The Clarence Ritchie Collection

This past holiday weekend my wife and I took a trip to Vermont. When she first mentioned this trip my truck obsessed brain immediately started flipping through the Rolodex of what we might encounter during our journey. Before I could even formulate the most basic of plans she said I should look contact fellow truck fanatic Clarence Ritchie and finally take him up on his offer to view his every expanding collection of vintage iron. She is an amazing woman.

Clarence is an equal opportunity collector with a soft spot for Brockway trucks. They comprise the majority of his collection while rubbing shoulders with a few Macks, Internationals and Reos. Oh yeah, one or two GM trucks as well. And one fire truck. Also a Freightliner. Hopefully you are starting to get the picture.

On one end of the collection spectrum we have this beautiful 762 that not only looks good at any show but helps to pull in a little extra cash by rocking a lowboy. The line between work and play is blurred with this Huskie.

While it may not be as photogenic in the traditional sense as the 762 this Reo tow truck is no less of an attention grabber and conversation starter.

Clarence recently crossed paths with a former operator of this Reo and learned that the truck was used to pull trucks up a steep hill in a nearby town. That is basically all it did for a number of years. Ahhh, the era before high horsepower.

Please take a moment and browse through the gallery below to veiw just a portion of the trucks I was privileged to view on Sunday. There was an entire row of Brockways I simply did not photograph and forget about the trucks in the barn! Classic case of classic truck overload.

After receiving the grand tour it was time to take a spin in a ’74 Brockway  361 tow truck powered by everybody’s’ favorite noise maker the Detroit 6-71. We took this truck around town to visit a few local attractions including the famous Big Kenny and a working slate quarry loaded with some awesome relics. Something for everyone! Check back tomorrow and the following days.

I want to take a moment to extend my sincere thanks to Clarence and his wife for opening their home to us this weekend. They truly made us feel welcome and set our mini vaction off on the righ foot.