Every time I spy a Divco delivery van, I automatically think of the punk rock band, The Dead Milkmen. It’s a bit of an odd association but not entirely out of character – it’s hard to imagine a Divco truck that was not finished in milkman livery and as for the band association, other than the name, who knows – it just seems like the two should go together. This one-time guernsey-getter is located in Edmonton, Alberta Canada and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $1,775 CDN or about $1,410 U.S., reserve not yet met. There is a BIN option of $20,000 CDN or about $16,000 U.S.
Divco traces its roots to 1926 but went through two different owners by the time the Series U, such as our Model 11 (100-inch wheelbase) subject was introduced in 1937. It was considered a “snub-nosed” design, universally recognized, and persevered through Divco’s 1986 closure. It’s like the VW Beetle of delivery trucks with its model year after model year similarity. The Divco Club of America can give you a little more insight into this once, commonly seen everywhere, truck.
The seller states, “Fantastic patina – does need full restoration but a fantastic start to something great. A very solid body…” Great, more patina; I suppose that’s beneficial if you truly want to drive a “Manco” milk truck, but for those that don’t, the world’s your oyster in terms of which way to go. The front end is a bit mangled, a few teeth have been knocked out of its gobber and it’s now officially a “padiddle” with its missing driver-side eyeball. There are dents, surface rust, and a bit more but the body appears to be reasonably sound though the seller adds, “most rust exists along the base of body structure” so there is some degradation going on. In particular, the bottom edge of the right-hand side door is slowly dissolving from the bottom up. That said, the driver claims most of the truck is “very strong and intact“. Oh, and speaking of doors, the driver’s side door is nowhere to be found.
There are no images of the engine but we know it to be a Continental brand, 40 HP, 140 CI, in-line four-cylinder, flathead motor driving the rear wheels. Top speed is under 40 MPH but that would have been of little matter doing door-to-door deliveries – of course, the trip to and from the dairy is another matter. While not stated, it’s a safe bet that this truck has not delivered any milk in a very long time.
There are two images of the interior but neither features the driver’s station though you can spy the steering wheel in the shadow. It is pretty well gutted and the rear has more in common with a paddy wagon than it does a delivery truck. These are “stand-up” drivers as they can be driven in the standing position – an advantage for repetitive stop-get off-get on-go operation.
As is often the case, the seller suggests, “Could become an amazing restomod restoration project“. That’s generally the toss-away line for old vehicles of this nature when there is nothing else viable that can be done with them. And that is a potential direction, but to what extent and how much would really need to be done to shake off this Divco’s slow-moving, utilitarian past and turn it into something that exclaims “wow”?
When I was working as a tech in the early 90’s I overheard a customer talking about finding a Divco to modify. At the time I never heard of a Divco until I went junk yard roaming with my friend. I remember it as it was yesterday a Divco parked under a tree slowly dissolving into the earth. I knew then what this guy wanted to do to it was really cool. Something designed to be utilitarian and beautiful at the same time. Hope someone sees the vision and brings this back for others to enjoy.
Wow, Jim, you made my day. I haven’t heard the name ‘Dead Milkmen’ in many years. Makes me want to listen to some Shock Therapy, Dead Kennedys and maybe some Butthole Surfers… Your stock went up my friend!
Those groups had some great songs . Do not here to much of them on the radio
These were all over the place when I was a kid, mostly Hood Milk and Sunnyhurst Farms. IIRC I looked inside one and noticed the speedometer topped out at 35 mph.
Roughly 45 years ago I decided it was a good idea to buy some wheels like this for an early ’50s wrecker I was rebuilding. I found a Divco in a row of cars/trucks piled 3 high. Divco was in the center with 2 cars on top of it. I had really been looking for these particular wheels, so I crawled into the pile and started disassembling. I had to take the front fenders off to get the front wheels and was only able to get one rear- would take unstacking 4 cars to get the 4th. Seriously thought about making the fenders fit the wrecker body but they were all beyond repair. Wish I still had the drive (and maybe less stupidity) than to attempt something like that now! By the way spell check didn’t like Divco, changed them all to Disco)
$16,000 BIN? I don’t think so. (I remember as a boy these milk trucks were everywhere. Where’d they all go?)
Absolutely.. when I was around seven or eight I remember them. I’m eighty.
Disco cars were an entirely different animal. LOL
https://www.facebook.com/Disco-minibus-1500627886920194/
Some of those Divco wheels are worth a small fortune for hotrodders.
The “Stand -Up Divco”. I’d say, people 60 and over knew all about these. Since BF’s caters to younger folks that may not know, in the 50’s and 60’s, milk companies would deliver milk, eggs, butter, right to your door. In Milwaukee, it was names like Golden Gurnsey, Sealtest, Borden, and there was a 2 way compartment in the house door, my dad made a “milk chute” that we used to crawl out of as kids, late at night, but that’s another story, and the milkman ( no milk ladies I remember) would come by in the early morning, and leave your stuff in the chute. So many jokes about milkmen “don’t rattle the bottles”, etc. The convenience store killed all that.
The Divco ( Detroit Industrial Vehicle COmpany) “U” model, changed little over it’s 50 year run. Initially made by Twin Coach in the 30’s. Powered by a Continental flathead 6,( and after 1964, they were Ford IL 6 powered) it wasn’t meant for highway travel. In addition to the hand throttles, they had a unique clutch/brake setup, like a Studebaker/Subaru “Hill Holder” for stops every 50 feet, and many were not refrigerated, and they used ice, which rotted many from the inside out. Most became tool sheds out back, and it’s Art Deco look is still popular today. Sky is the limit here.
