JULY 2008 OLD TIME TRUCKS
“LIKE DAD’S
OLD TRUCK & TRAILER”
By John & Shirley Sponholtz
Jerry & Deanna Shaw of Somounauk, IL own this 1964 International V200 and 1958 Dorsey 40’ livestock trailer. The tractor came from a landscape company in Iowa. The Shaw’s got it in 1997. At that time, the truck’s 478 International V8 engine had already been overhauled and much of the restoration was complete. The truck features a 157-inch wheelbase, a 5-speed transmission and a 2-speed rear axle. Jerry found the trailer in Pontiac, IL at a truck company being used for storage. He replaced the wood sides and rebuilt the nose, but other than that, it was basically in road-worthy condition. Jerry says that he still needs to work on the roof and side rails to make it look better, but that takes time and money, and he has more time than money. Once the roof and side rails are fixed, he would like to have it sandblasted and painted to look new. Unfortunately, Jerry is having too much fun with the combination to take it apart for a long period of time. Jerry has been around trucks all his life. In 1949 his father purchased a trucking business and Jerry never passed up an opportunity to ride with his dad. Hauling grain, livestock, gravel, blacktop, lime and anything else you could put in a trailer, the company’s 16 trucks ran all over the country. Of course, when Jerry got old enough, he got his license and began driving for a living. In 1995 he decided to restore something, and, of course, it had to be a truck like the one his dad owned. Today, Jerry is having fun attending truck shows, meeting other old truck enthusiasts, and talking to everyone that comes by to check out his neat old truck and trailer.