dieseldog1970

My very first car was a '75 Maverick, four door, 302 with an automatic....rusty and ugly!!! Funny story regarding that car...my old man was driving it one day when the muffler fell off, thought it was a good time to throw on some duals....so i bought a couple of Thrush mufflers, went over to my buddies shop and put it up on the ramps. Removed the rest of the exhaust with a grinder just before the two lower manifold pipes joined at the "Y", bolted on the mufflers and I was done!!! These things were basically under your feet...obnoxiously LOUD....made more than one neighbour very happy!!! LOL!! I was leaving Calgary with my girlfriend and had to go through a construction site...drove over a huge speed bump, scraping the mufflers, and thought everything was okay. As I hit the highway towards Cochrane, I hear the one muffler suddenly loosen and scrape along the pavement...hit my signal light and started to brake...the muffler drops and bounces under my car coming out behind me, hits the bumper of a mini van right on my back bumper and sails off into the oncoming lane!!! So my newer muffler nails a passing Corvette (84-85ish?)...striking it in the left front fender...punching a hole through the fiberglass!!! The lady driver pulls her car over and exits the vehicle...meanwhile, I am SOOOO mad.....thinking "Why could it not have hit one of the hundreds of farm trucks running around instead???!!!!". I go into the middle of the highway, reach down and grab my muffler.....which IS extremely hot....swear like a trucker/sailor and throw it at my car in anger/pain!!! I then give my car a couple of good sift kicks in the quarter panel....the lady walks up to me as I stare at the ground....and asks...."Are you okay???" Surprisingly....she was pretty cool about the whole situation, says not to worry...insurance will pay for it!!! Never did hear anything else about it....but did learn one thing.....Never, ever bolt a set of mufflers so they hand down that low and be such a pain in the you know what!!! But hey.....I was 16......so live and learn!!!

........DROOL...........daisy dukes!!!! One of the greatest style of clothes out there.....right up with yoga pants!!! Ummm.....errr.......nice start on the dio btw!! LOL

Nice start!!!

Nice job!!!

ya know with ANY Mopar posted here....I gotta check it out!! Can't wait for more updates....

Sorry guys.....no matter what picture you put up there, still not gonna like it! LOL. Looking at the pics above, I see a lot of Mack in the design of the fender, not sure which model or series, but when I look at it....it screams out Mack. And it is definatly the single headlight which I believe is similar to or the same as the one available on the Freightliner which I don't like. Too many years staring at dual headlights I guess!! And yes....beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!

So for those of you who are new here and have no idea who i may be, a quick rundown...I spent 9 years working at the Western Star plant while it was located on the west coast in beautiful Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Worked on the line for 6 years, in the warehouse for 3 and was there when the last Star was built...I have a thread on here called "Life on the Line". This thread includes stories and pictures of my time there including the last build up of "Angie". About a week ago, I was sitting on the computer with the radio playing in the background on a quiet Sunday, they had this show on called Trucker Radio...never heard of it or even knew it existed. The d.j was taking to his guest about the new 5700 and the role it played in the latest Transformer 4 movie as Optimus Prime. So the guest gets talking about how they (Freightliner) purchased Western Star in 2000 and then moved it to Portland, the way he was talking, it sounded like they shut it down in Canada and moved it right away. This is wrong due to the fact that I was still there in September of 2002 and we were still building trucks!!! LOL....so I think this guy was new and really did not know all of the history!!! But the one part of the interview that ticked me off was when he talked about after the purchase and move, nothing was really done with WST, they basically just let it slowly carry on without any push to expand or build up the brand. This went on until 2009-10, at this time the guy says that they loosened the reigns and let WST do more to expand the growth and company, since then, the 4700 and now the 5700 were brought out to the market. I have seen both pictures and in real life the 4700.... not a fan of the headlight/hood design....UGLY....IMHO!!! Now if we wanna talk about the 5700...."Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!!" , that is a beauty!!! Back to my topic....so when WST got purchased, everyone knew that the only reason this happened, a certain bigger company did not like the fact that their truck was rated lower and did not have the reputation as we did. So like any big business...if ya can't beat em....buy em!!!! Proving this is the way that the WS brand just under utilized until they could decide what they wanted to do with it (rumors of the whole plant going to Mexico were heard). A real kick in the teeth for a lot of people who worked there through the years. Take a look at the WST website....you would think that a company that had been around and had the reputation that it did for 35 YEARS would...no SHOULD be proud of the history and use that to promote the brand!!! Nope....hardly a whisper....maybe one line? one sentence about the plant in Kelowna? Swept under the rug like it did not even exist....pretty sad!! So there is a little bit of Sunday trivia for ya......rant over!!

