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What do you make of this?


Dave Mellor NJ

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Photoshop also works in black and white...

I can tell you for sure that is not Photoshopped. I looked in close and the signs of "Tom-foolery" are not there. I would say that they may have been trying to give older equipment a new longer useful life or a re-design for future concepts. By moving the cab it allowed them to get one more full sized car on board. The steering shaft is protruding from the cab, but not connected. I see where they disconnected wiring and such on the firewall so this may just be a work in process.

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Looks to me like someone tried to design a truck to carry the maximum number of cars, for new car delivery to dealers, without contravening the length restrictions then in effect in some states. I know in the midwest and east many states restricted the length of a truck and trailer to 45 feet total.

The truck is a Dodge which had a flathead 6 sitting low in the front. It would easily go under the bumper of a car in stock position.

The vehicle in the photo appears to be a first effort, mockup or prototype. The steering is not connected, in fact the brakes, lights etc are probably not connected either. But they remounted the cab higher and rolled it out in the parking lot where they could test fit some cars, try out the driving position, measure height etc.

They probably dropped the idea before even one truck was completed and on the road. Although, who knows, they might have had one running around for testing.

The experiment most likely was by a trailer manufacturer or possibly a transport company. I base this on the fact that it is a Dodge truck but is carrying Buick, Olds, Dodge and Chevrolet cars. If it was an experiment by an auto maker I would expect to see all vehicles by that one maker.

One thing that seems odd. All the cars (visible) have whitewall tires. Coincidence? I can't think of any other explanation.

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I think Rusty has it right. My grandfather hauled new Chryslers and Plymouths from the factory to dealers on the east coast from the mid-thirties until they ceased car production in 1942. He was paid by the car, so he was always trying to come up with new ways to haul more cars and still stay within length limits. At one time he had a truck and trailer combination (similar to the one in the picture, but without the raised cab)that hauled four cars flat. It was long.

Dwight

Edited by Dwight Romberger (see edit history)
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RaceRon's opinion

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I'm going to venture a guess by saying this might be how everything was prepped and shipped to Europe from North America/US.

A separate tow vehicle might've been used to move the 'trailers' seen in the picture and upon reaching final destination the cars are unloaded, and the the hauler reassembled.

Just a guess though. . .

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I've read RaceRons theory three or four times and cannot make sense of it. Does he think the cars were driven to Europe over some, imaginary, bridge?

I actually knew a guy in HS that was going to drive to Hawaii with his girl friend after graduation. He thought there was a bridge.

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If it was a trailer as per RaceRons theory, why would it have a cab, front fenders, grill etc. when there is no need for them.

Even if it is prototype of something that someone was thinking about it's a hell of a big step down from the cab.

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These weird-looking trucks were built by an outfit called Whitehead & Kales. An outfit called Commercial Carriers used 12 of them to transport Chrysler-built automobiles. There is a photo of a more complete truck on Hanks Truck Pictures on page 2 of the John Jurkowski Collection. They were built to haul an additional vehicle and still stay under the length restrictions that were than in effect for the trucking industry. You can also google Whitehead & Kales and pick on "What Am I." In February of 2009 our truck club got several replies to the same question.

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These weird-looking trucks were built by an outfit called Whitehead & Kales. An outfit called Commercial Carriers used 12 of them to transport Chrysler-built automobiles. There is a photo of a more complete truck on Hanks Truck Pictures on page 2 of the John Jurkowski Collection. They were built to haul an additional vehicle and still stay under the length restrictions that were than in effect for the trucking industry. You can also google Whitehead & Kales and pick on "What Am I." In February of 2009 our truck club got several replies to the same question.

How about just giving us the link??? I spent some time trying to Google it and never found it. I found page 2, but no place onther is any trucks with the cab raised. It's so much easier to just cut/paste the link rather than typing out inconcise descriptions.

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Way to go John!

post-63449-143139145211_thumb.jpg

If you look closely there are 3 steps recessed into the side of the cab.

I think the extra set of single wheels is to support the weight at the tongue of the trailer. Otherwise, the rear springs of the truck would be overloaded

I just threw the last one of my grandfather's car covers away last year. If any cars got damaged he had to pay for the repairs, so he covered them carefully.

Edited by Dwight Romberger (see edit history)
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It took me about 10 minutes to find it after wading through the website. However, it was a pleasant diversion and I will go back and look at more trucks, later this evening. As a boy, I would sometimes go truckin' with a family friend. I was fascinated by all of the rigs. KWs, Petes, White Freightliners, Autocars, Jimmys, Diamond Ts an occasional Sterling. Cool stuff for a kid. I got my CDL, much later on, but never used it.

I'd love to see the shift linkage on that contraption. I'm sure there is a hamster in a wheel, a spoon dropping a golf ball onto an alarm clock and so on.............

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This should get you to the site; then click on page 2. [h=3][/h][h=3]John Jurkowski Truck Collection - Hank's Truck Pictures[/h]<cite>www.hankstruckpictures.com/john_jurkowski_trucks.htm</cite>Cached - Similar

You +1'd this publicly. Undo

John Jurkowski took these pictures of different trucks in Perry N.Y. in the 50's and let Steve Slocum scan them for the web site. Most of the pictures were taken in ...

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Guest prs519

Hmm...move master cylinder, no problem. Clutch linkage and steering column maybe just the usual cab-over type of set-up, except lengthened, possibly?

But what a throw that gear shifter would have! The rest would be mostly just adding electrical wire, huh?

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Guest prs519

Am given, upon reflection, to believe that there was initially one larger truck, which pulled this whole mess to drop point one. There upon, cars were offloaded, and

the second truck assembled for some sort of a shuttle delivery, whereupon both trucks were used to go to separate destinations! It is certainly set up in a way to

indicate that putting the cab together somewhere en route is part of the scheme. May have been set up so that one man could lower that cab and finish the assembly.

Not sure my brainstorms carry any moisture but this is a cool mind bender of a post!

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