In a Barn for 40 Years: 1948 Diamond T Flatbed
While it is wonderful that so many older cars have been saved from the crusher and fixed up, the same cannot be said for heavy trucks. Those beasts that did the heavy lifting for our society as it grew and prospered do not survive in great numbers. Technology, driveability, and comfort have worked together to replace these vehicles on the road, and the financial and logistical demands of caring for large trucks ensure that few can afford to save them. Despite the odds, reader Flint F. has found a very interesting, possibly repurposed 1948 Diamond T truck looking for a new home. This truck is complete and should be driveable with some elbow grease. Despite its girth, this truck’s footprint is likely smaller than some of the one-ton trucks we see on dealer lots today. Could this be the distinctive old truck project you might be interested in?
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this ad is the legendary manufacturer of the truck. Diamond T, which lasted as an entity into the early 2000s, had an interesting start as a company. The name came from the diamond shape of their first logo (signifying quality) and the “T” came from founder C.A. Tilt’s last name. The company started with manufacturing touring cars. Then, they pivoted to the truck market by providing consumers with choices that ranged from half-ton pickups to the largest road-going monsters of the time. Before World War II, Mack and Diamond T were considered the best trucks you could get in the heavy truck world. Mack was legendary for their durability, starting with the chain drive “Bulldog” Macks. Diamond T, however, managed to build a durable truck that was outfitted to be more luxurious to the driver. They have also enjoyed a long reputation as handsome due to their advanced styling.
It was during World War II that Diamond T shined. Tasked with making trucks for the United States and its allies, Diamond T was in the top 50 companies for war material production as gauged by the amount of money awarded to it in contracts. The company did what it was best at by manufacturing trucks ranging from wreckers to cargo carriers. The British especially loved the tank transporter tractor built for them and used in the North Africa campaign with much success. After the war, the company emerged with a full lineup of single and double-axle trucks for every use.
The truck you see here is one of those post-WWII products, but its exact rating and initial use are a mystery. The seller tells us that it is a model 704 and it looks to be on a short wheelbase chassis. Perusing the internet was little help in determining where a 704 sits in the company lineup. The only 704s seen when looking for information were a wrecker on a short-wheelbase chassis like this one and a coal hauler on a longer chassis. Regardless, this truck may be ready to return to the road with some work on its Hercules engine. A mechanic has looked at this truck and determined that the engine still turns and a compression test was performed with positive results. Having sat for 40 years in a barn, the paint is believed to be original, the interior was repainted, and the seat and the flat glass in the rear of the cab are missing. There is said to be no rust or rot.
The big question regards what the truck was used for. There is no telling what its original use was if it were sold as a cab and chassis to be fitted with a body after delivery. The body on it now, described as a seven-foot heavy-duty flatbed by the seller, looks to be configured as a mobile home hauler. Purely speculating, the truck’s age and location place it in postwar southern California. The area had numerous manufacturing plants engaged in aircraft production during World War II. After the war, many companies kept production lines going by manufacturing mobile homes, camping trailers, and anything else they could think of using aircraft-type construction. There was a huge market for such mobile dwellings due to the sheer number of returning service members with money in their pockets and a desire to return to what they hoped would be a normal life. Perhaps this truck was used to deliver these trailers to their new owners.
Once you get past the grit and grime, this 1948 Diamond T Model 704 for sale on Craigslist in Long Beach, California is a rare, historical find. With a stout original drivetrain, a solid body, and compact (for a heavy-duty truck) dimensions, this handsome hauler could be just the distinctive truck to take to your next Cars and Coffee or for occasional heavy hauling needs. With a recently reduced asking price of $6,500, do you have room in your stable for such a truck? Thanks again to Flint F. for the tip!
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Comments
Whoops, too slow, but a big thanks anyway to the site. It’s a small, yet important part of many a persons past. While the operators when new are pretty much gone now, pretty much the way you see it, except it had no wheels. Finding 16″ tube type wheels was a bit of a chore. I got in at the hobby level in 1980 with a 1949 201 pickup I found in a truck junkyard whilst looking for other truck parts. I had to have it. Cost? $100, I kid you not. I had that truck for many years, had a lot of fun with it. I’ll spare you the details how I lost it, but I have a good friend I sold it to, so not all lost.
