Imagine what it would have been like to be a milk man driving around in this Divco Milk Truck. It has obviously been many years since this truck delivered any milk, but this Divco is such a neat looking truck that it would be great to repurpose. With only a few hours left in the auction, this Divco Milk Truck has reached $3,600. Find it here on eBay out of Bogata, Texas.
The inline 6 flat head engine is missing a few items but is mostly complete. The condition of the engine is unknown, but we can easily see this Divco getting an updated drivetrain. Rust in the engine bay looks minimal, though the battery box is a little crispy. The inner fenders and the fire wall look solid with no major rot present.
The cabin of this Milk Truck is minimal, and is lacking the driver seat. There is a generous amount of surface rust inside of the cab, but most looks to be superficial. The floor area of the cab does have some rot. It looks to be mostly concentrated near the door areas where there was plenty of foot traffic getting in and out of this Milk Truck. Something very cool about this Divco is that it retains its freezer box. There are a slew of options as to what to do with this Divco, but with a quick thought, a retro ice cream truck would be neat. If the Freezer box doesn’t interest you, it could be dismantled opening an array of options for repurposing this Divco. From the outside this Milk Truck is cool with a twist of style. There is plenty of surface rust on the exterior, but again it is superficial. Though there is some rot to contend with as well on the exterior. The passenger side rocker area has a riveted patch panel that likely covered up rust long ago. The patch panel has now rusted as well. There is also a crack and rusty area on the rear driver corner of this truck. Both of these areas are not large in size, but they will need attention. The underbody is in unknown condition, but we suspect it’s not too shabby. It is neat to look over the patina of this truck and still be able to make out “Colverts Dairy Products”.
There is still plenty of this truck remaining making it a worthwhile truck to repurpose, but what can be done with this truck? Full on restoration, preservation, restomod, food truck, camper, or maybe an ice cream truck? The possibilities are almost endless. What would you do with this 1955 Divco Milk Truck?
Looks like Rusty Balls Speed Shop’s next project ( hey, they redid a Metro, why not a Divco?) These were meant to be driven standing up, and the seat was on a pole that fit in that hole by the floor, and would swing out of the way. These guys ( sorry, not too many women milk “men”) had a hundred stops or more a day, and sitting down was only for the beginning and the end of the day. Just about every home when I was a kid, had a milk chute or that thing in the door with the 2 doors. Not many folks kept a Divco, except as a tool shed out back, and could be made into something cool. Going to take someone like Rusty Balls to make this thing cool. Otherwise, as is, it’s an expensive tool shed.
One of Our rental houses still has the milk chute as well as the laundry chute to the basement and…the coal bin. My Great Uncle built houses during the 40’s and 50’s and the milk chute was standard along with the mail chute.
I am Looking to secure Vintage 1940’s and early 1950’s delivery Trucks, Trucks and cars for an HBO Television Series. We work exclusively with the TV and Motion Picture Industry Production Companies and have active projects with Universal, Sony, Warner Bothers, HBO.
My dad was a milk man for the local dairy…..drove one of these….wish both he and that truck were still around….great guy, fun truck….still have fond memories of both…
My dad too. For cloverland out of Baltimore. I helped a few times. That wouldn’t happen these days. Except on bring your kid to work day. Doubt ins would even cover then. I’m looking for a lawn ornament. No title no problem. Rusted through no prob. Near the MD, WV VA OR PA area.
Cloverland, “The dairy with cows”. That place was a favorite destination, especially for milking time. What a shame the herd was infected.
some of these trucks did not have a drivers seat , you stood & drove ,
I like these. I don’t think that it is running the original axles though. I thought they were all 1-ton chassis with Budd-type wheels with 17 or 18 inch rims. One of these could be a lot of fun restored and set up with two seats in front. Even a vintage camper…
Kool truck ,Al who was our milkman for evva drove somethin like this .
Looks like a Continental industrial engine, we still have a couple of forklifts that use them…..good engines but can’t imagine this old girl would do over 45 MPH. The engines make less than 100 hp and to move a loaded milk truck, it would need very low gears. I just spent nearly 4,000 to rebuild a 4 cyl version. Parts are crazy expensive but they do run a long time………Hmmmmmmm a 45 MPH camper……..
Great memories here…..when my dad sold the family dairy business in 1979, there was still 5 of these from the original fleet, they all still ran, but were hauled to the junkyard……before the Divcos they still delivered milk door to door by horse wagon with ice block refrigeration up to about 1950. (Kansas)
Our milkman Wendahl drove one of these for our local dairy. When he would come down our street we would hitch a ride and hang out the other side. He never had a seat either. He was a new car nut and would trade 2-3 times a year. He had his pad and pencil on the dash and always wet the end of the pencil before he wrote down what we got. The old days were great.
Damn….you keep posting these guys stuff – is he on the payroll or just related to the Jeep guys? He must need to pay his taxes – as he’s selling off a lot of junk.
I saw one at Hot August Nights a few years ago. It was an “in process” project that had promise. Once the cooler box/equipment is removed. They are not that heavy. They guy with the one at HAN had a 225 slant six. And said it was darn respectable for power. I know that I am weird. But how about wide wheels and tires to fill the spacious wheel wells. And chop the top at least 6 inches. Then install the engine of your choice. (4.9 l. Straight AMC engine, supercharged?)
Back in July, I went to the Good Guys show in Columbus and came across a restored DIVCO Milk Truck. It was a guy from Toronto and he told me that he had $250k into it. It was an incredible project.
He will never get that price if he was to sale it..
Cool rig. Sold for $5,248.00. 45 bids. And what is a milk chute? I keep thinking broken glass.
A square hole with doors located on the side of the house, usually next to the side door. The milk man would open the outside door, put the milk, cream or whatever inside and close the door. The owner could then open the door on the inside and retrieve the items without going outside.
Like coal chutes around here, there really aren’t any chutes attached to them.
Thanks Edward, I had seen coal chutes but had never heard of the milk chutes. Just sounds funny to me. We had a small insulated aluminum box outside for milk. Take care, Mike.
Iron Resurrection on the Velocity channel bought one of these from this guy and did a killer custom job on it. This guy has a fleet of these as you can see in the background. Cool show
There is a DIVCO TRUCK CLUB, also have a convention once a year and if one watches the truck shows there should be a Divco there, especially east and Michigan.
I had a 67 I restored, it had all flat panels that were riveted called “Quick Panels” by Divco.
The toughest was the side curve on the roof, had to break that curve. It had it original 240 6, I replaced it W/used 300, great engine, ran the standard transmission until a gear broke then put in an automatic, which was an option in 67. But the first thing I did was change the pig to a 4;10 which gave it 70 MPH on the road. I had a window covering business(blinds, shutters, etc) and used it for 5-6 years and sold it to a fellow up in Wellfleet and he used it for a tool/supply truck, and still is. Great truck, wish I’d kept it, always got comments and thumbs up
What was the original rear end ratio?
To the OP- nice Hot Wheels reference in your post title. To those who didn’t know the name is an acronym: Detroit Industrial Vehicle COmpany