if they are related to the Iowa 80 Truck Museum by any chance?

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The Dodge Power Wagon

The Dodge Power Wagon is the story about a truck “too tough to stop” in the formidable jobs of war –  and now – rugged enough, and with power to spare, for the stubborn jobs of peace.

That’s a nice tag line that I wish I could take credit for but it comes from a Dodge promotional film from the late 1940’s. As the story goes many returning G.I.’s couldn’t find an equatable vehicle to the Power Wagon in terms of reliability and toughness. They wrote letters to Dodge for years hoping to that their voices would be heard. Ultimately they were successful when engineers decided to redesign the body lines for consumer taste and add a seat cushion cab. Seriously, that’s all they did. With little vision and very little expectations of success (quoting the film again) Dodge began the grand experiment.

All across the country the Power Wagon became a success anywhere regular trucks had failed. Obviously the folks at Luber Homes were ardent believers in the PW as they had no less than four trucks up for auction last month. Most of them were in poor shape but when it comes to a Power Wagon looks are purely cosmetic and really not necessary for optimal function.

In the extremely rare instance that my video left you wanting more check out the official Dodge produced film that I referenced earlier by clicking here.

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