From: Nat Lee (n1bnc@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Aug 22 2004 - 18:25:34 PDT
All:
The weather today was bright, cool, and absolutely delicious for a
late September day. It's August 22nd and this is not right as it is
not even 60° this morning.
Mara and I wandered up Rt 113 to Haverhill to meet up with a fellow
unimoger, Tom Rudden and his wife Terry. They live right off of Rt125
and therefore this makes it an easy ride to Barrington, NH from their
house. About three years ago Tom bought a 1962 French Troop Carrier
Unimog. The French Army happened to do a lot of restorative work on
their trucks and then parked them in storage before putting them on
the auction block.
We fueled up the trucks at the local HESS station for the trek North
(a minor ouch @ $1.87 per gallon).
Life on Rt125 was uneventful as we sauntered in classic Unimog style
spinning only a few heads that realized not one but two of these odd
beasts were in one place. Mara and I have become used to the heads
turning as we pass by. Seeing these trucks together take the traffic
cake.
The truck show was wonderful. The folks that ran the show were
pleasant and unobtrusive. Among the many trucks were many variety of
antiques ranging from the late 191x and possibly earlier up to the
late seventies. Many Mack trucks of all sorts and ages were there and
I was like a young boy in a toy store. There were a couple of
different chain driven trucks offered by Mack there too. Wow!
Aside from the usual Ford/Chevy/Dodge/Studebaker pick up trucks were
many trucks that were painstakingly restored. One Chevy Cab over
engine(COE)truck sported a 261cid 6 cylinder gas engine attached to a
4spd transmission and 2spd differential. The owner took great pains
to make this 1952 truck better then factory new.
There were many fire trucks there as well including a hook and ladder
truck from the Danvers, MA offered for $1500. Hmmm...
Another one of a kind was a Chevy Corvair Greenbriar van. This was
not a typical box van, but a completely restored camping van. This
van was capable of managing a family of 3-4 people. Odd was the
location of the spare tire, behind the front bench seat.
We had the pleasure of being parked amongst the other military trucks
and we had, completely by chance, four different Unimogs. There were
plenty of WW2 trucks ranging from jeeps to 2.5ton GMC's. There was
also a 5ton tow truck and a couple of other miscellaneous M series
trucks in the midst. Not to be ignored was an 80's CUCV (aka Chevy
Blazer) which the owner Paul purchased last Friday. Because of it's
mysterious idiot lights, he wasn't sure if it was actually charging.
Fortunately, my recently rain-soaked digital voltmeter was there to
assess the situation (it was charging).
On the subject of Unimogs, I bumped into an entertaining
acquaintance, Tom Brownell, whom I had met at the Mogfest earlier
this year. This was the fellow with those ridiculous ear bleeding
locomotive air horns. Fortunately for those with heart conditions, he
did not let those horns make ANY noise. He related to me a story of a
pull-start dog. It's a hoot, but a story best told in person! We had
a momentary forum on Unimog clutch design, of which I came away with
all sorts of conclusions.
We had arrived a little after 10am and left around 2pm. There was a
lot to see and so many exciting different trucks to enjoy and
appreciate. A couple of people also brought in "one of a kind"
machines such as bulldozers and a tracked sidewalk snowplow. One
fellow had the nerve to bring a Subaru version of a VW bus, but about
45% smaller in every dimension. There was even a Flexible bus with a
Ford V8 drivetrain meticulously restored. All in all, too many toys
in one place to be able to mention them all.
As car shows go, this is in a completely different league. Did we
have a good time? No question, yes. There was a lot of different
types and styles of trucks from the ages that many people spent a lot
of money and sweat equity to restore. I recommend that you try this
show at least once in your life just so you can appreciate where the
trucking industry is today and how it arrived there. Next year we
hope to bring the M135 with 6 new sneakers along with the 'mog as
there was only one GM hydramatic truck there.
Speed in style and we hope to see you there next year, and have no
fear, there are indeed things for the ladies to do.
Fighting over the driver's seat,
Nat & Mara
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