Restorable Reo Relic?

[NY-B61]

I ran across this torquester earlier today and wondered how it began life. Road tractor? Ladder truck tractor? DIVCO milk truck with body transplant? Hope you enjoy the photos.

[james j neiweem]

Looks like a Chicago manufacturing truck cab. You can see the similarity to B Macks, Studebaker and IH KB's

[1958 F.W.D.]

I am ruling out firetruck. I don't see any holes drilled in any sheet metal where sirens, lights, bells, etc would be mounted.

[1957B61Vt]

Any idea on year of production?

I have seen the hoods in scrap yards

But never the whole truck

different looking .

Is it for sale ?

[j hancock]

That style was used by REO starting about 1940 and going through the war.

[NY-B61]

Any idea on year of production?

I have seen the hoods in scrap yards

But never the whole truck

different looking .

Is it for sale ?

No for sale sign to be seen but everything has a price. It's parked right next to and facing a busy road.

[vision386]

I kinda doubt tractor,my thinking is prolly small dump truck,given the short wheelbase?...........................................Mark

[Bigdogtrucker]

Looks to be fairly solid.

[other dog]

Here's some potential parts trucks for you-

[NY-B61]

I'll be darned. Great find! Looking at it that way it's more of a medium duty truck than a heavy one. REO's badged as Speedwagon's were at first fire trucks then later pick-ups. The body styling on all still turns heads 70 years later.

[41chevy]

Was a crap load of them on Eastern L.I. used for Potato Harvest until I.H. and GMC became popular in the 50's. Most of the L.I. trucks had a local built side dump body on them. Paul

[Joe Ditchkus]

A bit different if you lift hood the whole hood and grill lifts up. Great for engine work. Joe D.

[NY-B61]

A bit different if you lift hood the whole hood and grill lifts up. Great for engine work. Joe D.

Along with a chicken and ferrous egg. Was it designed that way due to a repair-prone engine? Easy access for repair, easy in-'n-out for replacement? Or was the design secondary to the power plant?

[randyp]

Wow!! I like that!! randyp

[Superdog]

I had a '55 REO with the Gold Comet engine,sold it several years ago.

[Phase 1]

Maybe a ton or ton and a half. They made one ton pickups like that. Five stud wheels.

The cabs for REO (and the other truck companies) would have been designed by them, and if made by another company, made to that design.

[41chevy]

A bit different if you lift hood the whole hood and grill lifts up. Great for engine work. Joe D.

The E series cab came out in 1940 and ran at least to 1956 or 1957 when they merged with Diamond T and went to a one piece windshield on a similar style cab. The last photo is of my "late" model after the kids vandalized it and before I scrapped it. Paul

[Joe Ditchkus]

NYB-61 REO engines were reliabe ,I would think it designed for ease of maintaince. The later REO gaspots had liners in them like a diesel.Paul I have a 1966 or 67 REO D-630 tandem long wheelbase. It is powered by the REO 440 V-8, 5X3 trans and light rears maybe 34,000,double frame and power steering. It has a block body on it with boom that only swings.I like that style cab (Lansing Cab).REO,White 2000,Diamond T,and Diamond Reo used that cab,along with Cook Brothers from California used it also. Mine is the same color green as yours.Joe D.

[NY-B61]

NYB-61 REO engines were reliabe ,I would think it designed for ease of maintaince. The later REO gaspots had liners in them like a diesel.Paul I have a 1966 or 67 REO D-630 tandem long wheelbase. It is powered by the REO 440 V-8, 5X3 trans and light rears maybe 34,000,double frame and power steering. It has a block body on it with boom that only swings.I like that style cab (Lansing Cab).REO,White 2000,Diamond T,and Diamond Reo used that cab,along with Cook Brothers from California used it also. Mine is the same color green as yours.Joe D.

Thanks, Joe. Interesting fact about the cylinder liners. They wouldn't have been designed in unless engineers felt the rest of the engine and drive train were rock solid.

[41chevy]

NYB-61 REO engines were reliabe ,I would think it designed for ease of maintaince. The later REO gaspots had liners in them like a diesel.Paul I have a 1966 or 67 REO D-630 tandem long wheelbase. It is powered by the REO 440 V-8, 5X3 trans and light rears maybe 34,000,double frame and power steering. It has a block body on it with boom that only swings.I like that style cab (Lansing Cab).REO,White 2000,Diamond T,and Diamond Reo used that cab,along with Cook Brothers from California used it also. Mine is the same color green as yours.Joe D.

It was for ease of maintenance and cost effective. A few mods and a different hood stamping and you had a COE. Floors were bolt in so short stamp the floor and add a dog house.

Joe, my REO was a 40 something mile truck. Needed a set of tires and paint. Rack body dump leaked a bit from the lines but minor. City "Hunters" shot up the glass, hood and doors and broke every knob and gauge in it. I was so angry I cut it in half and loaded it in a trailer with my scoopmobile . Took it to Gershaws. Forty years of use and no vandalism, one week in the fall and all went to hell in a handbag.

[NY-B61]

It was for ease of maintenance and cost effective. A few mods and a different hood stamping and you had a COE. Floors were bolt in so short stamp the floor and add a dog house.

Joe, my REO was a 40 something mile truck. Needed a set of tires and paint. Rack body dump leaked a bit from the lines but minor. City "Hunters" shot up the glass, hood and doors and broke every knob and gauge in it. I was so angry I cut it in half and loaded it in a trailer with my scoopmobile . Took it to Gershaws. Forty years of use and no vandalism, one week in the fall and all went to hell in a handbag.

This kind of mindless destruction happens far too often. I might have egged a car or two in my youth, and still feel somewhat guilty about it, but the thought of destroying an entire vehicle never crossed my or my buddy's minds. There's an old Hendrickson single-axle tractor parked by the side of the road several miles from my house. The last seven years have seen the truck go from a restorable piece of history to what looks like the remnants of a rusty crime scene. The owner won't sell and the gunfire continues. What can that type of destruction possibly achieve and why?!?

[41chevy]

This kind of mindless destruction happens far too often. I might have egged a car or two in my youth, and still feel somewhat guilty about it, but the thought of destroying an entire vehicle never crossed my or my buddy's minds. There's an old Hendrickson single-axle tractor parked by the side of the road several miles from my house. The last seven years have seen the truck go from a restorable piece of history to what looks like the remnants of a rusty crime scene. The owner won't sell and the gunfire continues. What can that type of destruction possibly achieve and why?!?

Egging a car was a basically harmless rite of passage The destruction of something for the sake of it is just a total lack of respect and no fear or consequences. The local police told me that the people who did it were probably just bored. Listed it as "malicious mischief" in the report. I asked him if I'm feeling bored and shoot up one of the "hunters vehicles" is that malicious mischief too? He told me not to be a wise ass.