uilt in the last year that Ford held its position as America’s best-selling truck, this 1974 Ford WT 9000 cabover helped the company stay on top that year, and then helped Ford to maintain its third-place position in the heavy duty truck class in the years to follow. In 1975, only International and Mack sold more big iron than Ford. The W-Series trucks were extra heavy, forward-control tractors with tilt cabs and Hendrickson suspension. This Ford, owned by Art Culbertson of Frankfurt, KY, started life as a farm truck. Art bought his Ford from its second owner, Dave Thompson of Mt. Vernon, KY. Originally, the truck belonged to one of Dave’s employees, who used it on his farm. The single-axle day cab Ford was in pretty rough shape by the time Art bought it, but the truck’s Super 250 Cummins engine and 10-speed transmission were still sound enough to allow Art to drive it home. Art did a lot of repair work to the truck, which included new fuel tanks, replacing the brakes, and installing Dayton wheels with tubeless tires. After a friend gave the truck a fresh paint job, it was ready to go to the truck shows.
Previous ArticleSetting The Standard
Next Article Work In Progress
John & Shirley Sponholtz
John & Shirley Sponholtz have been involved with old trucks for over 20 years. Shirley was editor at Wheels of Time for 12 years before going out on her own and starting Old Time Trucks magazine in 2004. John is an avid photographer who enjoys taking pictures of odd and/or rare trucks (he provides most of the pictures for this article and their magazine). John & Shirley, who are from Richmond, Indiana, have been regular contributors to 10-4 Magazine since 2006.
2 Comments
I saw this truck at Mid-America and can vouch for how clean it is! I always liked the Ford grille from that era-even some of the cars and pickups had a variation of that look!
Nice to see the old Ford cabover. We have one on our farm that is a tandem with a sleeper. It has a 350 Cummings with 13 so 1974 also. Spirit River Ab Canada. Going to auction July 23/16. See lacreteauctinmart.com