Cab Over Engine trucks are some of the most unique and “cartoonish” vehicles ever made. They have the same general appearance as their light-duty cousins but feature exaggerated hoods and tall cabs which sit over the engine, hence the COE name. They were built in order to shorten the truck portion of a truck/trailer combo in order to haul more and stay within limits that were imposed when the modern highway system was being developed across the U.S. This GMC COE is from 1950 and can be found here on eBay with a current bid of over $5,000. Located in Fruitland, Idaho, there isn’t any information in the ad except for photos. Have a closer look at this one and thanks to T.J. for the tip on this one.
A COE project certainly takes up more space than your average car or truck. Not only are they tall vehicles, but like this truck, they often feature heavy-duty chassis and accessories. After all, they were made for work. I would assume the next owner isn’t very likely to keep the septic tank and pump on the back. Perhaps only the cab will be used? I’ve always wanted to drop a COE cab onto a modern diesel chassis, how about you?
The interior looks fairly standard for a work truck. No frills. The floors look really solid. Although this truck is from Idaho, it is located in the west-central portion, which is almost desert-like. It’s pretty clear from the photos that the truck doesn’t suffer from much rust.
These gauges are really cool! Hopefully, they will be able to be refurbished and be re-used.
The ad doesn’t say anything about the running condition of the truck. I suppose the old six-cylinder won’t be used by the new owner anyways, so it doesn’t really matter if it runs or not. Overall, COEs are awesome projects and are becoming more popular. What do you think about them?
This would make a cool project for a custom builder. How about as a beer truck for a microbrewery? Save the tank, junk all the old piping and make sure you clean it out real good though lol
Just to clarify after comments below…build it as an advertising rolling billboard parked outside a microbrewery. Also take it to local fairs, festivals, brew events, etc. to sell the product. Cut access panel into the tank and clean it all out. Place separate stainless tanks inside that hold the beer. Taps out of the side where servers stand, fill and sell from. Refill the tanks from the top. You’re not drinking any sewage, lol. Not including what you normally drink from your neighbors leach field or public water supply, after filtering that is.
“Our beer is made from the best sh*tty hops in the a** you ever tasted”!
“Every Idahoan worked their a** off in making our brew taste great”!
Imagine all the political promises that old tank hauled away over the years. I had a customer with a tandem unit. He had, “Our business is the $hit$” in bold block letters on the tank. Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad way to keep this truck. Restore it as a campaign promotion wagon.
Good shape. If it came to my place it would be restored to bone stock which would include that six cylinder workhorse. Truthfully, the “honey wagon” would disappear…
As in “Caution-this truck is filled with political promises!”? As septic tanks are still common around here we see some of the more humorous postings, i.e, in keeping with the Nevada attitude “A flush beats a full house” and with the older population here “Yeserdays Meals on Wheel”, one painted bright yellow with black painted windows announcing it as a “Stool Bus”..
But (no pun intended) this would be a great truck to fix up as an advertisement display, especially for one of those septic tank companies with it redone to say “Crappy days are my best days!” On the back.
As in “Caution-this truck is filled with political promises!”? As septic tanks are still common around here we see some of the more humorous postings, i.e, in keeping with the Nevada attitude “A flush beats a full house” and with the older population here “Yesterdays Meals on Wheels”, one painted bright yellow with black painted windows announcing it as a “Stool Bus”..
But (no pun intended) this would be a great truck to fix up as an advertisement display, especially for one of those septic tank companies with it redone to say “Crappy days are my best days!” On the back.
That’s pretty funny, my friend, and we’re not done yet, except, we’re going to need a much bigger tank for todays drek.
A POOPY HAULER,,,PEE-YEW, BF’s has sunk to a new low, literally, it’s a subject few want to talk about. Years ago ( early 80’s) I did a trucking gig for about 6 months, I hauled poop, the “activated” stuff, that had who knows what, from one sewage plant to another to be “treated”. Sometimes we’d take it to the fields, you’ve all seen that, but mostly back and forth, 7 loads a night( 5pm to 5am) As expected, it was a crappy job, and the only reason I did it, was I drove a new 359 Pete daycab and I had a good friend that did the same thing with another truck,,I can’t disclose the actual shenanigans we did, but you can piece it together. We had a blast,,,
Another thing you do well, Howard-see both sides of the subject. Case in point, taking on a job like that because you got a new truck to drive, & it kept you on the job longer than more than a few of us would’ve lasted! 👍🏻
And, as my gastroenterologist taught me, “eventually it all works out in the end…”
Hey Geo; since I have the impression you’ve probably seen more GM trucks than most of us here – this COE appears to be air brake equipped but can you help to enligthen me on what looks like a brake setup seen at the rear of transmission in the pic where we also see the PTO (4th last pic)…? Is this some auxhilary brake retarder or is it simply a parking brake system installed at driveshaft rather than at each wheel…?
local-sheriff- since no one answered I thought I would share what I feel is correct. I’ve worked on a lot of old trucks back in my day but most were from the 1960’s and newer. The truck has hydraulic brakes not air. There is no compressor on the engine, brake diaphragms or cams at the wheels plus it has metal hydraulic lines running to the back of the brake backing plates so I’m sure correct on that part. The apparatus you see on the backing the transmission is the manual parking brake. If you look at photo 12 in the seller’s eBay ad you will see a long lever next to the gear shift. This is the parking brake lever. I hope this was helpful.
