[Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

As I understand it, AACA judges vehicles against the factory standard, ie "The way the dealer recieved it from the factory", not "the way the customer received it from the dealer". Just out of curiosity, how does this apply to big trucks that may not have had a body installed on the chassis when it was recieved by the dealer? Are points deducted for the installation of a period body, say a wrecker, stake bed, dump body, etc? I'm sure that in their day, many of these bodies would have been fabricated by small fab shops and individuals, rather than large body manufacturers. Would a "homemade" body have more points deducted than a body made by a known manufacturer?

[ply33]

I suspect that one way to handle this is to consider the body fabricator as the manufacturer rather than the supplier of the chassis.<P>This same problem will occur if/when somebody brings their 25+ year old motorhome to be judged.<P>------------------<BR><A HREF="http://www.ply33.com" TARGET=_blank>Plymouth: The First Decade</A>

[Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

Initially, I was thinking along the lines of customers who bought a truck chassis from the dealer and installed a stake bed or even a special purpose body himself. My father did this on several ocassions as his business grew. The bodies were of his own design, some fabricated by a fab shop, others fabricated by him. <P>Since you brought it up though, what about something like a school bus? Something that would be useless as it left the factory?<P>OR.....snicker snicker, a conversion van complete with shag carpet. These things had a middle man between the factory and the dealer.<P>I was just curious as to how AACA handles these.<p>[This message has been edited by MODEL A HAL (edited 01-11-2001).]

[ronbarn]

This is a very good question an believe me one with a somewhat arguable answer. Take a look at the depot hack thread and will see a similar problem. Many trucks were sold by most manufactures in the chassis and cowl foward configuration. The body was added by either a major body shop (similar to the custom bodies on classics) or by a local carpenter, or sometime by the owner. <P>AACA has taken the position that these are authentic bodies. Or as mentioned in an earlier post, the body manufacturer is an extension of the chassis manufacturer. Believe me, there have been some heated battles over this. Maybe hvs can add something.

It has always been my understanding, same as Father Ron's, that the after market or owner built bodies on large trucks are acceptable, no matter who built the body. When I was in the glass business I used to buy a cab & chassis truck, design my own bodies, have them fabricated to my design and then mounted on my chassis. I feel that would be a legitimate truck in AACA judging. Fortunately for us none of those bodies exist today.<P>One thing has not been mentioned on this subject. The body design must be of the era of the truck. Lettering must be of the era of the truck. You can't have the phone number (301)123-4567 on a 1933 vehicle. There were no area codes in '33. Probably no <BR>7 digit phone numbers either. It would most likely have been Saratoga 1234. So don't use your current business number in the lettering. Also don't use your current business name if it didn't exist as a business in '33. I think that covers lettering.<P>Accessories: If it is a 1933 truck don't use 1938 lights or modern lights or modern plastic reflectors. No sleeper cabs before sleeper cabs were invented. No tandem axles if that truck was never built with tandems I once saw that at a show. Neat truck but not authentic.<P>To sum it all up, if you are going to reproduce a body for a particular year of truck which could have been purchased as a cab & chassis, be sure that it is a body which would have been on that truck in the year the truck was manufactured. ~ hvs<P>

[Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

Fair enough. Thanks.

[rcirilli]

I shouldn't even reply on this thread because father Ron and HVS have done an excellent job BUT..... As a specialist in the trucking industry I will second what has been said.<P>A manufacturer in past years and in the present generally only builds the chassis which consist of frame rails, axles, drive train, cab and electrics. Even if a manufacturer has a division that builds bodies they are considered a separate entity. A vehicle gets it's identity at the point it is placed in service, therefore at least two enitities are involved, the manufacturer of the chassis and the manufacturer of the body. I really doesn't matter who those parties are.<P>With regard to trucks built over twenty-five years ago we must keep in mind that the purpose for buying a truck was to transport products. No one would only buy a chassis to drive around, at least no one that is prudent. So in judging we shoud accept anything that was customary and available for the time.<P>[This message has been edited by rcirilli (edited 01-12-2001).]<p>[This message has been edited by rcirilli (edited 01-12-2001).]

My wife Judy, who frequently judges trucks due to the fact that those classes often get attached to the end of the Model A classes [where she judges] for judging at smaller meets, asked that I add this to my post.<P>Materials used to build newly reproduced truck bodies must be materials that were available at the time the vehicle was originally constructed. That means no fibreglass panels on early truck bodies and no exotic laminates which did not exist in say 1933. hvs & jrs