Nick Nelson Series Part 3 1951 Kenworth W/ Mercury Sleeper
In this interview with Nick Nelson he takes us through the rich history (including rare photos!) of this gorgeous piece of West Coast Iron. The phrase "time capsule" is often overused but, let's agree that it took a tough breed of men to operate trucks like this narrow nose. The ultra-rare "Bell" Mercury sleeper was completely reupholstered inside, but the rest of this gem has been left original. Under the long butterfly hood, the 220 Cummins can easily breathe through a dump manifold for an incredible cackle any time Nick pulls the sled at the Big Iron Classic truck show in Kasson, MN. Torque is handled by a 4 & a 4 transmissions sent to "Timkindrive" differentials. Torsion bar suspension resides under both the truck AND the vintage reefer trailer it pulls. To top off the spartan dashboard, there reside two time clocks that were essentially the 1950's version of an E-Log. It truly doesn't get more authentic that this. Enjoy!
Filming by Philip West @flannel_philip
Editing by Noah West
Technical director Jacob West @eldest_arrow
Music: iMovie
Special Thanks to Nick Nelson & family
Пікірлер: 65
now thats a true coffin sleeper!!!!!
Small correction from a guy that drove in that era...those Sangamo clocks didn't have ink pens...the cards were a burgundy colored paper and coated with wax...the stylus would scratch the wax coating of the card and thus the recorded chart...we had ways of cheating the things but that info is redundant now...cheers.
Man that truck would turn a soft fella into a hardened man preeeeety fast. When you panned to that drivers seat it was like woah... My back hurt just lookin at it.
Love it. Gotta be tough to run one of these all day every day.
I had a 1967 Pete big can 400 5X4 l ran to Canada in 1986To 1988 with that ol girl her name was MISSY! Orange and white walk in Mercury sleeper Chrome wheels big bumper !
First driving job was a 71 Autocar triaxle dump. 220 n/a Cummins and a 13 speed double overdrive. Bad old girl! Could not keep her straight but she would fly. Speedo didn't work but 75 plus is really fast in an old rag!
I've slept in a Mercury, first truck was a 61 KW... and I remember the tachograph (aka tattletale). Great video but the interviewer needs to stop with the "yeah.. ok.. hmm... wow... sure" comments. Love the truck and appreciate the work though!
That’s one sick sleeper👍👍
And I thought my Aussie '85 cab over was cool. thanks mate, cool video. So double thumbs up from down under.
On those tac-o-graphs there was a tiny razor inside the housing that put a cut in the chart when it was inserted....and in the company office they had special chart viewers that magnified the chart for reading and inspection...if the chart had more than one cut , then that meant that it was pulled out and re-installed somewhere along the drivers shift...and then that would lead to inquiry up to having the driver followed etc.
Man Nick has one awesome fleet!!!! It would be super hard to pick which one to drive!!!!!
That thing is COOOOL!!!!
I remember as a kid seeing the flames coming out of the stacks especially at night on trucks going down old Hwy 99 in CA.
Another great video!
Great stuff!
Dig these old trucks too, thx man
I would modify the back of the cab with the sleeper , cut a hole through it to have access the sleeper from inside the cab
Now that’s a twin screw ..
Barnhart Crane and Rigging aquired Hite in 2014
Sweet old banger 👍🏽