COVER FEATURE - OCTOBER 2004

A TRUCKING TAPESTRY
Famous Old Rig Weaves a Picture of Trucking’s Past and Present

By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

If a tapestry is a finely woven picture, with many intricate parts, then this month’s feature truck is a trucking tapestry on wheels. This rig has weaved in and out of many people’s lives over the years, and for some reason, always left a lasting impression. Although the truck is the main character in this story, there have been plenty of supporting characters along the way - including Kings County Truck Lines, Manuel Mancebo, Ray Avila, Leon “Fatso” Wright, Dave Perez, Kyle Heck, Gordon Evans, and others. Unfortunately, some of the players in this story are gone now, but the recently restored truck lives on, better than ever, as a rolling tribute to them all.

The truck was originally purchased new by Kings County Truck Lines of Tulare, California in 1960, along with two others just like it. At that time, Kings County had already been around for about 20 years and was a well-established milk hauling operation. Owner Manuel Mancebo, Sr., a self-made man from the Azores (a beautiful chain of islands off the coast of Portugal) who immigrated to the United States in 1922 seeking the American Dream, began with one truck and a dream. His little operation quickly grew into a large company. Manuel Mancebo, Sr. died in 1986, but his son Manuel “Junior” Mancebo, has done a great job running the company since 1971. Today, Kings County Truck Lines is just one of about eight trucking companies owned and operated by the Mancebo family. Today, their total amount of power units among all of their fleets combined is well over 400, and the number of trailers is nearly 600. It’s amazing what one hard-working man with a dream can accomplish.

Ray Avila began working with Kings County in 1956, back when farm pickup was first introduced. Before that, the dairyman took their own milk in large cans to the processing plants themselves in pickup trucks and on small flatbeds. Once farm pickup became the norm, Kings County really took off. Ray was like a partner to Manuel, and became a major player at Kings County Truck Lines. He worked his way up through the ranks and became the Regional Vice President of the Northern areas of California and parts of Oregon. In 1960, the company purchased three new trucks. Ray and two others from the company flew out to Ohio to personally pickup the three trucks from the Autocar plant and drive them back. The company still has the original sales receipt from Fresno Truck Center for the three rigs and the original Purchase Order placed by Kings County to pay for them ($45,000 for all three). One of those trucks was designated as #169 and given to a hot-shot driver named Fatso. Ray always loved that Autocar for some reason, and made sure that #169 got special treatment. Heck, the way Fatso drove it, it needed “special treatment” all the time.

Leon “Fatso” Wright (a nickname given to him by his brothers) was Kings County’s number one driver for many years. He was a renegade if ever there was one. His specialty was hot loads. If there was a delivery that seemed impossible to accomplish, they would give it to Fatso and, somehow, he and old #169 would get the job done. Of course, it often came at a great expense to the company. Fatso went through many motors over the years and even more springs. Fatso may have been wild, but he would do anything for someone in need. He came from the generation of truckers that were considered to be the “White Knights of the Highway” because they were always willing to help a stranded motorist or a fellow trucker. Fatso would even truck for free - he loved it that much. No matter where they sent him or how long the trip actually took, he never turned in a pay sheet with anything more than an 8-hour day on it. And he NEVER turned down a race. Fatso’s favorite thing to do was pass trucks going up the Grapevine, then exit the road and turn around. After going back an exit, he’d get back on the highway and pass the same truck again. He loved to show off his truck’s power and became a legend up and down California’s Highway 99. At a time when most trucks had a 220 or a 280, Fatso was running one of the first 380’s Cummins ever built.

The truck started out with a Cummins 220, a 5-speed transmission and a two-speed rear-end, then went to a 262, a 280, and then the 380. Whenever Cummins came out with a new motor, #169 got it. And all of them were “turned up” to their maximum potential, and then some. By the late 1960’s, the truck was beginning to stand out from the rest. Dual stacks, air cleaners and fuel tanks were added in the 1970’s, and at some point, a 4x4 transmission was installed. But after Fatso destroyed a few of these units at the race track in Irwindale, a 13-speed transmission was installed.

