Gold Bulldog I am sorry I am sure this has been discussed, I couldn't find

[Mr. Buck]

Hello Folks

I am in the process of purchasing a 1972 R685. Has the pretty 237 gold engine and the 5 speed. There is a chrome Dog on the front of the hood and one chrome ½ dog on each door. Is/was there any rhyme or reason to the gold Bulldog of that time period and should this truck have one, and if yes where the ½ dogs on the door the same color as the hood? Thank You and I am sorry to bring this up again. It is an unmolested tandem single stack Mack with a window in the back and I would like to keep her stock. 

[85snowdog]

Your right about it being discussed a lot , lol.  

For some reason though ? The search tool doesn't work for me , so it seems fair to ask because sometimes its hard to find info. 

From my understanding .....   Your '72 should have a gold dog because of the maxidyne engine . Not sure about the dogs on the door. 

 

Here is a link to a good thread on the gold dog 

 

https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/38273-gold-dog/ 

[85snowdog]

Forgot ,

Hopefully your purchase goes well and your able to post some pics 😀

[Mr. Buck]

Thank You Keith. I hope so too. 

[Joey Mack]

Well, What I was told many years ago was that the Gold bulldog meant that the truck was a "Pedigree"... Like a real dog that is "Pure".  In this case... All Mack... head to toe, top to bottom... I hope to learn more about this as well...  Jojo

[Jeff M]

Gold bulldog meant it was a Maxidyne, and would also have them on the doors.  Your hood may not be original to the truck as it has the larger Mack lettering which began I believe in mid '73 and may explain the chrome dog on the hood, but who knows about the ones on the doors.  Nice truck any way you look at it.  

[Joey Mack]

I don't know all the ins and outs, but when I was a Mack driver in Scarborough at Mietta construction,  I drove a few late 70's r models and DM's that had gold dogs. E-6's with 107 tranny's or 1070B tranny's... (My favorite)...  I still have a rookie rod dog, its chrome, but still very cool.. it has the sharp pointed ears...  anyway...  Looking forward to some more knowledge on this one, not my topic, but I like it...  Jojo

[Nobody454]

i thought a gold bulldog meant all mack drivetrain? 

 

[1965]

I thought I read on here before that the dogs on the door were a Canadian thing?

[doubleclutchinweasel]

Gold bulldog ORIGINALLY meant Maxidyne engine.  In later years, gold bulldogs meant all-Mack drivetrain.

I do not know exactly WHEN that changed.  But, in '72, it meant Maxidyne power.

And, yes, the engine would have been gold originally as well.

If this had been an R611, for instance, it would have had a non-gold engine (Thermodyne) and a chrome bulldog.

[mowerman]

A salesman told me years ago they used it for a short while  meant Mack engine….. bob

[mowerman]

Also I have seen gold side dogs through the years… bob

[mowerman]

18 hours ago, Joey Mack said:

Well, What I was told many years ago was that the Gold bulldog meant that the truck was a "Pedigree"... Like a real dog that is "Pure".  In this case... All Mack... head to toe, top to bottom... I hope to learn more about this as well...  Jojo

Well according to Google search that’s exactly what it said… bob

[mowerman]

Oooooooooooo by the way mr buck,, that truck is setup perfect…. Ya baby just clean up the body and shoot it dark green 😉bob

[h67st]

The line about chrome bulldog meaning other manufacturer components...obviously wrong, I've seen many pedigreed Macks with chrome dogs.

[mowerman]

From what I understand they only did it a couple of years… bob

[doubleclutchinweasel]

Again, ORIGINALLY the gold dog was Maxidyne. 

[mrsmackpaul]

On 8/15/2021 at 12:13 PM, mowerman said:

From what I understand they only did it a couple of years… bob

My understanding it has only been this way in recent years and as others have said gold dog Maxidyne silver Thermodyne 

Im guessing this stopped with the Maxidyne and was just a silver dog for many years

When the MP series motors arrived on the scene is around the time that the gold dog meant all Mack drive train 

I'm guessing it was a way of trying to capture the past gloryof something famous and tie it into the future 

 

Paul 

[Vladislav]

I belive later times of the gold bulldog were concerned CH/CL models and that meant all Mack components (or all Mack drivetrain?) Probaly a few years long duration. Earlier and the original period was concerned Maxidyne line of engines introduction. Gold engines together with gold dogs distingueshed the feature. Unfortunately I don't know how long it lasted and how many years went between the two periods.

Also a question from my side. I saw later gold dogs in person and they didn't look like polished gold (the way chromed dogs do) but painted gold metallic. Wonder how early Maxidyne dogs looked? Also gold paint? Or something like titanium nitride put on polished steel?

[mrsmackpaul]

The gold dogs I have seen on the older Maxidyne trucks are polished up gold like the chrome dog

 

And yes the newer gold dogs look to be just painted 

 

Paul

[doubleclutchinweasel]

On 8/16/2021 at 5:39 PM, mrsmackpaul said:

The gold dogs I have seen on the older Maxidyne trucks are polished up gold like the chrome dog

 

And yes the newer gold dogs look to be just painted 

 

Paul

What he said...

[Jeff M]

OK.  The DM and R model Macks I drove in the early to mid 70's were 237 Maxidynes and all had gold bulldogs on the hood and doors.  A 285 I drove also had the gold bulldogs.  The company also had an older R with a Thermodyne which had chrome dogs.  That's my clear recollection from that time, but apparently Mack changed how they did the bulldogs later on.  

[Mr. Buck]

On 8/23/2021 at 5:12 PM, Jeff M said:

OK.  The DM and R model Macks I drove in the early to mid 70's were 237 Maxidynes and all had gold bulldogs on the hood and doors.  A 285 I drove also had the gold bulldogs.  The company also had an older R with a Thermodyne which had chrome dogs.  That's my clear recollection from that time, but apparently Mack changed how they did the bulldogs later on.  

Thank You. You mentioning the Gold Dogs on the door was my follow up question. 

[Mr. Buck]

On 8/14/2021 at 4:10 PM, mowerman said:

Oooooooooooo by the way mr buck,, that truck is setup perfect…. Ya baby just clean up the body and shoot it dark green 😉bob

It was born the Dark Green. I haven't decided what color to go with.