Colorful, Antique trucks
are a very interesting form of antique collectors’ items
yet as a collectors’ item, these have gained most
popularity in mainly the Western countries. Museums such
as The Heidrick Centre in California which includes The
Hays Antique Truck Museum provide valuable information
and displays on the subject of antique trucks including
antique four wheel drive trucks and antique pickup
trucks and the parts and components of trucks antique.
Although it is not hard to come across antique trucks
for sale - including antique fire trucks for sale,
antique pick up trucks for sale or for that matter,
classic and antique trucks sale – antique truck
enthusiasts must be aware of a certain amount of truck
history before they decide to take on the responsibility
of owning or restoring antique trucks.
At the Hays museum, one can learn about large antique
trucks of yesteryear like the immensely famous John
Deere models or Knox models that were among the first
trucks ever made in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century as well as about other models and
kinds of trucks. Other antique truck manufacturing
companies that are well-known are Mack, Sterling,
Oshkosh, but aside from these The Hays Museum also has
the only existing model of a 1916 Breeding Steam Truck.
When Diamantine Brothers Transportation Inc took over
Sterling, the new company used deep shades of red on the
body of the truck while wheels and front bumpers were
off-white or cream in sharp contrast. These trucks were
originally used to transport lumber, cement and a
variety of other heavy products through all of
California and Nevada.
The Sterling Company on the other hand had an excellent
reputation for the manufacture of strong, sturdy,
heavy-duty trucks as far back as in the early twentieth
century. The Sterling-White brand of Cleveland was
synonymous with quality. Because of this reputation
several other truck companies tried to adopt the
Sterling name in the early twentieth century in order to
benefit from association with the reputed brand.
In addition to visiting truck museums, one can also find
valuable sources of antique truck-related information in
publications that deal with the subject. Today, because
of a rising curiosity about the history of antique
trucks, there are many magazines and publications that
offer information on the subject of antique trucks.
These publications are quite extensive and include
information and facts on a vast variety of trucks
including fire trucks, military vehicles and classic
trucks from the olden days.
Antique trucks like any antique vehicles are not easy to
maintain however and before one decides to take up the
Herculean task of restoring an antique truck, he or she
must work out all the costs that he or she would incur
to source out the important components of such trucks.
Since delivering a quality product, rather than
profitability was the order of the day back in those
days, and also partly because of the archaic methods of
manufacture and the lack of machinery, the components of
such antique trucks can be not only hard to find but
also very expensive..
IMPORTANT NOTE: Items over hundred years are not permitted to be taken out of India without the permission of the Director General, The Archaeological survey of India, Janpath, New Delhi - 110 011.