Double-Engine Monster! 1954 “Assembled Vehicle”
And now, for something completely different, a truck with two engines! That’s right, folks, and before you GM fans think we’re talking about the 702 cid GMC Twin-Six V12 built from two monster V6 engines, we are not. This is much stranger. This heavy truck, titled as a 1954 “Assembled Vehicle,” features two completely separate GM inline six-cylinder engines, side-by-side, each powering a four-speed HydraMatic transmission sending power rearward via its own driveshaft, one engine per drive axle.
So… Any questions? The listing and some web articles from the past answer some, though nothing answers the critical question: Sweet baby Jesus, why? We see two gas pedals. Some articles describe two brake pedals, though it wouldn’t be impossible to have one brake pedal operate both brake master cylinders seen here. Other articles state that there are two clutch pedals, but that seems improbable given the twin automatic transmissions. At least the problem of synchronized gear changes is solved automatically, so to speak.
Witness (presumably) the truck’s proud creators, soon after giving birth to this behemoth. The fellow on the right seems to be thinking, “You give it a go, Roger, and I’ll join you later.” Strangely there are no empty beer cans in the picture, as it’s hard to imagine this truck came into being entirely through decisions made in the fog of sobriety.
We featured this truck way back in 2015 when David Frank puzzled over it here on BarnFinds. Is it just me or do those frame members seem a little thin for the job?
Both International and Diamond T used this attractive sleeper cab, according to the listing. That rear access panel was for your golf bag. No; definitely not. Thanks to reader Flint F. for spotting this tribute to American Ingenuity.
The global interweb agrees that whoever gets this beast running and driving and lives to talk about it deserves high praise and will surely be the talk of the town at every car, truck, or farm show they visit. Please don’t underestimate the life-altering consequences of miscalculating the safety of a vehicle this large. Someone with a creative spirit and unlimited time on their hands should start a fund-raising campaign to crowd-source the return of this metallic Frankenstein to the roadways, excusing each donor from liability of course. I nominate the unofficial PhD of Oddball Custom Creations, Ian Roussel. Check out the listing on Facebook Marketplace where $7500 makes it yours. Do you know anyone crazy enough to have built this Assembled Vehicle?
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Comments
I love any write up that contains the word behemoth.
I agree, Todd, this truck is screaming for Ians input!
Great write-up Todd!
Now, let’s ponder the asking price for a moment; open craigslist, or your facebook thingy and place a not to exceed 7500 in the looking for cars section.
Now pray tell what other choices offer TWO drivetrains…
This would be a great start to a “Real”ity TV show
Staghound armoured cars of WW 2 had two 6 cylinder engines side by side at the rear driving through an automatic transmission. These were American Army vehicles that we used in Australia in the sixties in the Army Reserve.
A truck manufacturer by the name of Relay built a twin engine truck in the early thirties. The engines were two Lycoming Model AEC eight in line 135 hp petrol engines mounted side by side . Certainly one was built but anymore I can’t establish.
Peter, I’m ex ADF (RAAF), 30 years.
I’m very keen to hear about our Army vehicles.
Thanks, Peter, I never heard of a “Staghound”, T17E1, to be exact. Apparently, used in a host of conflicts, 9 including Vietnam. They too boasted 2 rear facing GMC, 270 in line 6s, but used a single common drive. 2wd or 4wd was available. In 1941, the British contacted Chevrolet to spearhead the project. Why an Austin motor wasn’t used is puzzling. I bet they are still being used today.
Finally,,sorry, just a bit lonesome for a post like this, it’s right up my alley. The listing is gone, but that shouldn’t deter us old gear jammers a moment in the sun, although, no gear jammin’ here. It sure is an interesting piece, and have to bring out the big guns( Geomechs) on this one. I think the cab was a Diamond T 921, or IH, but looks to be widened some. I don’t recall that big a space between the back windows. The motors , I think are GMC(?) , so a hodge podge of several makes, not uncommon at the time. Military used twin engines, and I don’t know why you’d need 2 brake pedals, or 2 transmissions, for that matter. In the 50s, truckers were experimenting with all kinds of seemingly kooky ideas to get over the hill in a timely fashion, and 2 motors were a viable choice. I’ve seen all kinds of experiments, one a Diamond T cabover,( see link on the older post) with a Buick V8 stuck out in front coupled to the in line 6 for more power, and actually worked. Diesels were around, but most stayed with a gas job out of sheer stubbornness, refused to change, and this was the result.
