"I drove the tractor only—they never had the trailers—for a couple of miles around the neighborhood. The earlier Ford 200 has manifolds on the left hand side, again as viewed from the rear (see Tech Tip #148: Ford Industrial In-Line 6 Cylinder Gas Engines… But I've got news for you: Big Red still exists. Like "Tim," a man who claims to have briefly assisted in the mid-1980s restoration of Big Red that Dan mentioned—and Tim has a lot of specific knowledge to back that up. Video: Big Red, Ford’s 1964 Turbine Truck, http://assets.blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/05/KenworthBoeinggasturbinetruck_1000.jpg. Dan and Tim had made a point to tell about the owner's extreme insistence on secrecy. But I was getting closer. Frankly, I'm not even interested in the guy's full name, or where he lives, or why he's kept it hidden for so long. Still, Big Red had a number of fascinating features, including an ergonomically engineered fiberglass cab loaded with comfort and convenience gadgets. Evocatively signed "Big Red Owner," the comment was posted on another thread on the same Mack Truck forum where I found Tim. The additional grille opening resolved the issue.". What condition is it in? "I've not seen the owners in years but I do know they are extremely paranoid about people finding out about the location of Big Red." A check of his account shows he last logged in on February 13, 2019, meaning he saw those desperate pleas and never deigned to answer them. Of course truckers would never take to it because you couldn’t adapt a Jake Brake (Just kidding, Howard). Ford Trucks New Metal Sign: 1966 Ford COE w/ Gas Turbine Engine, W Chassis Suitable for framing or hanging, has pre drilled holes. Both companies proudly showed off concepts in 1964, but both quickly faded from view once the technology proved not viable in the real world. But when I finally found him, what he had to say convinced me even more that Big Red is still out there, as he independently corroborated details from Dan's account that hadn't been shared publicly before. In 1978, John Holman's son Lee took over the company, which had struggled through the 1970s after its partnership with Ford ended. With him in the passenger seat, of course.". (We'll get to the fate of the trailers in a bit). He's moved, but I'm told he still has it," Tim said. The username also matches a dormant Twitter account whose display name is Thomas Richardson, and whose extremely limited activity (I'm talking five tweets, four likes total) includes liking one Carolina-related tweet. Moreover, Tim independently confirmed key details from Dan's story: that Big Red no longer had the original turbine, that the truck had been painted blue and white, that the owner recently moved, and that he really, really does not anyone to know where it is. I assume when he's passed it will come out from hiding. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! In 1954, Chrysler Corporation disclosed the development and successful road testing of a production model Plymouth sport coupe which was powered by a turbine engine. Dubbed the 705, this was a gas turbine commissioned by the US military after Ford had built them a 300hp unit. The gas turbine was a popular choice. Here’s how you tell the difference: both the Ford 240 and 300 have the manifolds on the right hand side of the engine as viewed from the rear. The giant rig measured in at 96 feet long and 13 feet high, and was powered by a turbine engine that produced a claimed 600 horsepower and 855 pound-feet of torque. A user named MsBode123 claimed to have been in the truck just a few years ago and spent a few hours looking around it. I also knew the Fruehauf trailers were sold off to a pro hydroplane team called Bardahl Autolite Racing, having come across this picture of one repainted in their livery dated to 1968. One of his first acts was to clear out the hangar with a giant inventory sale, promoted as the "Holman & Moody House Cleaning Everything Must Go Yard Sale of the Century." It would be nice to see it before everyone forgets about what it was, the people who built it, and why it's so significant. After all, Dan said at the outset of the hunt that Big Red currently lives in the original buyer's son's collection. Thomas B. Richardson is just a tough to narrow down in online public records searches, and I've yet to find any solid links connecting him with John, like an elder Richardson obituary with the two men listed as surviving family members. ( although, problems with the “air ride cab” forced many owners to convert them to conventional means. ", "The pictures you see with the smooth front are early photos," he added. Another disappointment was that he realized his claim in the YouTube comment about Mr. Richardson getting the original turbine engine back from Ford was incorrect. However, in asking around for information he turned up another sighting from a friend who'd seen the truck in the late 1990s and confirmed it was still in good shape, at that point equipped with "some sort of multi-fuel engine.". Mr. Richardson in Greensboro bought Big Red along with several other items... Big Red has been restored and remains in the private collection that his son keeps today. It is typical of all gas turbines in commercial operation today. The Drive has collected a mountain of that from obscure forums, social media posts and seemingly-random YouTube and Flickr comments—and it all points to Big Red surviving to this day in North Carolina, never having left the state at all, hidden away in a secretive collector's garage. ", "i know where it is.....and it's alive and doin [sic] fine in my dads garage....my brother owns it....it is now fully restored with the original gas turbine engine.". But still, why would he hop on to a random big rig forum in 2013 after all those years—when he'd likely in his 80s or 90s, at least—to randomly announce his prize to the world? Here's how I got there. First shown at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Big Red was powered by a 600-horsepower Model 705 turbine originally developed by Ford for the U.S. Navy. ", "My two friends and the owner did all the work, I was just a grunt a couple times. In 1963, Chrysler lent 50 of these head turners to potential … We all just want to know more about it, to look it over in the metal one more time. But the seed was planted for a new automotive gas turbine car engine. Basically, in or around 1985 the truck was brought to a shop where two of Tim's friends worked to be stripped down completely and repainted in its original colors—a blue and white color scheme for a truck called Big Red just wouldn't do for Mr. Richardson. Richardson? My one friend always says how you could reach up and turn the end of the turbine shaft with no effort. He said he was delivering a load of materials to the owner's property to build a new garage when he learned the structure would house the famous vehicle—which had ironically been painted blue and white at some point during its stay at Holman Moody. Sources I spoke with—who we will hear more from later in the story—also repeated a story reportedly relayed by John Holman's son Lee Holman that Big Red was being hauled through the southeast when the transport rig broke down and Holman Moody helped out by towing it back to its Charlotte headquarters. Technology, performance and design delivered to your inbox. Where to actually start with that was a big question mark. Though Ford and General Motors were also working on this concept, Chrysler made history when it introduced the first … One of Big Red's trailers repainted in its new livery. I was able to confirm that with a second source, and sure enough, I found recent property records that point to a possible location where Big Red might be housed. A nice piece of 20th century history. Showcasing Ford’s efforts was the futuristic truck called Big Red, a mammoth 96-ft. semi-tractor and double trailer unit. I could never see the fixation with turbines. The Chrysler turbine engine is a series of gas turbine engines developed by Chrysler intended to be used in road vehicles. Chrysler bravely/ stupidly made a few and scrapped a lot! All the cabovers I drove you climbed in via steps, that ladder/step would have been welcomed, especially by the large guys. It was a job for him I’m sure! It felt like I was reading something written by a ghost. But then again, most trucking back then was regional, you didn’t have that many guys running coast to coast. Given Dan's reluctance to provide any verifying evidence, you'd be forgiven for having a little skepticism here. It's just too much of a coincidence that both his and John Eugene Richards' comments were posted around the same time in 2013 or 2014 after decades of silence on the matter.
Planet Earth Transcripts, Wildfire Song By America, How Tall Is Brent Faiyaz, Hit Me With Your Best Shot Movie Scene, Mister Moto Song, Ken Lawrence For Sale, 1989 Ford Econoline E350 Jamboree Motorhome Manual, Hand Operated Wringer Washer, Teddybear Goldendoodle Mn, Astrophotography With Dslr And Telescope,