Question About Vintage

[charlie8575]

I just saw that Revell is releasing a Kenworth W900 snap in 1/25 scale. I'm looking for something to use with my AMT car carrier.

I went to Kenworth and found that the W900 was first sold in 1960...my question is is the Revell kit, as depicted, appropriate for a mid-late 60s vintage trailer hauling cars of that era? I imagine some detail changes and such were made.

I'd probably alter, or altogether remove the sleeper cab, as that just doesn't look right for that time frame, but beyond that, I don't know what else to do, if anything?

Suggestions?

Charlie Larkin

[disabled modeler]

Hi Charlie.....im no expert but i would think the revell car trailer would be the ara correct style as close as i can figure? the amt kit which i have i question its style myself. unfortunately its the only one i have to use for one of the same ara for my diorama project of a car dealership for the year 1970. that would be my best guess....

[Jim B]

The Revell USA Kehworth W900 Aerodyne represents a 1976-1982 as the Aerodyne sleeper was introduced in 1976. If you hack off the sleeper, it can be about a 1973. It might be possible to "back date" the cab by using door handles from the AMT Kenworth W925 kit & possibly swaping out the suspension. I cannot remember when the 8-bag air-ride was introduced.

If I remember correctly, the AMT Car Carrier trailer is an early 1960's trailer.

[Eshaver]

Charlie, if it were me , I would hunt down a A M T C- 600 C O E Cab . I know for a fact that they were used to haul cars in the late fifties and early 1960's . Ed Shaver

[Jim B]

Yes, the AMT Ford C900 tractor would be perfect. Load the trailer with some mid to late-1960s Fords, and it would look great. If your more into MOPAR, the Lindberg Dodge L700 with late-1960s Dodge/Chrystler cars would be cool, too.

[falcongeorge]

Charlie, if it were me , I would hunt down a A M T C- 600 C O E Cab . I know for a fact that they were used to haul cars in the late fifties and early 1960's . Ed Shaver

Or modify any mid-50s/mid sixties pick-up kit into a 5 ton, single screw gas tractor. Easier than removing the sleeper from the KW and back-dating it, and far more appropriate.

[Scott S]

ote name='Eshaver' date='04 January 2010 - 11:00 AM' timestamp='1262620832' post='249859']

Charlie, if it were me , I would hunt down a A M T C- 600 C O E Cab . I know for a fact that they were used to haul cars in the late fifties and early 1960's . Ed Shaver

[Aaronw]

Round 2 is listing the C-600 stake truck as a 2010 reissue. The last time it was out the kit included the parts to build it as a tractor or stake truck (a much better deal than the C900 tractor only version currently available).

Tower is showing a price of $25 or so putting it at a similar price to the Kenworth kit, if price is the reason you are looking at the KW.

If resin is an option I know of quite a few trucks you can use for the 40s-70s including some 1950s KWs.

AITM and RMR have quite a few trucks that fall into that period.

Another option would be to use the truck and trailer as is, I don't think it is that unusual to see a 20 year old trailer behind a new truck, worst case load it up with used cars instead of new. Not car trailers but my brother was complaining about the state of the trailers the first company he drove for was using, many were built in the 60s and he was pulling them just a few years ago, so they were easily 30-40 years old.

Edited January 4, 2010 by Aaronw

[steven]

In 1973 the trailer you have was released with a single axle ford c600 as the tournament of thrills set.Its the same truck as the stake truck except the stakebed has a longer frame. If I remember right the stake truck kit also came with the short single axle frame included. If you arent interested in either the Ford or Dodge there might be something out in resin. Hope this helps Steven G.

[Jim B]

Illini Replica Conversions offers some cabs from the mid to late 1950s, including Kenworths, Diamond T, International, & Hendrickson.

[charlie8575]

I like the Illini stuff. That Diamond-T 921C is cool. Any ideas what chassis you'd use under that one?

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

Charlie Larkin

[Jim B]

Probably the AMT GMC Astro or Chevrolet Titan. You should probably consider making it a single drive axle, though.

[falcongeorge]

I have The book, American Car Haulers. For what its worth, in the entire book, there are maybe 2-3 pictures of similar single axle car trailers being pulled by twin screw tractors, maybe another 2-3 by single screw "big" tractors, a B series Mack with a sleeper, of all things, a funny little inter-city, set-back axle Diamond T COE & 1 Dodge CN 800, probably upwards of 30 pics of them being pulled by small, gas burner, single axle tractors. Several Ford C-series COE's, a BUNCH of Chevy & GMC 5 ton conventionals, Ford F600's & F800's, one of a mid-sixties, single axle F-950-D with an air pusher that uses a single 5 spoke front wheel like in the C-600 kit(that would be an interesting, but involved build), 2 single-axle 5000 series GMC's, even a couple 5 ton studebakers, several Dodge 5-tons. Virtually all of the tandem axle trucks pulling a single axle car trailer are a totally different set-up, 3-car truck mounted rack, with the trailer attached by a pintle hitch, nothing like the trailer in the AMT kit. Not looking for an argument with anyone, just saying what I found. I would post some pics from the book, but I think one of the rules on here is we are not supposed to post copyrighted material??

[Jim B]

Sounds like an interesting find. That's great info.

If I were you, I'd hold off on posting pics from the book, too.