Thanks Piros1 for sharing your knowledge – it’s always interesting to learn about vintage tech. When I was looking at the diaphragm sitting atop the diff housing I thought this was part of an air brake system – but now that I’ve taken an even closer look can you tell me whether it’s there to control a 2spd rear…?
These old Chevy and GMC trucks of this general size used engine vacuum to actuate the two speed mechanism in the rear axle. They were slower shifting than the electrically shifted axles used by most other manufacturers, as I recall (I’ve driven both, but many years ago.) The surest shifting, albeit clumsiest, arrangement was the mechanical 2 speed shift used on postwar Dodge trucks, which consisted of a long floor mounted lever and a rod running back to the rear axle. Split shifting one of these would have required two hands, or extremely good timing.
local sheriff
Many trucks from the day have the band around a drum on the driveshaft for the parking brake. This GMC has juice brakes…see the photo of the front wheel backing plate. This is all common stuff.
Some oddities for you:
1944 Diamond T 614 has a huge disc on the rear of the 5 speed for a parking brake and (haven’t tried it) possibly an emergency brake.
1949 Mack EHT has juice brakes with an air compressor (gear driven on the Mack engine) and manual valve for trailer brakes.
I have no info and wonder about 40’s trucks with juice brakes, large vacuum tanks and tube/pipe plumbing to the rear for trailer brakes with a hand valve and gauge on the steering column.
Okay then, now that we’ve covered the rear end parts, let’s talk about the truck proper, shall we? It’s a 600 series, HF608 to be exact, although the cabover came in many types. I thought Geo would mention if this was a Pontiac motor or not, I’d certainly strip the poopy stuff off before some farmer gets a hold of it. Possibilities limited only by your pocketbook. Did you see the emergency reflectors in the cab? In case younger readers aren’t aware, these were nicknamed “Cannonball”, and one was used on one of my favorite trucking tv shows, although I was just a lad, that song stayed with me,,and here it is.,,very cool find.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umvbqPUMoKg
Yeah, I should’ve mentioned the engine itself but I was getting distracted–having company stop in DOES do that from time to time. I’m thinking it’s a 270 which was a popular size in GMC trucks throughout the 50s. Lots of them still going in the 60s before someone had a wild and crazy idea to concoct a V-6 which I still raise my eyebrows at (another story). These were Pontiac-based engines; that is to say that they were built at the Pontiac facility. No speed demon but they could sure pull. The 302 version powered many military vehicles. And like I said, I would keep on using this. I’m in no hurry and I’m actually getting used to those uptight import jockeys and their new single-digit wave…
Glad to know there’s somebody else besides myself that remembers the “Cannonball” TV series. A good trucking movie which is a bit older (1940) is “They Drive By Night.”
I remember Cannonball, one of my favorite shows. Not long after the TV series came out, every COE truck became a ‘Cannonball Truck,’ even if it wasn’t a GMC. I was disappointed when I couldn’t find more than a couple of episodes on YouTube. I saw the entire Highway Patrol series during my lunch hours four or five years ago. I also saw ‘They Drive By Night.’
Neat truck. Would have to get rid of the crapper tank and not sure how hard that’ll be.
Take it off the truck, cut a couple holes in the end for leech lines and intake, then bury it-instant septic tank. Build your dream garage with the urinal and toilet with a line running to this and live happily ever after!
I think in that era, Pontiac only had straight 6 and 8 cylinder flatheads.
Geomechs: They Drive By Night is, without a doubt, one of my favorite films.
Very cool nuff said
That tank might be full of methane gas, might make a big explosion if ignited.
Back in the 50’s a girl in my class’ father owned a porta-potty company. He owned several of trucks like this and some flat beds he hauled the toilets on.
He rent the toilets out to construction sites. Quite a lucrative business.
God Bless America
I remember some years ago seeing as a pre-internet meme, a movable-letter sign with;
SEPTIC TANK CLEANING
SWIMMING POOLS FILLED
NOT SAME TRUCK
Ha! I think “The Turd Burglars” is the best,,”Yesterdays Meals on Wheels” is pretty clever too,,
https://advancedsepticservicesfl.com/septic-tank-humor-truck-signs/
The Excess Express.
Rothschild’s Sewer Sucking Service
First “Red Green” reference I have seen on BF. Nice. Keep your stick on the ice. And tell my wife I’ll be home right after the meeting.
Turn into a Beer Truck…..Save the tank…..Clean it real good……..Really?
I believe these and the drivers were referred to as “honey dippers”. lol
Or tird chasers
“Your poop is our bread and butter”
Absolutely needs the personalized plate “HALN SHT”…
“You ate the best, we haul the rest”
“Satisfaction guaranteed or double your poop back”
Save the tank and plumbing. Just add water and sell it as a tonic. That should be an eye opener!
The devil made me do this!
There’s a sceptic company here in Winter Haven called Averett Sceptic and they want you stinkin’ business! Lose the tank, add a more powerful engine,
put a 5th wheel on it, and use it as a local hauler. It would make a great
Cannonball tribute truck. And as for
trucking movies, don’t forget 1949’s
Thieves Highway. All the other films you
mentioned, I’ve seen ’em all and enjoyed
them all.