Eventually, as Kings County grew and more and stricter regulations came into play, it got harder and harder for the company to employ a guy like Fatso. Around 1985, Fatso left Kings County and began working with his brother Buddy. By now, the old Autocar was becoming a dinosaur as Kings County was upgrading their fleet to more modern trucks, so they sold the truck to Fatso and Buddy. The two brothers ran it for a few years, here and there, and then the truck was parked in a field. Fatso died around 1999 and the truck remained in that field, slowly rotting away, with a fate that seemed destined for the bone yard, if it was lucky.

At the American Truck Historical Society’s 2001 National Show & Convention in Reno, 10-4’s very own Stan Holtzman was on-hand to capture some pictures of great old rigs when he came upon a group of folks from Kings County Truck Lines. Stan asked the group, “What ever happened to Fatso’s old #169 Autocar?” The guys looked at each other and scratched their heads and answered, “I think it’s parked in a field somewhere.” To which Stan replied, “Someone ought to resurrect that truck and preserve its history.” And off he went. Little did he know, but Ray Avila was one of the men in that group. Ray had just recently retired after 45 years of working at Kings County Truck Lines, and was looking for something to do. He loved that old Autocar, and could remember as far back as that truck went - back to when he picked it (along with the other two) up from the factory in Ohio. Yes, Ray and this rig went way back. He liked the idea of restoring Fatso’s famous Autocar, and began searching for it when he got home.

A few months later, Ray found the truck in a field in Exeter, California. He bought the truck from Fatso’s widow and sent a couple guys from Kings County to pick it up. Dave Perez and Kyle Heck headed out with a low-boy and dragged the tired old Autocar “kicking and screaming” from that field. When they got back to the shop, they tried to start the old beast, and much to their surprise, it roared to life. Also to their surprise, two or three dead birds came flying out of the stacks and flopped down on the top of the cab! After they stopped laughing, they decided to shut her down and not run it again, for fear that the old rig might blow up. So that is where the project began, back in February of 2002. As you can see on these pages and on the cover and centerfold, a lot has happened to the old truck since then.

Under Ray’s supervision, Dave Perez and Kyle Heck did most of the work over the next 18 months on nights and weekends, even sacrificing some holidays and vacation time. Dave is the Shop Foreman of Kings County Truck Lines and has been with the company for 26 years. Kyle is the Shop Manager for K & M Paint & Truck Repair, a paint and repair facility owned and operated by Kings County for the sole purpose of maintaining their multiple fleets of trucks. Kyle has been with the company for 22 years. Both Dave and Kyle were around when Fatso was running, so they were familiar with the truck and its heritage. In fact, Fatso and Kyle’s father were best friends. Junior Mancebo was kind enough to let Ray and the guys use the K & M facility for the entire project.

The first thing they did to the truck was strip it down to the frame rails, front axle and cab - the cab was never completely removed, but all of the mounts were replaced. The inside of the cab was acid washed, and the front fiberglass fenders were completely reglassed. About 80 hours went into the front fenders alone, but they turned out (like everything else on this truck) perfect! One door had to be replaced and all of the windows were upgraded to new, smoked glass. The original aluminum front bumper was in bad shape, but the guys were able to save it. Many of the truck’s parts were salvageable, but not all of them. Dave and Kyle searched high and low for old Autocars to “pick apart” for pieces they needed to complete the restoration.

One day, at a bone yard in Fresno, they made a fantastic discovery. Sitting amongst the junk and dead trucks, was an old Autocar that the yard owner suspected was once a Kings County truck. Upon closer inspection, Dave and Kyle were blown away when they realized that they had just stumbled upon truck #170 - which was one of the three trucks that were purchased together in 1960 with Fatso’s #169. This truck became a lifesaver, as it was identical to the one that they were rebuilding. The guys said they could still see a faint outline of where it once said #170 on the side of the hood, but this truck had seen MUCH better days. Not much was salvageable, but they got all they could, including the brackets for the fenders, which they needed badly. All in all, they cannibalized about three Autocars to complete this one.

