Incredible Diamond T resto-mod. Original frame, cab, hood, and fenders, upgraded with Cummins turbo diesel power, Mack 10-speed, 4-wheel disc, power steering, A/C, power leather seats, etc. Fully functional custom roll-back bed. Absolutely amazing machine!
The foundation is the original Diamond T frame, not a modern chassis that they just dropped a cab onto. No, that never works because the proportions get weird. It was lengthened from its original 158-inch wheelbase to an even 200 inches to accommodate the rollback bed. The cab and front fenders are 1948 Diamond T, and if you’re not familiar with the Chicago-based truck maker, you should read up on them because it’s a fascinating story. The paint is show-quality, with black fenders and a wonderful fire engine red cab, which isn’t bright red, but a bold, bright burgundy that looks right and has a depth that’s equal to any high-end car in our showroom. That’s real gold leaf used throughout, a custom technique which gives it an ornate texture like you’ve never seen before. Then it was all painstakingly hand-pinstriped to seal it up and make it look sharp and crisp. The sucker is just flat-out gorgeous.
Then there are all the custom touches. The parking lights on the fenders are from a ’38 Buick, the headlight buckets are original but the polished stainless rings were custom made because of the halogen Tri-Bar headlights inside, which are a different diameter than the original sealed beams. The front bumper was custom made from stainless steel then polished to a mirror shine and fitted with a set of vintage Guide fog lamps filled with modern halogen guts. Those running lights on top of the cab are actually fender lights from Indian motorcycles. And those extraordinary mirror brackets with the custom Diamond T emblem in the middle were hand made just for this truck (and the outer mirrors extend for improved visibility). The light bar on the back of the cab was also custom made from stainless, and includes a set of 1959 Cadillac taillight lenses up high, a pair of flood lights for loading in the dark, and a tiny griffin logo, the builder’s name and signature.
The bed is a modern Jerr-Dan rollback that’s fully operational, but even that was heavily modified. It was a bit too wide to look proportional to the smaller 1940s cab, so the entire bed was narrowed and tapered to give it a more appropriate look, then topped with polished stainless steel diamond plate treads. The custom fairings around the front of the bed look great and protect the car on the back, and in a fit of cleverness, the builder realized that it would be difficult to tie down a car with the fairings in the way, so they pivot out of the way on neatly designed hinges. The sides of the bed are finished in aluminum, stainless, and teak, and that row of LEDs offers plenty of illumination at night (yep, they all work). Hanging underneath, you’ll see twin stainless steel gas tanks, so this truck has bladder-bursting range on the highway, and the passenger-side tank is split to also house the hydraulic reservoir for the bed. Those wooden drums are not gas tanks, but rather storage bins that have internal lighting that comes on when you open them up. Are you getting the picture yet?
At the rear, you’ll find all the controls for the roll-back and it remains 100% functional as a wrecker. It’ll tilt and there’s a winch for pulling crippled cars onto the bed, as well as a retractable “stinger” for stabilizing the truck during loading. It also has a pair of “spoons” for grabbing the tires of another vehicle and towing it behind (check out the video to see some of the amazing things this truck can do!). Two custom compartments hidden behind the license plate areas hold chains and other tie-down hardware.
The interior is based around a pair of power leather bucket seats taken from a late-model Volvo and yes, the power adjustments still work. Sisal carpets are a cool change from the usual stuff, durable and easy to maintain but stylish and unique at the same time. That steering wheel is from a 1950 Pontiac and it’s mounted on a polished tilt column. The instrument panel is engine-turned aluminum filled with an array of gauges that monitor everything from speed to exhaust temperature to gearbox oil temperature (it was designed to work, remember?). The original Diamond T speedometer works with the modern hardware underneath and 1965 Cadillac clock works, too. The row of switches to the left of the steering column manages all the lighting and the wipers, which are two-speed with automatic parking feature—a trick that required an electrical engineer to figure out. The custom vents for the ice-cold A/C are from a vintage RV and the defroster vent was custom whittled out of aluminum. The two shifter levers manage a Mack 10-speed (we’ll talk about that more in a moment) and there’s a hand brake lever that everyone should recognize.
The engine is a Cummins 5.9 liter turbo diesel that’s been fully rebuilt including new pistons, camshaft, oil pump, valves, and a reground crank, with only a few hundred miles on it. The injection pump was likewise rebuilt, the turbo is new, and all the lines have been plated and polished to look sharp under the hood. All the original engine management software is still in place, so it starts and runs like a factory-built piece, and it’s probably the most reliable machine on the face of the earth—if there’s fuel and air, it’s running. There’s a giant radiator up front with a pair of pusher fans up front, but those are more for the A/C than the engine, which runs at 180 degrees under all conditions.
The 10-speed transmission is a Mack Duplex twin shifter 5-speed with high and low ranges and seven evenly split speeds. As I mentioned, the chassis is based on the original Diamond T frame which retains the original front axle that’s been fitted with GM spindles, kingpins, and giant disc brakes. The rotors, calipers, bearings, and seals are, of course, brand new. Out back there’s a Ford F450 Super Duty rear axle with 4.88 gears inside and it, too, was fully rebuilt with new bearings, seals, rotors, and calipers (yep, this big guy has 4-wheel disc brakes). Power assist comes from a GM Hydro-Boost system that feels natural and powers the GM power steering box up front, making this brute insanely easy to maneuver. It’s fitted with tube shocks all around to help smooth out the ride, which is pretty good given the heavy-duty suspension. The bed is rated for 8000 pounds with a 16,000-pound rated tow rope on the winch, so it’ll carry just about anything you can imagine without too much trouble. New Alcoa aluminum wheels measure 19.5 inches in diameter and wear six new Bridgestone radials.
Imagine putting your favorite car on the back of this truck and rolling to the next big show. It probably doesn’t matter who else is there or what they brought, because the man driving this Diamond T will well and truly be The Man. By itself, it’s stunning. With something equally amazing on its back, it’s the most incredible thing on four wheels that you’ve ever seen. Call today and we’ll be happy to tell you all about it.
For more details and lots more photos, please visit www.HarwoodMotors.com
