On the thread dealing with how DC guys could cope with the snow, http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...D=38407#328947, a Turning Wheels cover picture was posted of a 4WD Studebaker wrecker now belonging to George Hamlin. George bought the truck from me some years ago (not in the condition it is in the picture). I had bought the truck, a 1960 one-ton 4WD with the 245 cid six, in 1981 from the original owner, a former Studebaker dealer in South Burlington, Vermont. He ordered the truck for his dealership use. Being a frugal Yankee he had ordered it as cab and chassis with single rear wheels. He then built a wooden toolbox the width of the cab and about two feet wide and tall. Then he put a six-foot International bed behind that and installed a wrecker crane in the bed- no expesnive Holmes wrecker for him.
I bought it from an ad in Turning Wheels- listed as a 22,000-mile Studebaker 4WD wrecker. He assured me that it was roadworthy so I bought a one-way ticket to Burlington. He picked me up at the airport and took me to his garage. When I saw the truck I just about asked him to take me back to the airport. It was very rusty and hadn't been driven for some time. He did have it running, the headlights worked and he had made some other repairs and, since I couldn't get a return flight until the next day, I decided to "grin and bear it". I left his house about 4:30 pm and it actually ran pretty good. Of course, I didn't have any tools or anything. In those days I guess I had a lot more spirit of adventure and a lot less smarts. The only problem I ran in to was having to make very frequent fuel stops (averaged 8 mpg). Anyhow, I got home (Fairfax, Virginia) at about 3 am- no problems at all. I had that 245 humming along at 60 mph (5.19 rear end) and it seemed happy. When my wife got up in the morning a saw the truck in the driveway she got me up and told me to get that thing out there before the neighbors saw it. We had a little farmette a few miles away so I immediately drove it over there and parked it behind the barn (I was in enough trouble for buying it in the first place).
Moving on to the snow story- in 1983, after we had moved to West Virginia, we had a 36-inch snow. I had started to drive to the commuter train in my 4WD Subaru when the snow was about eight inches deep. About a mile from home the car did a 180 in the road. I figured it was trying to tell me something so I went back home and called in. About noon when there was 18 inches on the ground I decided to take the old wrecker out to see how it did in the snow. I got about 1/4 mile up the road (no other tracks) when it died on me. The gas gauge wasn't very reliable so I thought I had run out of gas. I trudged back to the house, got a five-gallon can of gas and trudged back to the truck. Put in the gas and still no start. So I waded around front and opened the hood. The whole engine compartment was filled with snow- couldn't even see the engine. That huge old front differential was acting like a power scoop and, with a lot of room around that six, it had packed the engine room tight. I dug out the distributor, the air cleaner, and the spark plugs. Got in and it started right up. Taking no chances, I backed up the 1/4 mile and in to my driveway and right into the garage.
Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. '64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Daytona convertible, '53 Commander Starliner, Museum R-4 engine, '62 Gravely Model L, '72 Gravely Model 430
I bought it from an ad in Turning Wheels- listed as a 22,000-mile Studebaker 4WD wrecker. He assured me that it was roadworthy so I bought a one-way ticket to Burlington. He picked me up at the airport and took me to his garage. When I saw the truck I just about asked him to take me back to the airport. It was very rusty and hadn't been driven for some time. He did have it running, the headlights worked and he had made some other repairs and, since I couldn't get a return flight until the next day, I decided to "grin and bear it". I left his house about 4:30 pm and it actually ran pretty good. Of course, I didn't have any tools or anything. In those days I guess I had a lot more spirit of adventure and a lot less smarts. The only problem I ran in to was having to make very frequent fuel stops (averaged 8 mpg). Anyhow, I got home (Fairfax, Virginia) at about 3 am- no problems at all. I had that 245 humming along at 60 mph (5.19 rear end) and it seemed happy. When my wife got up in the morning a saw the truck in the driveway she got me up and told me to get that thing out there before the neighbors saw it. We had a little farmette a few miles away so I immediately drove it over there and parked it behind the barn (I was in enough trouble for buying it in the first place).
Moving on to the snow story- in 1983, after we had moved to West Virginia, we had a 36-inch snow. I had started to drive to the commuter train in my 4WD Subaru when the snow was about eight inches deep. About a mile from home the car did a 180 in the road. I figured it was trying to tell me something so I went back home and called in. About noon when there was 18 inches on the ground I decided to take the old wrecker out to see how it did in the snow. I got about 1/4 mile up the road (no other tracks) when it died on me. The gas gauge wasn't very reliable so I thought I had run out of gas. I trudged back to the house, got a five-gallon can of gas and trudged back to the truck. Put in the gas and still no start. So I waded around front and opened the hood. The whole engine compartment was filled with snow- couldn't even see the engine. That huge old front differential was acting like a power scoop and, with a lot of room around that six, it had packed the engine room tight. I dug out the distributor, the air cleaner, and the spark plugs. Got in and it started right up. Taking no chances, I backed up the 1/4 mile and in to my driveway and right into the garage.
Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. '64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Daytona convertible, '53 Commander Starliner, Museum R-4 engine, '62 Gravely Model L, '72 Gravely Model 430
Comment