[falcongeorge]

A couple more comments I read in that book that are probably of interest on this thread. On pg 52, it states "Normally, when a carrier had a contract with one of the major automobile manufacturers, it used that manufacturers trucks in its fleet." In looking through the book, usually (not 100% all the time, but usually) when you find a photo of a truck-load of new Fords, the tractor will be a Ford. If its a trailer full of Cadillacs, the tractor will be a Chevy or GMC, Chryslers will be pulled by a Dodge. This means that in the fifties/sixties, it would be pretty unusual to see new cars being delivered by a Kenworth, Peterbilt or Mack, and the photos in the book bear this out. Of course, used vehicles, all bets are off. Another thing I found interesting, it says that in the fifties & sixties, WHEN the bigger diesel tractors and tandem axle trailers were used it was mostly out west, Colorado, Utah, California ect. and mostly by brokers, not the companies that were hauling new cars for the big three.

[charlie8575]

I was considering making this a used-car hauler, or perhaps a small sub-contractor carrier for new cars (i.e, the primary carrier had too much to do and shopped it out to someone else or something like that.)

Of course, I could load it up with Ramblers and AMCs! Too bad I can't seem to put together enough of any one year of those to pull it off. Perhaps I'll just stick with the used-car transporter idea.

As to colors...I know a lot of those trailers were yellow, but I can't stand aything that big in yellow. I was thinking maybe a nice two-tone green or blue, or perhaps something snappy like green/beige or gray with red trim. Any other suggestions for what might look nice?

Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions, I really do appreciate it.

Charlie Larkin

[falcongeorge]

DOH! How could I not think of this sooner! Linbergh Dodge with a trailerload of Revell '67 GTXs or Coronet R/Ts! You could even convert a couple to Sattelites or Coronets for a little variety, or add an AMT Barracuda or Revell Dart converted to a '67.

[modelercarl]

I built the AMT Haulaway Trailer to display models of the first cars I owned as a teenager (1957-1959). I built a Ford C900 to finish the display as I remember seeing many of these haulaway combos on the roads in SE Michigan back then. As a matter of fact, we always hated to get "trapped" behind one of these because I think their top speed was about 35 MPH.

Stan Gowan

[charlie8575]

I built the AMT Haulaway Trailer to display models of the first cars I owned as a teenager (1957-1959). I built a Ford C900 to finish the display as I remember seeing many of these haulaway combos on the roads in SE Michigan back then. As a matter of fact, we always hated to get "trapped" behind one of these because I think their top speed was about 35 MPH.

Stan Gowan

That build-up and those cars are very nice, Stan. I rather like the color, too. I might do something along those lines myself, no final decisions yet, though, as it's still a few months (at least) before everything's done.

Charlie Larkin

[Aaronw]

A used car hauler seems like more fun to me anyway. Much more variety open to you that way, mixed brands and years are no problem. You could even mix an old weathered farm truck with a nice shiny hardly used Corvette or Thunderbird only driven to church on Sunday Sunday Sunday by a nice old lady.

[Old Albion]

Charlie,

I like the idea of a used car hauler as the others do. Try the White Freightliner SD with the kit Cummins or maybe a 6-71 or 6V71 Detroit Diesel.

Dave

[charlie8575]

I've been given a lot of really good ideas, and they're all under consideration. I also have a couple of ideas that popped into my head that I'm thinking about pursuing, too.

The used trailer seems pretty reasonable, and may very well be what I end up doing to keep things easy and not-too expensive.

As I think of it, though, the idea of using my already-owned L-700 and loading up some MoPars is starting to sound pretty good, though.

Charlie Larkin

[Longbox55]

Or modify any mid-50s/mid sixties pick-up kit into a 5 ton, single screw gas tractor.

That's not really accurate. While most truck companies did indeed use the same basic cab for their larger trucks, the doghouses were never truly the the same. Most tiem, at least the fenders were wider, and in many cases the hood and fenders were physically longer than their light truck counterparts. It should also be kept in mind that not all light truck manufacturers made trucks in that weight range. Take Chevrolet for example. Chevy did not offer a truck over 2 ton until '56, and even then that truck was only a 2.5 ton w/tandem axles. GMC did offer a truck in that range, but as mentioned, the doghouse was nothing like the lighter trucks, and in the case of the larger trucks, the cab was different, too.

[falcongeorge]

That's not really accurate. While most truck companies did indeed use the same basic cab for their larger trucks, the doghouses were never truly the the same. Most tiem, at least the fenders were wider, and in many cases the hood and fenders were physically longer than their light truck counterparts. It should also be kept in mind that not all light truck manufacturers made trucks in that weight range. Take Chevrolet for example. Chevy did not offer a truck over 2 ton until '56, and even then that truck was only a 2.5 ton w/tandem axles. GMC did offer a truck in that range, but as mentioned, the doghouse was nothing like the lighter trucks, and in the case of the larger trucks, the cab was different, too.

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

This is what I did for my Classic Model Cars company truck. This is made from one of those many "van" Fords that are everywhere. I simply shortened the frame and made some wheel changes. It looks good with the AMT trailer, and since it hauls "classic" cars, I don't have to worry about era. One thing to remember about the AMT car hauler trailer, is that it's not actually designed from any certain trailer. What my research has turned up, is that AMT wanted something where modelers could display their cars on a car carrier (that's compacted, but it serves the jist) and developed this trailer. That's fortunate for us modelers, because often the 1:1 companies altered older trailers to serve their purpose, allowing us to give reason why something like this could be possible.

I don't know if you work in resin, but this Ford chassis gives a great base for some conversions. AITM offers a Dodge CNT, GMC 9500, as well as several other bodies that would fit your needs. There are also some other companies that offer good subjects, but my mind is blank on them right now.