Well, I’m doing it wrong again. After bringing my 1966 Chevy C50 Goliath back to life and spending all summer running around in it, I’ve really grown to love the big lug. That’s why I was immediately conflicted when I got an e-mail from my college buddy Paul Lafayette with a link to an eBay ad featuring a 1968 C50 tow truck. I’ve loved tow trucks since I was a kid and with this one staring me in the face, the price literally dropping by the week, and then a threat from the seller to crush it if it didn’t sell, my mind was racing. Ultimataly, I pulled the trigger on buying the truck to save it from the crusher and to scratch the 31-year itch of wanting to have my own old wrecker. 

You’re wondering, “What does this mean for Goliath?” Well, Goliath’s final fate has not been 100% decided either way, but most likely the truck will be sold. It will be sold with the rolling stock from the wrecker on it and the big Firestones will end up on the wrecker. I will keep you all posted on what happend to Goliath, but he’ll most likely go to a good home, or perhaps, in a long shot, stay at mine.

To the truck, which, after consulting the BangShift forum crew, has the name Brutus and I think it fits to a T. The drivetrain in Brutus is an exact carbon copy of Goliath, with a couple minor caveats. There’s a 292ci straight six, single speed rear end, four speed (this an SM465, Goliath has the older but nearly identical SM420), dual rear wheels, virtually the same spring package, manual steering, power brakes, and a bench seat in the cab. It also has solid sheetmetal all around, for the most part. There some rust repair to be done on the driver’s side of the cab in the rocker panel area and a tender spot or two on the body. Unlike Goliath, Brutus doesn’t have the cab mounts rotting through the floor, or cab corners that you can jam your arm through. 

The business end of the truck is where the real fun is. Behind the cab is a custom made split boom wrecker body. This setup was made by Weld-Built out of NY in 1968. Weld Built is still in business and has record of building this truck. They have committed to sending the build sheets and information along to me. There are a pair of 15-ton winches powered by a PTO off the side of the transmission, a big tow bar in the back and assorted J-hooks and chains coming with the truck. The “split boom” design means that both of the booms can be swung out to the sides, up to 90-degrees and independantly raised and lowered with the use of cranks on the side of the body. The winches are activated by the handles you can see at the rear of the truck. We already have plans to rip, lift, and drag a bunch of heavy stuff to test out Brutus’s strength!

The vintage paint and lettering will stay, with a couple matching additions. We’ll be adding some “not for hire” script, and a couple other vintage call outs on the truck as well. The addition of Goliath’s white wheels will also spruce it up some.  

So what’s the “project” angle to this truck? Easy, we’re going to put a big block in it. Not a zooty 454, but a warmed up, and we mean mildly warmed up 366 or tall deck 427. Why put lipstick on one of those pig big blocks? People are basically giving them away, we have no intention of making this big truck “fast” and frankly, we’ve never seen anyone mess with one before. Doubling the stock power of the 292, which was about 170 will be possible and the torque will be pretty major. Finally, the 366 was an available engine in these trucks, so a big block could have been (and should have been!) factory equipment.

Lastly, the truck is in NY, I am in Boston 500 miles away. Starting this Friday, I’ll be driving it all the way home. Yep, never actually seen it with my own two eyes, never driven it, and going entirely on the trust bond between myself and the seller, I’m going to hop in, hit the key and slowly rumble East. The truck will go about 60mph tops, just like Goliath.

We’ll have some stuff set up so you can follow the ups and downs of the trek, and we’re sure that there will be both along the way. Stay tuned!