COVER FEATURE - AUGUST 2004

EXCELLENCE IN MOTION

By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

Dino was bummed! Just two months after his beautiful blue 1953 Pete finally made it on our cover (January 2001), we introduced the new, full-color, two-page centerfold featuring each month’s cover truck in all its splendor. Dino Guadagni of Western Distributing Transportation Corp. (WDTC) in Denver, Colorado, missed having a centerfold of his neat Pete by only two short months. Yes, he was bummed.

Over the next couple years, he tried and tried to get his truck on the cover again (he even had it repainted with an incredible water-like blue paint job), but we kept telling him, “Sorry Dino, we’ve already done it.” So he went to work on a new truck - dare we say - to be back on our cover and get that centerfold he so badly wanted.

Actually, shortly after finishing the Pete, which Dino built to drive on weekends and to special events, he gave it to one of his best drivers (Rick Walker) to use. At the time, business was booming for WDTC and they needed every truck they could muster. But this left Dino without a ride, so he decided to build another one - this time a classic Kenworth - for himself. And as you can see on the cover and these pages (and yes, the centerfold), Dino’s new rig is about as cool as they come. Depending on your truck preference (Peterbilt or KW), some might say this one even tops the last. Let’s flash back to 2001 and pick up where the last story left off.

At the end of the feature story about Dino’s Pete, we added the fact that Dino was looking for an old butterfly hood KW to rebuild, and if anyone had one, he might be interested in buying it. Well, about two months after the article was published, a woman named Linda in Entiat, Washington called Dino and informed him that she might have what he was looking for. So Dino sent someone up there to check it out, and wouldn’t you know it, the truck was a keeper. Having sat in a field for years waiting to be restored by Linda’s father, the truck was drivable but not roadworthy. Dino had it put on a flatbed and trucked down to Denver, where it arrived on a snowy, Sunday afternoon in March of 2001. Dino and his brother were so excited that it actually ran, they took turns racing it up and down the street, honking the horn and hitting the jake, having a good old time, until pieces of the truck started falling off - oops, time to get back to the shop.

The truck was in good shape, but the frame rails, rear-ends and interior were a mess. Having learned a lot from building the Pete, Dino decided instead of replacing everything from the ground up, that he’d find a newer wrecked Kenworth and use its chassis as a base for the old 1954 KW. After a short search, Dino found a slightly banged up 1994 W900 and bought it for a song. He quickly stripped off the cab, hood and sleeper and sold them, recovering half of what he had paid for the whole truck. Not bad. Having a two-way harness, Dino was able to choose between a mechanical or electronic engine (the truck was wired for both). Dino chose old school, and went with a Cat 3406B with 425 horsepower and, as much as he wanted a two-stick, decided on the more sensible 18-speed Eaton transmission. The front axle was replaced with a car hauler axle, and a pair of 3.55 rears were dropped in the truck. So now it had a drivetrain.

Next came the tedious job of fitting the old cab and hood on the newer chassis - and doing some “modifications” to the metal. For this, Dino sent the truck to Diversified Auto Body in Denver, where Ian, Roy, Gabe and the rest of the crew took over and “adopted” the rest of the project. For the next couple of years, the guys at Diversified (with lots of input from Dino) worked on the truck, here and there, between other jobs. Thankfully, Dino wasn’t really in a hurry, and the long wait turned out to be well worth it.
To try and mention EVERYTHING that was done to this truck, we’d need a few more pages, so here are some of the highlights. The entire hood was rebuilt (and shortened a bit) and the cab cowl was stretched 12 inches to allow the air intake lines to pass straight through to the air cleaners without any visible tubes. The (original) front fenders got a lot of work done as well. To allow them to be mounted lower and closer to the tires, (2) three inch sections of metal were removed - one section toward the front and one near the rear - and then the pieces were all welded back together again flawlessly (a very difficult task). All of the batteries and air tanks were moved behind the cab and mounted between the frame rails. This allowed running boards to be added to the sides and really cleaned up the lines on the truck. Eight-inch pipes make their way back under the cab via large holes drilled in the side skirts just above the running boards. Although the truck looks extra long, its really only got a 265-inch wheelbase.