In the end, all these half baked gas jobs went the way of common sense, and diesel won out. Did you know, Ford was the last truck maker to offer a diesel in HD trucks? The 1963 “2 story Falcon”, the H series, I believe was the 1st, a Cummins. One thing is clear, go ahead and laugh, but I bet this old gal saw some miles. From the back, the rear axle is offset, and appears to have its own driveshaft, so almost looks like 2 separate drive trains. It really is an engineering marvel, and I don’t think beer had anything to do with it, these guys were serious. I have no idea what to do with it, except maybe clean it up and display it at Walcott Truck Stop, that features many vintage haulers from the Bill Moon collection. He would have loved this. Thanks , and more trucks , please!!! Thanks Todd.
An engineering marvel indeed, Howard. The beer can comment was tongue-in-cheek. I admire the persistence to imagine and execute this project. I hope they got the satisfaction of putting many useful miles on this rig. -Todd
Hi Todd, it’s okay, I’m sure at least ONE beer was consumed( cough). This was a time in trucking when it was very much a “who got there 1st” deal, and I bet this truck made the 4 cylinder Detroits look silly, and they were.The Cummins 180 was the motor to have. This era was still very much reliant on the railroad, and sleeper trucks were not a common sight. There was a big call for trucking to places the RR didn’t go, and a “twin screw” tells me, this truck hauled some weight. Most tractors of the time were single axle. The frame looks adequate, and some sort of “camelback” spring suspension, that shook the truck considerable.
I’d say, as a rough estimate, this truck could easily do 50 mph on a flat, and that was mighty fast for a truck. I bet everybody who got their doors blown off by this goofy looking rig, made sure they took a look at the next truckstop. I would have.
Wait, there’s more. The rear windows are original, but Diamond T used a different dash, and had the signature “Diamond T” stripe on the side, so I think this was an IH.
Clearly those two guys had no beer . So they built that truck to drive down to TexArcana to pick up a load of beer . Inspiring with and without !
I was in the fire apparatus sales business when the chassis manufacturers and fire departments were making the transition from gasoline engines to diesel engines. I had several close calls with running out of fuel driving diesel-powered demo units, as stations carrying diesel were few and far between at the time (this was pre-internet, pre-cell phones and mostly vandalized pay phones days). I actually did run out once. Low on fuel, I tried to get by without fueling, as I was running late for an appointment with a Fire Chief, and didn’t have time to hunt for a diesel station. I thought that he just wanted a look, but he asked for a road demo. We ran out, naturally. Rolled down the hill as far as possible towards the station, but ran out of air and the spring brakes set up. The Chief went up to the phone box at the gate of a giant mansion. When asked who was calling, he said, “Your local Fire Chief. I ran out of fuel in front of your house and I need to use your phone.” It was quite awhile until I stopped hearing about that, but he eventually bought several apparatus from me.
Howard
You must mean this one.
This photo is from a private tour.
Well this one certainly came in the side door for me. One look and there’s nothing unusual then the next thing I know, a truck like this shows up.
It looks like International supplied the basics, in the form of the cab and chassis but after that it was whatever floated the designers’ boat.
That’s a wide version of IH’s Comfo-Vision cab which found its way onto 19 different truck builders creations. I have a good idea that those are a couple of GMC 302 engines in that bay. Kind of surprising because there were some six-cylinder gas engines produced by Hall-Scott, Continental and Waukesha that were over 600 CID in one package. They might have had multiple carburetion but just one engine.
