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Early returns on well-used trucks

Apparently most ITD employees drive modern vehicles with clean paint jobs and unruffled fenders.

An invitation in the July 14 Transporter for employees to send photos of their ugly trucks generated three responses.

Two of the submissions truly are old trucks (although one appears to be fairly well preserved), and the third was an ITD pickup that had been customized by crunch. One Transporter reader wondered if there is a national Ugly Van day. Sorry, none that we’re aware of, but hey, let’s see your ugly vans as well.

Included are descriptions of the two old trucks returned to the Transporter. Believing there no doubt are more trucks – and vans – stored in garages, we’ll continue to receive photos and descriptions for the next two weeks. Please e-mail photos and a brief description that includes: make and model, year manufactured, number of years you’ve owned it, and (if possible) an instance of when and how it pulled through a tough spot.

From Don Davis,
District 1 Project Development
Here's my (ugly) truck. I defend the poor old thing when my family calls it a junker or a rattletrap. It's a 1977 Jeep with a 1974 cab and one 1975 Wagoneer door. The reason for the mismatched parts is that on July 2, 2003, a violent windstorm that blew across Lake Pend Oreille, and knocked an 18-inch Cottonwood over onto the original cab of the truck.

Squished it down to the cowl, bent the frame and took the truck out of commission.

So, I found the replacement cab and doors at the local wrecking yard and switched them out. The truck has only 60,000 miles on it. It's always been on the same farm doing farm chores and hauling firewood out of the forest.

My wife's grandfather bought it new to replace his 1946 CJ 1⁄4-ton Jeep. He gave it to my father-in law in the '80s and he gave it to me in '96. So, to me it's not "ugly," it's got character. Runs great, still hauls a cord of wood and can climb a tree if it gets a grip!

From Barbarajean Leeds,
Transportation Technician Principle, Engineer, D-3 Traffic

This is my 1942, K-1 International pickup. I have owned it for 11 years. At times it was the only vehicle I had to drive. I had to drive it an entire winter without any heat. I would wear long johns and a ski suit to try to keep warm. By the time I got to wherever I was going I would be freezer food.

Bob Williams,
Highway Equipment Analyst, D-3, Division of Highways
The registered owner of this truck is ITD, does that count? No one was hurt in this one.

Published 7-21-06