Rounding out the rest of the exterior, Dino added WTI fiberglass full fenders, 22.5 low profile rubber, wheel spinners on the drivers, a Valley Chrome front (20 inch) and rear bumper, a few LED lights, and, of course, the flashy paint job. Sprayed over a three week period, artist Johnny Pugh gave the metallic blue truck a “raging inferno” paint scheme on the lower half of the entire rig. He also added a cool mural on the back of the cab featuring a fist punching through the steel. The middle finger is adorned with a large ring featuring the classic KW logo.

Moving to the inside of the cab, the interior was completely built from scratch - basically, because there was nothing there to start with. Done by longtime friends Jim and Larry of Empire Upholstery, they began by cutting out the old floor and putting in a flat one. The entire interior is covered in either black leather or black ostrich skin. Flames are embossed on the door panels, headliner, firewall, back of cab (behind the seats) and on the top of the dash. Rockwood built the wood floor and dash panel, while Bostrom provided the supple Wide Ride seats (there is barely enough room in that old cab for those two seats). The dash features a minimal amount of Double JJ gauges and chrome switches. The tilt steering column from the 1994 W900 was used, but Dino doesn’t like to tilt the wheel - he likes to drive his rig like West Coast Choppers’ owner Jesse James likes to ride his bikes - sitting low, leaning over the front like a low-rider. Now that the truck was finished, the real fun could begin - truck shows and a photo shoot!

After flying into Denver in the morning, we rented a car and headed west toward the Rockies, looking for a “Colorado” landmark to take our pictures near. We ended up at the top of Loveland Pass, standing on the Continental Divide, looking across a valley at the still partially snow-capped Rocky Mountains - we had found our location. The next morning we headed back out with Dino and spent many hours taking hundreds of awesome pictures. On the way back down the hill, after stopping for lunch at a biker hangout, we took a scenic detour on Highway 6 from I-70 to Golden. Wow, what a spectacular ride! Most of the interview with Dino was done while we bumped down the rough road along the Clear Creek river. Dino had fun scaring the 4-wheelers half to death by straddled the center line of the narrow highway and blasted the air horns while driving through several carved-through-solid-rock tunnels. It was quite a ride. And as we drove, we talked about the truck, the company and Dino’s family.

Climbing the corporate ladder has not been easy for Dino or his two brothers. Their father, Vieri Gaines, worked hard to make sure that they appreciated all that they had. At age 12, Dino (and his brothers) could earn a dollar for each truck they cleaned - but they mostly just sat in the trucks and pretended to be truck drivers. A few years later, Dino started working in the shop part-time after school. His dad made him do all the “dirty” work - like clean the bathrooms, clean out the drains and clean the grease off the hoses in the shop. Then, Dino learned how to grease trucks and do a little wrench turning, and then he ran parts for a while. When he was old enough to get his CDL, he became a driver for a few years, and then moved into dispatch. After six years of dispatching, he moved into management, and then about six years ago got called up to sit in the “big chair” as Vice President of WDTC. At only 34, Dino has already done a lot of living. And with a fleet of 190 trucks, 260 trailers and almost 350 employees, Dino has a lot on his plate. We are grateful to him for taking an entire day out of his busy schedule to show us a good time. But as much as Dino has on his plate, that’s nothing compared to his dad.

WDTC is just one of the 19 or so companies that operate under the Western umbrella. Western Beverage is a company that supplies almost all of the alcohol to the city of Denver; United States Armor is an armored carrier company; Western Travel is a travel agency; Fineline Graphics is a company that specializes in billboards, banners and other large-print graphics; there are three automobile dealerships and many racing-related companies that build high-tech race car parts such as billet steel cranks, billet aluminum connecting rods and more. Vieri, known to most as simply “V”, not only oversees all of these companies but is also a full-time Pro Stock racer on the NHRA drag circuit, hitting up to 28 races a year.

Poised to one day take the helm (or part of it) of his father’s diverse business empire, Dino is currently preparing for another takeover - a wedding! He and his fiancée Marcia will be saying their “I do’s” this October at the famed Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. After meeting at a New Year’s Eve party two years ago, Dino proposed to Marcia last December while riding in a horse-drawn carriage (ahhhh, how romantic). Well Dino, we couldn’t think of a better wedding present than that centerfold you have wanted for so long - so here it is! I hope it was worth the wait. Let us be the first to send our “congratulations” and wish you both all the best.

“Excellence in Motion” is more than just a catchy company slogan - it’s a way of life for Dino Guadagni and a perfect description of his cool KW. Keep up the good work, Dino. And if you plan on building another truck, be sure to give us plenty of notice so we can reserve yet another cover.