Mechanically, the truck was updated to a modern drivetrain. With a “turned up” 400 Big Cam Cummins, 13-speed overdrive transmission and a 3.58 rear end, the truck is a hot rod once again. All of the electrical and plumbing was replaced with new Freightliner components and then hidden from view. The original leaf-spring suspension was replaced with an air-ride system out of a 1999 Freightliner and the frame was shortened ten inches. With the exception of not having power steering, this truck runs and drives like a modern-day tractor.

Above all else, the real beauty of this rig can be found in the small details. Nearly every bolt on the truck was replaced with new stainless steel bolts that were ground smooth (the head) and polished. In order to keep the fiberglass fenders in place without rattling or breaking, Autocar designed a large washer and rubber bushing to create a cushion between the bolt and the fiberglass. Of course, most of the washers were gone and all of the bushings were shot, and none of these parts were available any longer. So Dave went to work and made his own washers (which he also polished) and his own rubber bushings (which he actually punched out himself). Then he used polished allen bolts to put it all together. The result: a beautifully-crafted, creative, functional solution that looks fantastic.

Moving inside the cab, like the exterior, the interior is flawless. The wood floorboards were scrapped and replaced with steel tubing and sheets of aluminum. Dave made a custom dash panel and installed all electronic gauges. All of the switches were either refurbished or replaced - they tried to keep as many original parts as possible. A CD player was installed, as well as low-back Peterbilt seats and sun visors (not available on this truck when it was purchased). For comfort inside the cab, air conditioning was added. A local shop in Fresno did all the very nice upholstery work.

Just a few days after the truck was finally completed, Ray and the guys took it to the truck show in Reno (Truckerfest 2003) where it made its big debut. Countless amounts of people recognized the truck and came over to check it out. Many folks even got on their cell phones to call people and say, “You’re not going to believe what I’m standing next to right now at the truck show in Reno - Fatso’s old Autocar!” It seems that everyone had a story or two to tell about Fatso. Ray’s son Don made a last minute decision to go to Reno and surprise his dad - and he sure was glad. He will never forget the look on his dad’s face as he cruised that beautiful rig down Virginia Avenue, under the famous Reno Arch, in front of thousands of cheering onlookers. “He had an ear-to-ear smile I will never forget - it brought tears to my eyes to see him so happy,” said Don. But as fate would have it, Ray would not be around for the 2004 Reno show.

After struggling through some health problems in the beginning of 2004, Ray and his longtime friend Gordon Evans (a driver for Kings County since 1975), were getting the truck ready for a show. Ray began to feel dizzy and sat down in a chair in his garage to take a break. When Gordon came back a few minutes later to check on him, he was gone. Ray died on April 23rd, 2004. The Autocar led the hearse in the funeral procession. Upwards of 1,000 people came to Ray’s funeral, including many owners of competing businesses. You either loved Ray or hated him, but either way, you respected him. That’s just the way he was.

So now the Sequoia Cream and Coca-Cola Red truck’s future is uncertain. Over the summer, Gordon has been looking after the truck and even took it to a few shows. But Ray’s surviving family members do not have CDL’s or a strong desire to take care of it, but they do want the truck and its history to be preserved. There has been some talk about Kings County possibly buying the truck (after all, it was their flagship rig for many years). The family is also thinking about donating it to a local antique truck museum, or maybe they’ll just keep it - right now, it’s all up in the air.

Weaving in and out of so many lives, this truck has knitted together a tapestry of love and friendship, good times, warm memories, excitement, hope and history - and sewed it all together to form a strangely-connected group of truckers, business owners, gear-heads, family and friends - all with one common thread - the truck. Some may be gone now, but their memories are stitched into each and every piece of this work of art, which continues to live on and grow even larger as it makes its way through even more people’s lives. One day the picture will be complete, and this trucking tapestry will be ready to be hung on the wall for all to enjoy.