If memory serves me right....a few months ago in the magazine Mopar Collectors Guide, someone went to the Petty Garage for an event, while wandering around....came across the actual truck from the picture that you posted Bob!!! They took a picture of it sitting among the buildings and weeds, and sent that to the magazine which published it. There must be some sort of sentimental reason this truck has never been sold or scrapped?? Who knows...maybe King Richard is going to restore it and put it in his museum?? Anyway...can't wait to see the finished product!!

Lookin' really sharp!!!

So today at Barrett-Jackson, all three manufacturers had cars being sold to raise money for various charities. The last of the limited edition 2015 Ford Mustang (1964 total) sold for $170,000.00 The Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 (vin #003)sold for $147,500.00 The first Hellcat Challenger (vin #700001- which was painted Stryker Red, a Viper only color making it a 1 of 1) also sold for a whopping $825,000.00!!!! I am sure that this car will look really good in the collection owned by Rick Hendrick, who as most of you may know purchased the Snake/Mongoose haulers and cars last year after they left the auction block. Does anyone know if this open for viewing to the general public or is it a private deal?? I would sure like to check his place out one day!!! Awesome news for ALL of those spending money and helping others out through charity.....with all the doom and gloom we hear about, nice to see those car enthusiasts give back!!!

Just for clarification....Freightliner purchased Western Star from Previous owner Terry Peabody (Australian business man and the one who turned the company around in the early to mid 90's). The Kelowna B.C. factory was shut down in September 2002 and everything was moved to Portland, Oregon where the truck is currently built. Detroit Diesel was purchased the same year, all of the companies that Highway mentioned are owned by Daimler except for the rights to Western Star Australia (Terry Peabody would not give those up - owns 100%). As far as quality goes....one of the best built trucks with many repeat buyers in the 35 years it was hand assembled in Kelowna B.C., I have no idea if they still have that same reputation. And since I am VERY bias about this truck.....I will not comment, but a few years ago I did hear a rumor of the plant going south to Mexico? But have no way to verify that one.

Thanks Joe!!!!!

For anyone interested....Motor Trend Ignition on you tube has a great video of them testing a Hellcat. This includes a couple of dyno pulls, standing quarter mile, and a trip down the 1320....very cool video!!! No idea how the heck to link it or anything....sorry....not a computer guy!!!

When I seen sneak peeks of the Optimus Prime Western Star, I had no idea that it was an actual truck!!! Just thought it was another vehicle built by a hollywood studio just for the movie. After going through the pics, my favorite would have to be the blue one with the black stripe that starts at the bottom of the sleeper side window!!! Very cool truck, having built 5900's during my time at the plant, I always liked the look of them...this is an awesome improvement!!!! Kinda like the Lowmax they built off the 4900, which I always thought looked like a Boyd Coddington/Chip Foose chopped and channeled rig!!! YES....I wanna see a BRAND SPANKIN NEW MODEL of this!!!! I am not so happy that I am not part of the actual production of the 1:1!!!!

^^^^^^ Hey John, you are correct about the names, and my post was not meant to imply that Chrysler had anything to do with the actual production of them. Chrysler does have a long history through the years with development and production of various military vehicles and or parts...so maybe the powers that be thought it would be cool to use those names as a way to "honor" or "tip the hat" at the past??? Not entirely sure....but they have used those as code names for awhile, and they do sound good!! If one wants, there is a section on Allpar that covers the military history and what they had a hand in developing, I have gone through it awhile ago, it but was really too lazy when I posted to quote word for word.

Well no one actually relieved them selves in my cheerios when i wrote this....so all is good there, Maybe I am just more of an all round gear head...not super bias against other brands? All makes can build some pretty quick and powerful cars, the way things are going...who knows where it will stop? I dig the old stuff as well as new, in the grand scheme of things....there are a bunch of European cars that would eat alot of our cars for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yenko, Baldwin Motion, Mr. Norm's, Shelby....all sweet cars, maybe if the Lotto Max would hit for me....my garage would be filled with a nice mix of old and new iron??!!!! Allocation for Hellcat is up to dealer, if they sell lots of Dodges...you can expect one for the first run. Park it in the showroom for too long and don't expect another...they want these cars out there being driven!! Hellcat name is a nod back to the military history of Chrysler....goes with the current Apache and Hurricane names being used. Maybe I just needed more wobbly pops after I got off work???

