Nowadays the trucks you see pulling containers, boxes, and flatbeds down the highways are swoopy and aerodynamic so as to be as fuel efficient as possible. They pull trailers as long as 53 feet, and even the trailers have aerodynamic aids on them more often than not. But back in the late 1960’s trucks were all about utility, which meant gear ratio, horsepower, and anything else that helped with their hauling ability. This was especially important in the logging and heavy hauling industries like those found in the Pacific North West. This truck was used like it was built to be used, until 2015. Yeah, that’s one hell of a career for a truck like this.
We got our hands on this cool story when the folks at Western Star thought they should share it with our big rig loving BANGshift readers, and we couldn’t be happier to share it with you.
You know a truck is special when it gets carried around by other trucks.
Doug Small’s 1968 Western Star WD4964 truck has earned the rides. Manufactured in the second year of the brand’s existence, it might be the oldest Western Star truck in existence. Its home base is The Truck Shop dealership in Auburn, Wash., but, it has spent time on display at the Daimler Trucks North America corporate headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
Earlier this year, it rode cross-continent on the back of a flatbed from Auburn to Quebec City, where it was the star of the 2017 Western Star Dealer Meeting. It’s not that the 49-year-old truck couldn’t have made the trip on its own, though.
“It runs like a top. I would drive this truck anywhere. We just want to protect it,” said Small, who, with his brothers Steve and Dan, bought the truck for their dealership in December 2015.
Its current life of leisure is new for the truck, which, true to Western Star’s reputation for legendary awesomeness, put in more than 45 years of hard labor. Built in Western Star’s former plant in Kelowna, British Columbia, the truck hauled logs and poles for 10 years. Its then-owners started a building truss company and the truck was converted to a crane tractor. It delivered trusses in and around Washington’s Skagit Valley from 1978 until the company closed its doors in 2015 and the Smalls bought the truck.
“We bought it because we love old trucks,” said Doug Small. “It’s got sentimental value because we’re a sentimental dealer.”
Though the truck is largely original, there have been a few changes over the years. In 1980, the original Cummins 335 engine was swapped out for a Cummins Big Cam II with 400 hp. Around 1994, the 5-speed main box and 4-speed auxiliary transmissions were changed out for an Eaton Fuller 18-speed transmission. Since buying it, the Smalls have only polished it up.
Now, its’ on display, its working days over. “It’s a beautiful truck. Customers come in, particularly the older ones, and they can’t stop oohing and aahing over it,” Small said.
For more information, go to WesternStarTrucks.com.
