Walk Softly and... (1971 Peterbilt 352 Wrecker)

[RoninUtah]

Being the truck nerd that I am, I’ve been a member of the American Truck Historical Society (ATHS) for a number of years. One of the best parts of membership, for me, is their publication “Wheels of Time;” it’s been a great resource for my model truck builds as well as a fascinating source of information about old trucks. So, I was looking through the March/April 2025 edition and came upon an in-depth article on Heins wreckers, which were manufactured by Union Body Works, located in Bakersfield, California in the 1960s and 70s. They were a leading manufacturer of “big stick” style heavy duty wreckers, which utilized a single telescoping boom, very popular at the time on the West Coast. 

When I looked closely at the photos in the article, I realized that these wreckers looked familiar- they clearly were the inspiration for AMT’s Peterbilt wrecker kit of the 70s and later. I’ve bought a dozen or so over the years, typically as donors for resin kits of various sorts. The AMT kit originally used their “California Hauler” 359, and was later re-issued with the post-1972 “1100” cab, but the wrecker stayed the same.

However, the article mentioned the fact that Don Heins, the builder of those wreckers, preferred COE chassis because “they allowed the boom pivot and winches to be mounted further forward, providing greater leverage without sacrificing maneuverability.” Indeed, most of the photos accompanying the article were of COEs, including a 1974 Peterbilt 352. 

It was a light-bulb moment: Why not pair an AMT Pete 352 with an AMT wrecker body to come up with something similar? So, I picked up a 352 kit, and I knew I had plenty of wrecker parts left over from all those donor kits to pull it off.

It wasn’t too difficult, although if I’m given a chance to screw something up I always seem to take it; this build is far from perfect. It took a little work- I had to stretch the frame to accommodate the longer wheelbase required for the wrecker body, and I dressed it up a little with CTM photo-etched parts and Modeltruckers.com decals- I had explained to them what I had in mind, and they added stripes for the wrecker to one of their standard Peterbilt stripe designs at nominal cost. I added a little light weathering to the engine, but basically this build is box stock from the two different AMT kits.

So, here you go: A Heins 30 ton big stick wrecker from Union Body Works, on a Peterbilt 352 COE chassis. I signed it for a fictitious towing and recovery outfit in Delano, California, just up Highway 99 from Bakersfield. It’s not unlike something you might have seen in that part of California fifty years ago!
 

[StakerAlloys8]

That is a very nice wrecker.

[Jim B]

Nice.  Don't see too many cabover wreckers.

Edited June 5 by Jim B

[PappyD340]

Real nice build!

[RoninUtah]

On 6/4/2025 at 7:40 PM, StakerAlloys8 said:

That is a very nice wrecker.

Thanks, Anderson!

[RoninUtah]

6 hours ago, Jim B said:

Nice.  Don't see too many cabover wreckers.

Thanks, Jim! Yeah i was surprised too, but nearly all the examples in the WOT article (which were mostly from an old Heins brochure) were sleeper COEs. As the article said, Heins preferred COEs.

[BK9300]

Cool build, Ron.

[cifenet]

Beautiful work, and COE setup is unique on this.  I plan to build this wrecker someday and I can tell it isn’t an easy task.  Good job!

[RoninUtah]

On 6/6/2025 at 1:07 AM, BK9300 said:

Cool build, Ron.

Thanks Brian!

[RoninUtah]

On 6/6/2025 at 11:19 AM, cifenet said:

Beautiful work, and COE setup is unique on this.  I plan to build this wrecker someday and I can tell it isn’t an easy task.  Good job!

Thanks Steve! Actually, this wrecker, is fairly straightforward, especially compared to the big Revell Kenworth and Peterbilt wreckers. But like all AMT products, it takes some work and futzing to get everything to fit right. And stringing it is a bit of a pain. That said, you shouldn’t have any problem with it!

[Jürgen M.]

That's a real beauty Ron. Awesome combination. I like the color scheme too. Very nice build! Just like I know them from you! 😉

[Biggu]

Did I sleep in ? How did I miss this beauty. ?? Great job on this Ron. A lot of work went into this … did you have to lengthen the frame?  Everything looks the part and fits well. What a great vision well executed. Really nice. 

[RoninUtah]

16 hours ago, Jürgen M. said:

That's a real beauty Ron. Awesome combination. I like the color scheme too. Very nice build! Just like I know them from you! 😉

 

10 minutes ago, Biggu said:

Did I sleep in ? How did I miss this beauty. ?? Great job on this Ron. A lot of work went into this … did you have to lengthen the frame?  Everything looks the part and fits well. What a great vision well executed. Really nice. 

Thanks guys, your kind words mean a lot to me! Yeah I lengthened the frame about 18 scale inches to accommodate the wrecker body. I think it’s pretty close now to what those Heins Union Body Works wreckers in the Bakersfield area looked like back then… I can almost hear KUZZ playing Buck Owens on the AM radio!

[DRIPTROIT 71]

I like the color scheme! I like the subject! Excellent work!

[RoninUtah]

On 6/13/2025 at 6:26 PM, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

I like the color scheme! I like the subject! Excellent work!

Thanks, Brian!