Ever since Dodge announced that they would build the Hellcat Challenger, I have noticed on various forums, comments regarding this car compared to the other two cars available....the one common thing.....is the Challenger is sooo heavy and the Ford Mudstain and Chevy Craparo is so much faster and lighter. Guess what....EVERY Dodge fan knows that the Challenger is the heaviest, every one of us would like it if was lighter, we get it! BUT....guess what.....Ford DOES not make the most powerful car, Chevy does not make the most powerful car....DODGE does!!! And if the other two decide to bring something to the table that is more powerful....so be it, then they can brag about it. All the Ferd fan boys comparing this factory production car to a aftermarket company is a joke...."well the Shelby 1000 is more powerful....blah, blah blah". Anyone with the cash can drop off the Hellcat at Hennesy and pay to play.....all it takes is cubic dollars!!! The current GT500 is a nice car....captures the look of the old one....lots of power....great aftermarket support!! The Camaro...does not have the retro look, but still has lots of power and same great support from the aftermarket!! The Hellcat Challenger....retro....powerful.....we will see what the aftermarket is able to do!! Anyway....we should all be thank full that anyone with the means can purchase a new diesel truck with over 350 horse and 800 ft. lbs of torque, same thing with the cars....OVER 500 horse....FACTORY??!!!! Get em while you can....the brand of your choice....cause ya just never know what the insurance companies may do.....AGAIN!!! *sorry about the rant....too many "hello kitty" comments I guess from the Ford fan boys....I guess maybe I appreciate what all the manufactures are building, I may not buy one....but can still like what I see.

Yesterday while stopping at the local Chevron station...a 1970 Plymouth Superbird was sitting at the pumps getting filled up. Hemi Orange, Hurst pistol grip shifter, Dana 60 underneath.....!!! I approached the car and asked the owner who was crouched down filling the tank if he was a local resident as I had not seen the car around town, and since the rear license plate was down could not tell where it was from. His response was that he was down on Vancouver Island visiting his mother and was on the way back to Calgary!!! Vancouver is roughly 3 hours from Kamloops over a some what famous highway....(think of Jamie Davis Towing and the tv show Highway thru Hell....the Coquhallia Highway...been there...PLOWED that in the winter and bought the t-shirt LOL!!!). Now once you get down there...you have a ferry ride (an hour or so?) to get to the Island. Now......going back...same trip and add 6 to 7 hours to get to Calgary.....add it all up and it is a very long day on a bad road with not so great gas mileage...but very good aerodynamics!!! So needless to say...I was very surprised that someone would drive a car that is worth as much as they are, on such a long trip. Kudos to the owner for doing what most people forgot what they were built for....DRIVING!!!

Looks awesome!!!! Nice work on both the trailer and the excavator!!!

Very nice job!!! Just an FYI for anyone else building one of these.....there were no factory colors....whatever the customer wanted, they got.....!!!!

I had the pleasure of receiving a email from Diane Sox after I posted a comment on the Ronnie Sox Memorial site, very surprised that she sent it to me as I have never even met her. Goes to show what a wonderful person she is by responding and carrying on the name and legacy of one of the greatest race car drivers who strapped themselves into a car!! Wish I would have had the opportunity to meet him before he passed. Buddy Martin and Diane still make the rounds of various MOPAR meets throughout the states. Nice collection you have there!!

Still has not sunk in.....such a talented comedian and actor.....always made me laugh.....will be missed by many. God speed Robin.

I remember this car from an article in Mopar Collector's Guide.....I believe that in the article the driver of the car was a young man with some personal demons that he was dealing with....do not know if it was drugs or mental illness.....he decided to end his life and stole this car which was outside the shop. I cannot recall the exact speed but I do know that he hit a tree and HE did survive!!! In the article it did not state what his injuries were, but that he would have to be taken care for the rest of his life. No mention of a wall...but I could be wrong....and I am sure that many of you have seen drunks or people under the influence of drugs survive car accidents on the local news. It would seem that being under the influence makes your body more relaxed?? Maybe that is why they survive while sober people tend to get killed. I am only going by memory, and without having to dig through my umpteen boxes of magazines to try and find it....if i can find any info that could be more beneficial...I will update. Curt

Just wanted to add this.... 2014 Ford Mustang GT500 662 HP/ 631TQ 3850 lbs. 11.6 @ 125.7 mph (stock tires-MotorTrend testing) 2014 Chev Camaro ZL1 580 HP/ 556TQ 4051 lbs. 12.1 @ 117.4 mph (same as above)

Quarter mile times were NHRA certified.....so it does not matter who did the testing....10.8 with drag radials, 11.2 on production tires with a car that weighs 4400 pounds. This car posted ET's faster than the GT500 and the ZL1...puts out more horsepower than either one....simple facts. To date...this is the most powerful PRODUCTION musclecar built....first Supercharged HEMI ever....!!!!