And there it was, almost ready to go to work. Except for a few things that needed to be done, and at the top of the list were new rear ends so it could go faster that 47 MPH. I did take it to a lot of shows, and even won a couple of trophies, but after all of that work it just became a toy. I’d started building truck models about 13 years earlier, and now I had completed the biggest truck model yet, a running, driving one!
My dad, who thought I was nuts when I dragged the thing to his shop 7 years before sat in the passenger seat in the White Rock Christmas Parade, his smile from ear to ear. “My boy built that!” As strained as our relationship was, I think I earned a little bit of respect from the old guy.
(And for the eagle eyed purists out there, this was not 100% Kenworth. The cab, hood and grille were but the chassis was from an FWD of 1939 vintage)