What Is It????

I'll make this simple. This truck is a 1953 COE made by a now defunct company. The picture was sent to me as a "reverse" reward from the last person who ID'ed this truck. I owe a debt of gratitude to Brian. Here it is.

What Make?

Where was it made?

What present day truck manufacturer bought out this company?

My Original AMT Peterbilt 359 and Fruhauf Trailer

I think I'm going to cry. I thought I had lost this picture, taken in 1969, of the original AMT issue of the PETERBILT 359 "California Hauler" and AMT FRUHAUF Trailer. This is the first truck I ever built!!!

That's right - the first of AMT's line of truck models. The truck that started my interest in model trucks. MY FAVORITE model of all times!! Note that it doesn't have the sleeper cab yet, the picture was taken shortly after I ordered it from AMT.

The picture was taken on the front porch of my childhood home. Both house and truck are long lost, but not the memory.

It's funny how things come back when you least expect them to.

On The Road With The Birds and Trucks

Every opportunity we get, my wife and I go out for LONG drives trying to get lost on the back roads of New York, and Pennsylvania. I usually watch for birds for her and she watches for trucks for me. It's a time we both enjoy - especially when I end up with ONE truck and she ends up with 15 or more different birds. THAT IS A GOOD DAY - for me!

It was on one of those trips that WE spotted this old Brockway on our way through Dushore, Pa.
















Our next weekend trip had us headed to Buffalo to spend Easter with our son Garrett. Of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to head out Sunday morning for a drive near Lake Erie. I made even with my truck score and her bird score.

This was my result - a pristine Peterbuilt 359, with an interesting hood ornament.
















Then there was yesterday. A day trip to Ithaca and Dryden. I already knew I had at least one truck on my list. Jan clobbered me with birds!

My find was actually spotted coming back from Cortland during a bus trip. I believe this is a late 70's Brockway 359.




























If you look carefully at the interior shot, you will see that the keys are in the ignition. Lucky for Jan, IT DIDN'T start.


The next offering is from a local road trip in Elmira. I was thankful that this was close by as neither of us had brought our cameras. I went back the following day to capture this late 20's Chevrolet.
































So, I will have to admit ---- Birds and trucks are a fine mix, and those road trips aren't bad either.

1949 Mighty Joe Young / 1949 Impact - A Moving Movie Mystery / Evidence Is In

Not only is the evidence in, but the case of "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG" vs. "IMAPACT" , and what seems to be the same vehicle, now identified as a 1944 WHITE 810T is over. The jury has deliberated on the evidence based on a series of stills from both movies.

The VERDICT: While said vehicle, one 1944 WHITE 810T did try to disguise itself in the movie "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG" as a moving van for the company "GREAT WESTERN MOVING CO." and apparently also did the same in the movie "IMPACT" as a "BEKIN'S" moving van, the van appearing in both 1949 movies is one and the same.

What was most dificult about this identification was identifying the year and make of said vehicle
as a 1944 White.

Presented to the case was some new evidence in way of a 1945 advertisement for a White Delivery Van:


You can note the similarity both to the Bekins and Great Western Vans below:































Since the advertisement shows a 45 van that uses a latter style grill, it is assumed that "our"
two /one and the same van is a late model 44 WHITE 810T.


FURTHER UPDATE ---5 / 2 / 09 ---- EMAIL FROM DON MacKENZIE

Mr. Murphey.

I have some additional information for you in regards to identifying your "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG" truck. I believe the truck is a White Model 805, Cab Over Engine Chassis, vintage 1936 to 1940 with a Gerstenslager Co. of Wooster Ohio moving van body. Let me explain why I believe this to be the case.

When White chassis were used by body builders to build trucks where the entire body including the driving compartment was provided by the body builder (such as moving vans of this type) the only external means of identification of the chassis builder was usually the radiator grille and possibly some trim pieces. Gerstenslager followed this procedure when they built the "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG" moving van. The White 800 Series/Gerstenslager moving vans were built from 1936 to 1940 using the COE radiator grille and accompanying trim. In 1941 the 800 Series imodel dentification was changed to the WA Series. Most of the changes were to the power train and chassis but the radiator grille and accompanying trim was changed to distinguish the new WA's from the 800"s. The new grille and trim included a wider center strip, two circular ID badges and a pair of wings sprouting from the center strip. I have attached two photographs of White/Gerstenslager Moving Vans. The Allied Van Lines unit is an 800 Series Model 805 (1936 to 1940). The Dilner Storage unit is the WA Series Model WA-122 (1941 to 1948). As you will see the "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG" truck is an 800.series. Also notice that the truck in the White advertisement on your BLOG shows the distinctive wings making it a WA Series.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have questions feel free to E-Mail me at any time.

Happy Trails.

Don MacKenzie.

Mighty fine pictures Don, my sincere thanks for the info too!! Thanks for shedding some light on this VERY INTERESTING TRUCK!!!












For more information on "GERSTENSLAGER CO." check out this web page -- great photos too!!

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/g/gerstenslager/gerstenslager.htm

1949 Mighty Joe Young / 1949 Impact - A Moving Movie Mystery

Okay, so this is what happens when you spend time over on Hank's Truck Forum discussing old trucks. It all started with a simple post from my friend Jerry Austin, a regular contributor to Hank's. He had posted about the "Great Western" moving van used towards the end of the 1949
RKO film "MIGHTY YOUNG". His initial question was, "what make is this vehicle?"

Well, it seems like the discussion had been going on for some time - his first post appeared in 2007.
At first it was thought the truck might be a MORELAND. I was somewhat exasperated by the fact that no one had put up pictures of the actual truck in question, and an internet search produced no results. So, I rented and watched the movie, taking the following shots for our evidence.
















I posted these on a video in You Tube, and immediately got a response that it was an International Harvester. Our mystery got deeper as I suggested this possibility back on Hank's
Truck forum, and presented the pictures. My friend Jerry came to the rescue when he suggested that it looked like a WHITE frame had been used. I now had the basis for a new theory to put to the test.

Round 2 was about to begin. Find a White similar in appearance to this "unknown beast".
































Hmmmm --- somethings look familiar, I have seen that grill before. Those headlights, the bumper, I think my friend Jerry was onto something. Our "GREAT WESTERN" movie van was a WHITE. But, how could this be? This was something special, perhaps as special as the following known WHITE, with a latter grill as in this picture of a horse hauler of the late 40's ---
LUCKY HORSES!!!


We deduced that WHITE may have been doing more "specialized" work than their famous series of beer trucks. Could our "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG" moving van be a lost example. Was this really a WHITE?

THE PLOT THICKENS-------

Early on in the forum when we were thinking this was a MORELAND, someone suggested checking the movie files on IMCB.org for trucks in the movies. Of course, there were no MORELANDS to be found. But, had we overlooked some new evidence? No one had looked at
WHITE as the culprit!! I went back to serch the scene ----














AH, you noticed too!!! This is not the "same" truck. It is a BEKINS van. Why this van isn't from "MIGHTY JOE YOUNG", it must be from another movie.

You're right of course. This BEKINS van is from the 1949 movie, "IMPACT". It too is obviously a White.

BUT - 1949, two movies, same type of RARE vehicle - SAME TRUCK OR NOT???

IF YOU WANT TO WATCH A CLIP OF THE BEKINS TRUCK - you got it --



THE MYSTERY EVOLVES TO THE NEXT STEP -----------

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW!!!!!!