If Tow Mater had a father, this would be him. This burly 1962 Mack B tow truck is one tough looking machine. Located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the seller is asking $6,500 for this brute. The title is listed as clean, so that is one hurdle to not worry about. Thank you Ikey H. for the tip. You can view more on Craigslist.
There are no photos or details about anything mechanical. The only info listed is that it is a diesel engine with a manual transmission. It is hard to know specifically what diesel engine is in the truck because Mack made four of them, and even put Cummins in some. The chassis code might tell more in person.
There are no photos of the interior either. It is up to your imagination to fill in the gaps unless you contact the seller to have them send you pictures of it. You can probably guess at what it looks like. Rusty, worn, primitive, but functional. It is comfortable enough to work in and that is what counts.
The seller does claim that the truck is ready to work, so it might be safe to assume it runs and drives and will be in operating condition upon purchase. Tow trucks are my most favorite kind of trucks. This one reminds me of an old Matchbox wrecker my dad has, that to this day absolutely fascinates me.
B models are some of my favorite trucks, even though, I never actually drove one. My trucking career began with R models. The B68 was about middle through the lineup, and many in the 60’s still had gas motors. This is probably the END673, about 190 hp, (220 with a turbo)and a duplex ( 5×2) trans. It’s useless as a tow truck, and I’d get that boat anchor off the back, but the truck is well worth keeping. S/A road tractor to haul your toys around, dump truck, lot’s to work with here. B models used to be the most common site on the road, when was the last time you saw one. Chrome grill housing, usually reserved for fire trucks, even nicer. You can have your $10K square body pickups, I’ll take this any day!
Yo HoA…..bowing as I do to you as the Lord of The Road, why do you think they put the boat anchor on the truck? When you say useless do you mean useless now? Or useless as in a misuse of that particular chassis and cab/engine combo for a tow truck?
Based on the different colors of the cab and rig, the Dick Tracy in me says the tow rig came after the cab was used for other purposes..
It’s ridiculously out of date. With the plastic front ends on everything today, including trucks, a bottom lift is the only way to go. At one time, I bet this rig rarely stood still, and probably has hundreds of tows to it’s credit. Trucks were a lot smaller, mostly straight trucks, and this was as good as it got. I have a friend in the heavy duty truck towing business, and their rigs are these $400K dollar hydraulic monsters and require specialized operators. This, anybody could run. B models are rare today, and I bet, they are all gone, so this is really a waste of very neat sought after truck today.
Thanks for the “Lord of the Road” thing, but I was just doing my job, the truck did all the work, I just pulled the levers,, and had a gas doing it!
10-4 on the R models,the go-to truck in the oil patch here, some still on the job, most guys have moved up to much newer models,Granite and such.Ive’ also no time behind the wheel of a B. Just not on my bucket list. R models were rough enough for my tastes, can only imagine how this one might ride,short wheel base and stiff suspension considered.
I started my trucking career 25 years ago driving U and R model Mack’s with no A/C, power steering, or a radio all over New York City, but you couldn’t kill them. I drive a 2016 Mack now, loaded with all the bells and whistles.What a difference !! This is a cool Mack tow truck, and I would love to see it restored ! This Mack tow truck is still in Pennsylvania where it was made, (Macungie,Pa.)and
where they still are made ,and is the state where I am from. Good luck to the new owner.
I drove a B Model Mack a few times but in my defense, it was in the early ’90s so it was old by then. It had a dump body and was mostly a yard truck with the occasional trip to get material. I believe it had a five-speed in it but it was a long time back so I could be wrong. I remember the cab being a few levels below Spartan with the only options it apparently had were nice chrome door handles and vacuum wipers. It ran well if I recall though it rode pretty rough as most vintage dump trucks did when empty. It rode pretty rough with a load too now that I think of it. It was Navy blue with a chrome grill, mirrors, roof-mounted air horns and other trim. It really was a good-looking truck that attracted a lot of comments from folks I met whenever I had it out. I’ve driven quite a few Macks over the years staring at that Bulldog’s ass through the windshield and like ’em or not, they are tough and dependable. A restored B Model Mack is one of the best looking trucks ever made.
This Mack looks like a great candidate to restore and repurpose to a different duty as a vintage wrecker is pretty useless these days. More info and pics would be necessary before bidding but a lot of potential here.
If it was a gas job, it had vacuum wipers, diesels had air wipers. I don’t think the 5 ( or 6) speed came out until the Maxidyne 237 was introduced 1966. Anybody that’s spent time in a Mack and had a CB radio heard that expression,,”one a$$holx looking at another”,,
On the hood, I plainly see: Thermodyne! Which was Mack’s END 673 naturally Asperated (no turbo) 170 to 211 HP. In 1962 it could have been an ENDT, no wasy of knowing without seeing
Seller claims this is “ready to work” so why is it on a trailer? Makes no sense unless you’ve got something you need moved from one end of the trailer to the other? Haha, I don’t think that’s what they mean either.
On the trailer as it has no plates and is not registered to be driven on the road i would say
If you had ever driven a heavy truck as primitive as one of these, You would understand. No one wants to drive them any distance without being under duress. I like Howard’s idea about making it a tractor. It would ride better with a trailer and some load on it. These were trucks designed right after the war that stayed in production a long time. Driving one for a living on pre Eisenhower highways would break your body down quickly. Some of my dad’s drivers in the late 50’s that had experiance like that couldn’t stand straight or fully open there hands……..but they still could still keep a truck on the right side of the yellow line. Many were chain smokers, addicted to strong coffee and self medicated with alcohol. It was a different world.
I would love to have this and restore it as a tow truck I drove one back in the day with a TRY plex trans and Thermodyne if you missed a gear you had to stop and start all over! HA! HA! And yes TRY is a play on words
Yup, back in the 60’s drove B model concrete trucks, small cab’s, great for guys 5′ to 5’8″, but me at 6’+ tight, then wrestle with the tri-plex, we also had a tri-axle
B W/10 yard mixer that always leaned to one side and appeared to dog track.
Had engineers from Mack, and the mixer company, don’t remember which now .
never got the thing to stand or run straight.
When I started out driving tow trucks in the early 70’s, the company I drove for still had one of these in service. It was for those times when we were extremely busy, or had a truck down for repairs. Most of the guys would have called in sick if they knew ahead of time they were going to be assigned that truck. Me? I kinda liked it. It was a “MANS” truck! I’d be tempted to restore it as a tow truck just for shows, even though it could easily be converted to a wheel lift.
Holmes 500 swing boom , pull your piece a crap dodge diesel out the ditch 50 ft down
James nailed that bed….those Holms were a pretty sight to those off in the ditch or water…..and that Matchbox – was a International I’m sure.
I’d buy this if it was still available.