While I can’t add much to the authors well written detail, he did miss a very important truck, better than Mack and Diamond T put together, that was Kenworth. Actually, 2nd would’ve been White trucks, then Mack, IH, Ford/ Chevy, DT/ REO, Peterbilt and so on. Diamond T was very pricey, in some cases twice or 3 times the cost of a Ford, so not often seen. The truck here is, or was without question a single axle road tractor someone “converted” into an equipment hauler. It’s way too heavy duty for a mere flatbed like that. Perhaps a tow truck, but again, if it was, it was a converted road tractor later on. Someone got a nice truck, and stuff like this doesn’t last long.
You know, it would be fun to see what eventually happens to all this stuff. We only see half the story. Since it went so quickly, I’m confident a gray ( or no) hair picked this up, and hopefully will restore it to its former road tractor glory with his company name on it. For a lot of trucking companies, the owners father, or grandfather, started the business with one of these and are very proud of that. Del DeYoung of Friesland, Wis. ( aka Adams Transport) mentioned on an earlier post, had a rather large collection of Diamond Ts, that I got to personally see, sadly, when he died, all were sold. I’m sure he had a 704 in his collection.
Thanks again to the site for featuring this important piece of transportation history.
I once worked for a multi-generationally owned and managed company. I hired an assistant once and during the employment interview, I asked them about their family life growing up. They thought that it was a weird question. I replied that the more dysfunctional your upbringing, the more likely you would tolerate having four or five supervisors telling you what to do, often in conflict with one another. Fun times…
Not much I can say about this that hasn’t been said. Used to see the odd one when I was a kid. Back in the 60s there were some trucks like this hauling crude oil to the old Thunderbird Refinery in Kevin. It seemed back then that the trucks stayed and stayed, and never seemed to get old. International and Autocar seemed to dominate the scene but I remember a couple of Diamond-T units in the region. And like a flash in the pan, they were all gone. The odd one shows up out of the woodwork, like this COE model in Chester, a few years back. I got a card from a guy who showed up at a truck show east of Calgary who has a full-fledged highway truck. I’ve got a pic somewhere in my collection. I’ll try to find it…
I can’t find the model number, but these were very popular in Chicago and midwest, the home of Diamond T. I had to chuckle, I see the bronze(?) “Diamond T” badges are gone. They had a habit of going missing for a man cave wall. When I got the pickup from the junkyard, it too was missing the badges. I searched high and low, pre-internet, of course, it meant a lot of leg work, finally found a cabover like this that had them.
The cab and more specifically roofline on these trucks seem out of proportion.
Wow! It seems like forever since I last saw a Diamond T. I wasn’t quite 6 years old when my father brought a new ’48 to the farm directly from the factory. He had a 21′ body built to fit the frame and hauled hay on it. One of my memories goes back to me trying to reach the clutch and brake pedals while trying to navigate a hay field, with NO power steering, before a severe thunderstorm hit. Pop and my older brothers got the truck loaded and the hay bales covered just in time when it started to rain. Old Red was still running when I went in the Air Force in 1960. Someone had found it in a field a few years ago and posted a picture, although badly faded, you could still make out the C.R. GRAY & SONS painted on the driver’s door.
I bought two Diamond T’s the other day. Waiting on titles from the estate before I list them for sale.
How much and where and when?
Usually put them on eBay but it really hasn’t been a great place lately. Also Billings Craigslist and facebook market place. Trying new things. I just sold an FWD, and a Federal. The large Federal was a stunning truck. Tim
Auction them off right here.
This truck, that we’ve determined is a war era ’40s Marmon Herrington AWD BEAST, with some mombo gas motor, that I think was an AF truck, that our county had in the 50s. It sits at a resale shop in Poncha Springs, Co. and is for sale. She ( owner of shop,) has no doors for it. I couldn’t imagine her wanting more than a couple grand.
This site cost more than the $5 dollar local only Craig’s list but here you get world wide attention and the auction setting can potentially go past your asking price. I have never purchased or sold anything here but I like being able to ask questions directly instead of email back and forth
Now THERE’S a daily driver!
Only clicked on this one to see what Howard A had to say.
Thanks, pal.
Drove one of these as a reformatory inmate at 16 year sold , it was used to tow 20 ft coal trailers
A photo of the dash board of a Diamont T would be pretty interesting. As I remember–there were so many gauges that there was little room for painted sheet metal dash–probably monitoring axel and transmission temperature and other heavy load conditions. A local man has one of them lowered and with modern wheels. The truck is a head turner for sure. Then, looking through the window at all those gauges- Whew!
The dash on these was rather plain compared to the pre-war models. They had an engine turned panel and more gauges, deemed quite classy for a truck in the 30s.