To celebrate the American Truck Historical Society's 25th anniversary, the club brought its show and convention to the West Coast. California Speedway's infield and track was the site of choice for the May holiday weekend event. The infield of the racetrack offered plenty of space for different-size trucks, everything from small pickups to vintage highway haulers, and every other size you can imagine.
The Southern California Chapter has hosted this one-day truck show for 19 years, and Truckin' magazine has covered it for many of the latest years. The SoCal event featured more than the usual smaller pickup truck varieties and a good showing of big rigs, but when the main event came to town, the big boys came to show what trucking in this country has been really up to over the years. There were big rigs from the early 1900s with open cabs and big, hard rubber tires, several nicely restored 18-wheelers, and even some fancy custom rigs. There was also a good selection of small trucks on hand. Vintage stake beds and other work trucks made up nearly all of the truck population before World War II. Very few of the small 1/2-ton models were used for personal transportation back then, which is a far cry from modern-day pickups dominating as the vehicle of personal choice.
It was an interesting show for all who came out to spend the day looking at all of the different types of trucks, and there was even an array of fire equipment from all over the country. It's surprising to find that so many people collect old fire trucks. Included among the fire trucks were fire-fighting equipment, and there were plenty of trucks the younger ones could climb on and pretend to drive. There was definitely something for everyone.
Sharp '56When we saw this '56 Powell truck at the show, we went through a time warp. Back in the '50s, the father of one of our staff members owned a glass business in Compton, California, and this staff member worked there while going to school. One of his jobs was to cut and finish the safety auto glass for a new truck that was being built a short distance from the shop. The glass was made up for the Powell trucks for the two years they were produced. He would cut several sets of glass and finish the edges, and then deliver them to the Powell plant. He always spent a little time looking over the way they built those different-looking trucks.
When our staff member saw David Reeding's restored '56, he hastened to check out the glass and found it was still the original. In time, old laminated safety glass tends to start bubbling in the lamination around the edges, so the door glass looked original to him.