As usual, thanks for the interesting and useful info Howard. Home delivery of milk went away because of convenience stores plus cheaper and more convenient packaging (cardboard), the cost of delivery services, et al. Which is kind of ironic to think that, nowadays, in a sense the pendulum has swung back…. Amazon, grocery store chains, Door Dash is back to delivering everything to our door.
60 years ago, you bought gas and related automotive products at a service station. Dairy products, from Menzie Dairy in McKeesport, were delivered in trucks like these. Charles Chips delivered potato chips with these trucks too. Those were the days, Howard.
A Mon Valley boy! I’ve been to Wall, not to mention Turtle creek, East McKeesport, Braddock…
When I was a kid in the early 70’s I lived next to the Sicomac Dairy . They had a fleet of Divco vans , the old or broken ones got lined up behind their repair shop and us kids would play in them after hours . We got milk delivered by one of their Divco’s all the time . All of Sicomac’s Divcos were flathead 6 powered .
Sicomac, Van Peenan and Ideal. :)
One of those Albanian tank engines featured a few months ago would fit nicely in the back of this. I’m sure a Corvair transaxle could handle the power.
Milk got delivered at home because we were a one car family, and Dad took the car to work, Mom took care of us, neighbor still had an ice box, and milk did not keep well in the summer. We had a monitor top GE refrigerator that worked for more than 30 years, relegated to the basement in its last decade and turned into a freezer by replacing the thermostat. Two different “bread men” came, one on Tuesday, one on Thursday, a vegetable man on Tuesday, and a fish man on Friday. Most had Divcos. Milk and vegetable was automatic, always stopped. Bread and fish would stop if you put their “card”, a card about 6″ x 8″ in the a window they could see coming down the street. Now, even before COVID but much more since, my kids don’t go to the supermarket, just order on line and it shows up. The more things change the more they stay the same! When the first supermarket opened in the late 1940’s we would all go on Friday nights (pay day back then) and as soon as we could read, were given a grocery list, and met at the check out.
Milk delivery in my neighborhood in NY was handled by Borden and Emmadean Dairy both used Divcos. We used Emmadean and had a milkbox on the front stoop. Their glass bottles had neck with a wide spot to capture the cream that rose to the top. We were drinking very fresh whole milk in those days. We had milk delivery right up until 1970 when we moved
Sold this for a 3rd of the asking price just for the guy to turn around and try and sell it on eBay. It’s very rusty the whole back of the roof is rusted out.
In Kitchener-Waterloo ON Maple Lane Dairy had a fleet of these Divco delivery trucks till the company was bought by Beatrice Foods Canada a subsidiary of Parmalat Canada and the fleet were sold off. Love the styling of this vehicle since I was a kid.
I remember our milkman driving one of these. I would be in the porch watching Saturday morning cartoons and he would come right in and go to the kitchen and put the bottles right in the fridge. And if my mother was in there in her nightgown she would be horrified.
Wait a minute, some childhood memories are coming back to me now…..I’m starting to question some things………
I could never get our milkman to leave chocolate milk, because Mom didn’t order it, but when he left sour cream I knew that potato pancakes were on the menu!
Not surprised to read Steve’s comment that he sold this very truck for 1/3 the asking price to an obvious flipper who is wildly optimistic. Even before reading Steve’s comment noting the back half of the roof is rusted out I concluded the seller had little hope of getting his asking price. The bids confirm my thoughts. Aside from the negative of the price, I saw one of these completely redone at the Eastern Street Rod Nats in Syracuse quite a few years back. Completely and beautifully redone with a BBS, tubbed rear and refinished wood, it also featured a few crates of empty glass milk bottles to give it that familiar clinking sound as it went by. It was one beautiful beast, unique and a delight to most viewers. Love to see it again and get even a slow speed ride.
Restored a 67 Divco, had aa 240 Ford in it, put in a 300 W/C6 auto, changed the rear end ratio, Drove it for 5-6 yrs then sold it to a builder in the Cape. He’s still using it. Was a greattruck, had it in parades, can shows, not many knew what it was/. Don’t know why anyone wanted the wheels, they were had “killer rings”.
Also in the late 60’s or so Divco-Wayne made ambulances.
A small brewery in NH had one (well the body) mounted on a recent GMC chassis with four beer taps on the passenger side, the kegs inside.
My neighborhood buddy’s Dad drove a Divco milk truck. (Dairymens and Royal Crest in Ohio).
I was fascinated by the two pedal assemblies – one for stand-up driving, and one set for sitting at the the swing away seat. That delivery gig faded away pretty rapidly as we left the 50’s for the 60’s.
We had milk delivery in Ohio,the local dairy used these. Me and my friends used to hang on the rear bumper in winter and let the truck drag us down the street. The driver would swerve right and left to shake us off! They were so slow in the snow,it was a hoot.
In Chicago we called it ‘skitching’ ……..stupid, dangerous fun, the best kind!
I always try’n figure what to do with the accordian dor. Te sliders were better to me.
Yes you could call them a stand-up driver, or in my brother’s case a Fallout driver. One early morning after a night of heavy drinking my brother made a hard left turn in his divco milk truck that we had bought from his girlfriend’s dad who owned the manfull Dairy which was the local milk provider. He fell out the driver’s door and the truck was on its way back across the intersection as the steering wheel was locked three and a half turns to the left. It was about to run my brother over- probably justifiable Revenge? When I stumbled through the back and grabbed the emergency brake. I can’t remember whatever happened to that divco but we did have a few good times in it
I’m not much of a “patina” guy. I especially detest the fake patina. But this thing looks great with it’s patina. If I was doing it, I would definitely save as much of the exterior paint as possible.
Is this vehicle still for sale?