In 1990 Billy Jarrett began a project that would take him approximately twenty-three years and $250,000 to complete; building a custom truck that can be described as a tribute to American Trucking. Starting with a 1956 Ford C800 “Cab over Engine” (COE), he designed the truck to haul collector cars. The powerplant is a 1990 Cummins 6-cylinder 12 valve diesel motor (175 miles) with a 5-speed transmission. Chevrolet 1-ton front disc brakes and rear axle. He ordered a custom designed tag axle and extended the frame to accommodate a 1980’s-era Double Sleeper. The aluminum enclosed box & sleeper was custom made by Trailer World of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and built according to the dimensions of a 1950’s Great Dane semi-trailer.
The project required extensive manufacturing of parts to mate the various components together. The interior of the truck features Mustang bucket seats, upholstered in gray cloth with red accent. The exterior is painted in Black with three shades of silver, a scheme he used on his other trucks. Other amenities include Air Conditioning, Air Ride suspension, Power disc brakes, tilt steering column, aluminum wheels, and power rear door/gate. It is highly detailed and has a North Carolina title.
The interior dimensions of the enclosed hauler box are 6’8” high at the front; 8’2” high at the back (dovetail). The width is 8’. There is an escape door on both sides of the box for easier vehicle loading.
Unfortunately, we lost Billy a while back. His family has decided to offer his creation to the public the only fair way and that to sell it at an Auction. This one-of-a kind vehicle will be offered at our CAROLINA-IN-JANUARY AUCTION on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at Cabarrus County Arena in Concord, NC and is not available for sale until that time.
