TEN FOUR MAGAZINE - TRUCKING ON-LINE MAGAZINE FOR TRUCKERS

Coca-Cola's Classic

Old Mack Delivery Truck’s Roots Are In LA

Bob Sweeting (AKA Santa Claus) is the proud owner of this classic 1923 delivery truck which was ordered and custom-built by Mack for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Los Angeles. Bob restored the old truck back in the 1980s and has used it to promote his company, Power Brake Service in Long Beach, California. When he bought it he had no idea of the truck’s rich history - he just thought it would be a “fun” project. With its many innovative features, this truck has several originally patented parts and was very advanced for its time.

When Bob first saw the truck it was painted green and owned by a friend who worked at Euclid Industries. This friend had plans to sandblast the whole truck, which would have ruined it. In an effort to save the old beast, which was in terrible shape, Bob bought it in 1980 thinking it would be a fun restoration project, but he didn’t start working on it until 1984. Everyone thought he was crazy - they told him he should cut it up and scrap it. But Bob didn’t listen.

The first thing Bob did was run the truck’s serial number through Mack. They informed him that the truck was built at their Allentown, Pennsylvania plant, and delivered to Coca-Cola’s L.A. Division back in 1924. Apparently, it was used to deliver Coca-Cola in Los Angeles until the early 1950s. During Bob’s restore, he found red paint under the green and pieces of broken Coca-Cola bottles wedged into several nooks and crannies. Bob knew what he had to do - restore the old delivery truck to its original condition as it was in its glory days at Coke.

Known as a Baby Mack, this AB Model truck features a 300 cubic inch 4-cylinder motor pulling a mere 60-70 horsepower. With its cylinders cast in pairs, extra sets of cylinders could be added very easily or, if one pair went bad, they were easily replaced. These pairs of cylinders sit atop a single crankcase. Oddly, the carburetor is mounted below the oil pan. Bob added an electric starter but the hand crank still works. At that time, electric lights and starters were a very expensive option. New, this truck cost around $2,600 - the electric starter was a $600 option. Brass kerosene lamps are mounted on the sides of the cab. High and low beams are controlled by adjusting the length of the wick with the turn of a knob on the side of the lamp. The single taillight was also a small kerosene lamp but someone converted it, at some point, to hold an electric bulb.

Bob completely dismantled the truck in his shop, even removing all the rivets from the cab, and rebuilt it from the ground up. Anything they couldn’t find (or that simply wasn’t available anymore) had to be handmade. Even the frame of the truck had to be straightened. All of the cab panels were “massaged” back to perfect condition and then reassembled with new cold steel rivets and screws. The wood deck and its supports underneath were completely replaced. Bob used Apitong wood for the deck and Oak for everything else - and what a fantastic job he did. We are sure this truck looks better now than when it was new.

Some of the more innovative features of the truck include pneumatic tires (introduced one year earlier), aluminum engine block, transmission and rear-end (which Bob had polished, being careful not to erase the casting dates and serial numbers), shock insulated leaf springs, Mack’s “Dual Reduction” rear-end (still in use today), the frame is made of heat-treated steel (Mack pioneered this process), the radiator gauge is built into the hood ornament (a red indicator floats up as the engine gets hot), vacuum-assisted power brakes and much more. Many of the truck’s components are stamped with patent numbers, dates and other official information about the part’s creation.

The interior is lean and mean - just a seat (the gas tank is underneath it), a few gauges, the steering wheel (which has two levers on it - one is used to retard the timing and the other holds the throttle open - both are used when starting the truck with the hand crank), pocket doors that slide open and closed, and a few interesting placards educating the driver how to take care of the truck. The Klaxon horn mounted on the driver’s side of the cab is original and makes that famous “ah-oooo-ga” sound indicative of old cars.

Basically finished in 1987, Bob has used the truck to promote his company and have fun. Bob owns and operates Power Brake Service in Long Beach, California, specializing in brake upgrades, parts and general brake maintenance. Opened in 1950, Bob has been running the show since his dad died 30 years ago. Single for the last fifteen years, Bob says that he’s married to his work. He has two sons, 21 and 17, and hopes one day they’ll come work with him and, eventually, take over the business. Besides his work, Bob enjoys going to the drag races and playing with his own toys - namely his ZR1 Corvette, his 1970 Corvette and his 1968 Impala SS 427 (serial number 18), which is soon-to-be featured in a hot rod Chevy magazine. A Long Beach native, Bob now lives in Huntington Beach and enjoys “the good life” living near the ocean.

Bob’s future plans include buying a truck and trailer to haul the old Mack around, possibly using it to promote grocery stores or Coca-Cola. He is pretty confident that this truck will one day end up at the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. Bob is also trying to seal the deal on opening a full-service GMC truck dealership in Southern California, but that is a long and painful process.

We’d like to thank Bob for letting us dress him up like Santa and decorate his truck. We’d also like to thank Chuck Peltzer of Peltzer Pines, who allowed us to shoot our pictures at his Christmas Tree Farm in Orange. He also has two farms in Irvine, where you can select your tree and then they cut it down for you. From all of us at 10-4, we’d like to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!