Well it's an old truck, you can tell that by the fact that it's still in black & white! But what on earth is it? Well BLB regular Richard Stanier has reversed thre tables and set Biglorryblog a unique PIE challenge! Richard has sent me these shots and says: "Knowing your predilection for pies, I thought you may be interested in this unusual truck. It was built by the famous American Hauliers Pacific Intermountain Express, in their own workshops in about 1962. PIE were quite keen on building experimental trucks to their own design requirements in the late 1950's and early 60's, apparently working in conjunction with Fruehauf and Paccar on occasion."
Richard goes on to say: "I have no real details on the PIE tractor unit, but it is revolutionary in the respect that the cab appears to slide forward, rather than tilt, in order to reveal the engine (which I would take bets on being a Cummins with Detroit as an outside chance) It also looks like the massive tank is for fuel, rather than hydraulic oil, and the port-hole style rear window and attendant shovel add a bit of extra character."
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Richard concludes: "Just to proove PIE also ran more conventional rigs, I enclose a photo of one of their Peterbilt 'doubles' which was based at their Oakland, California base. The firm had just put 250 of these new combinations on the road when this publicity shot was taken in the mid 60's. I hope the composition of this shot will meet with BLB's approval!"
Sunset with a truck? Of course! And thanks Richard for a great off-beat story.
As usual you are quite correct Richard. PIE did build a few experimental rigs of their own. The sliding cab arrangement I have not seen before although they did experiment with engines that slid out from beneath the cab. I guess this was a variation on that theme. As for the photo of the Pete and doubles I had that same colour photo in a large frame hanging in my hallway for years until the Missus finally decided that a Benjamin Chee Chee print would look better!
Yes, it was known as the truck that "Jack" built. It was powered by one of the first V-8 Cummins at 235 hp. I ran short runs around Los Angeles CA. Part of the cooling system was in the frame rails. It was said that they had million dollars tied up in it. Somebody said they saw him going down the street one day when the cab latches broke or malfuntioned and the cab slid forward while it was going down the road. It sat against the fence for an extended period of time, but "Jack" was retired. Brings back memories because it was in a PIE publication called the PIE LOG. 1962 was the year I started working at PIE.
I am looking for a past president or employee of PIE. I am working on a "cold case" from 1985 and desperatley need help finding some old records.Any information please call New York State Police Buffalo 1-716-836-0240 Thank you in advance. Trooper Stegner