Ronnie Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 This has to be the most interesting wrecker I've seen. It's unusual enough that it's a 1950 Buick Roadmaster truck, but I would never have thought about hiding the boom and the winch in the bed of the truck. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1939_Buick Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 The link is dated 2016. Photos of this Buick have been posted on the forum before that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 (edited) I found this on the General section and thought it would be informative for us Buick guys over here. Not mine... I bought this old tow truck and would like to know if anyone can provide history of Johnnie's Garage. It is a 1932 Buick 97. I believe it was in NEPA (North Eastern Pennsylvania) for the majority of its life but can't say for sure. Edited November 11, 2018 by dibarlaw Added content (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 10 hours ago, avgwarhawk said: I like that! Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon bee Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 Man I do too! A 5 holer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 36 forward and 24 reverse speeds? One would have to be a whole lot better driver than me to be shifting 24 gears while backing up! 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTCV Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 On Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 6:50 PM, dibarlaw said: I found this on the General section and thought it would be informative for us Buick guys over here. Not mine... I bought this old tow truck and would like to know if anyone can provide history of Johnnie's Garage. It is a 1932 Buick 97. I believe it was in NEPA (North Eastern Pennsylvania) for the majority of its life but can't say for sure. Here is an update and a bit about us. My students wanted to build a rat rod. A local gentleman had this and basically gave it to me . Once I found out what it was I was not going to cut it into a rat rod. Obviously it could never go back to what it was originally so the plan was to put it back to the tow truck. I decided that any parts that can be used to help others restore their Buick to original will be offered up to help us complete our project. But we are determined to keep the original drivetrain. We do not have a budget to buy everything so we are making the best of what we have and putting money where it can do the most. Many may feel we are not restoring this vehicle properly but considering we need to finish this project by June leaves us few options. We will post a few pictures as we move forward. We plan to fire up the engine in a month or so. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuickBob49 Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 I posted this photo on another thread, but could someone tell me if the tow truck is a Buick? The unfortunate car is a 1927 Buick coupe. Hood River, Oregon, 1929. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) The wrecker seems to be a circa 1920 Cadillac. The transverse mounted engine behind the cab may be a teens Buick. Winch power unit? Hudson/Essex sign upper left side of the garage door. The coupe may be a 1926 as I do not see the Goddess radiator cap. Motometer on the regular cap. Edited December 11, 2018 by dibarlaw spelling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) Edited December 6, 2018 by avgwarhawk (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 That looks very similar to my current project. Except mine was a farm ute ( pick up ) not a wrecker, also cut down from a sedan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTCV Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 Avgwarhawk and Rooster what year make and model are your wreckers. I have this fender but did not know what it goes to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Mine is a 1934 Series 40. That fender does not look like mine. If it is Buick I would say it's earlier --- 1933 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 On 12/9/2018 at 11:32 AM, Jeff P said: The Johnnie's Garage truck would be a dream restoration of mine. I would love to own it and restore it despite it's condition. While clearly not a Buick "car" by any means, I think a restoration including replicating Johnnies Garage as you see it in that patina shot - would be a worthy restoration of a car which was common in a bygone era. It would inform and fascinate a show crowd as much as a restored car would. Very neat. Thanks for sharing. Also, the shape of the bed sides is a shape that I have seen a few times on converted cars to trucks. There has to be a theme here, a company that perhaps offered a conversion "kit" especially back around WW II. The sloping down near the back, seen it a few times on conversions from the 20's to the early 50's. Just an observation. Agreed...I’ve seen that box side shape on fire truck conversions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted December 18, 2018 Author Share Posted December 18, 2018 Below is a shot I took with my camera of my TV with a scene from the latest Ford F150 commercial. It's a shame they covered up most of the old wrecker they are hauling with a banner. Having the sides of the bed rounded off in the rear with a handrail on top seems to be a common thing in old wreckers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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