You would really need to be an enthusiastic collector to take on a project like this. A lot of the parts would be one-off at best. The glass in that cab is all flat glass and can be picked up at most glass shops. The windshield looks to be the original so that’s available too. Seals and weatherstripping are readily available as are parts for the engines and transmissions. But there are a lot of linkages that would have you fabricating.
Then there’s the driver’s education part. Two completely different drivelines. You would almost need a co-pilot/First Officer to run that part for you.
One thing you could surely count on: you would have the only one of its kind at the annual ATHS convention…
Thumbs up! Glad you saw this, I agree, Ferrari, Lambo, Corvette, and then this. Not many sites like this.
Wow, just wow.
This is so cool, I wish I could buy it, just to have something way different.
I’d permanently leave the bonnet (hood) off, just to see people’s jaws drop.
Good job Todd. Another reason to be a participant in, and supporter of, Barn Finds. What a variety of vehicles for us to read about and enjoy.
Just so you know, some Teslas have two motors. Ok, I’ll show myself out…
Please do, and don’t come back, semi lol.
verry funny
I have never seen, but have heard about Rocky Mountain trailers that had an engine in the back of the trailer to give it a boost going over the mountains. I also remember an article in the Boston Globe from the early 80’s about a VW Jetta that someone had added a second full drive train into the trunk. They used manifold vacuum to balance the throttles and I guess just did not worry about the clutches. Apparently tying the shift linkages together was one of the harder parts of the job.
Don’t forget the Citroen 2CV Sahara wit an engine in the back and front.
https://www.motortrend.com/features/citroen-2cv-sahara/
pop cans sorry
Let’s shorten the name.
“Ass Vehicle”
Going by Fredrick Crismon’s very excellent book “International Trucks” for reference, the cab appears to most likely be a 1954 RD Series IHC. The RD series cab was offered with this sleeper configuration.
What a interesting toy to get running and driving and cruise around with kinda makes me wonder if they shared the fuel tank or each had its own
This shows one great thing about the automotive industry. You are only limited by your imagination.
The following linked article tells the tale of some twin Ford/Mercury flathead powered trucks created to haul bomber parts (mostly B-24) between different final assembly operations.
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2017/08/finally-good-new-photo-of-this-ww2-coe.html
Ford not only built B-24’s at the Willow Run plant they also had the capacity to build subassemblies for use by other aircraft final assembly operations. These trucks were used to haul very heavy and very long wing sections among other components. From what I have read, these trucks required two drivers, the second driver only having to manage the clutching and shifting.
This link shows some pics of the trucks with trailers. And some more information
https://georgedennis.blogspot.com/2009/11/rare-ford-coe-twin-engine.html.
I just saw a 2 engine Ford COE by a company named Grico?
Twin flatheads one in the normal location the 2nd in a doghouse at the back of the cab, the engines could be run together or either engine by itself. One throttle pedal controlled both engines
With the go petals so close together the only thing needed for power-train synchronization was a wide boot on the right foot. Very ingenious engineering.
in amarillo, is a restored w.w. ii ford cabover…twin flathead ford v-8, side by side, used to haul grumman fighters across country
I’m glad my first find has brought you all joy. I will try to keep finding trucks, Howard.
Good Day To All
Flint
Hi Flint, Colorado is known for rusty hulks in the sun, and here are a few from my area,,a rare Chevy cabover, (’39?)
A rare double cab 50s KW, with ‘” push me pull you” cabs,,
A late 60s Dodge C series tow truck
A mid ’40s Marmon Harrington,,
And last, a mid 70s Freightshaker, makes my back sore just looking at it.
At the other end of the scale there is the Citroen 2CV Sahara with an air-cooled twin at each end.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-twin-engine-citroen-2cv-4×4-was-french-innovation-at-its-weirdest
This project is not for the faint of hearts – or shallow pockets!
Was told by someone who said they hauled among other things, fruit with it. Claimed it had no shortage of power.
Passing other trucks of the time, on steep grades.
Leaving them with their jaws dropped!