You have to b old school to appreciate this kind of iron. It was a different time different way back then. I started in 77 and things have definitely changed. It was a lot of fun then and adventure. It wasn’t all about me. There was real camaraderie. Now it’s every man for himself.
Wow the things you have seen and experienced must have been something. I was born in 1977 and I have been driving now only 16 years so much respect to you.
LargeCarMag man, set up a patreon or go fund me or something. I’d love to see this old girl back to her glory days and I bet a lot of people would be willing to chip in a few bucks to help make it a reality
Man, that put me right to sleep. I used to ride along with an uncle. I've never slept as well as I slept in that sleeper with a Cummins rocking me to sleep.
Back in the early ‘90’s I’d see this truck sitting at the Bandit Truck Stop in Whitehaven, Pa. I had several conversations with the owner at that time, he was a great guy, a real oldschool trucker.
I'm happy that someone is rebuilding the Bird to bad you don't have the trailer. I drove this rig for almost 2 years back in the 80's. Helped Steve Blunt do the first rebuild on it.
@@MarksmansBeast2 When one is young, the ride one get's in a cabover is tolerable, as one age's, it become's intolerable. Being on top of the steer tire's is vastly different than sitting behind the steer tire's.
@@wmgthilgen that makes sense. I grew up around the time when Cabover’s we’re slowly being phased out. I always thought they looked a lot cooler but one of my friends dad’s drove them sam told me that of climbing in and out of them wasn’t as fun the older you get so I understand
I love those old cab overs. I'm purchasing my first cab over that needs work in July and will be taken to shows along with it being over the road and part of the fleet.
I remember this truck back in the mid 80,s I would see it at jewel foods in melrose park ill. It was so long he couldn’t back in the inside docks had to have a spotter back the trailer in for him. Nice to see it’s still around!!
Back in 1983 I worked at the shop that designed and installed the original stereo system for the original owner. I saw one of the sub openings in the kitchen area of the sleeper towards the start of this video. Good to see this.
sadly all the stereo equipment was gone when I got it. All the holes are still there for all the speakers and subs though so I would love to get it close to where it was. Very cool you got to see the stereo go in back in 83!
Yes that crawl thru is small..but that's only cause that's an 80's model I believe..holy crap I know that truck had to be super expensive when it was built all those years ago completely custom built
My uncle Ron has one of these old Kenworth cabovers, it had a big cam 400, he repowered it with a brand new N14 celect plus about 20 years and he’s still driving it . My dad was a mechanic for Cummins 23 years he never did like working on them because the cab jacks would always mess up . I like like them though, they look cool .
My late dad drove for a long time. His semi truck is exactly what it driving. He could take showers in it and use the bathroom and also cook when he's done driving for the night. He died when I was 10 years old. Lucky the company that he drove for got his truck. And they kept it and they had a good friend of my dad's drive it. And they had the whole truck completely restored from the top to bottom. When I get my CDL my boss sue handed me the keys and I drove it and I still drive it all the time. My oldest son when he was a kid. He would sit in tip of the dog house and watch. The other kids they would sit in the area u gotta craw in. My wife she loves driving it also. I get allot of thumbs up when I am at truck stops or desnations picking up loads or dropping loads off. I have been offered allot in $$$ to sell it. Sorry it's not for sale and will never be for sale. When it was restored they installed an RV camper style air conditioner and heater in the back. And it keeps it cool and warm in the back. They also did that also I'm the cab. The fresh water tank is 100 gallons and the septic tank holds about 100 gallons. We drop some chemical that keeps the order smell free from stinking. About 2 years ago I had the standard transmission taking out and had an automatic transmission installed and it drives excellent. It's been in several truck shows and has won allot of awards for best interior. It has a full size bed and table that seats me and my wife and 2 kids. And the table folds down to a bed like what u see in RVs. My oldest son he wants to drive it when I retire I told him when I reach 50 years old u can have it. When the interior company redid the interior my boss said please make it like what it looked like (original) and they did an excellent job.
I have been wondering how the legacy sleepers work with the cabovers. Since the cab lifts up I wondered if there was a passageway between the cab and the sleeper. Figured there wouldn't be because I thought a hole in the cab and the sleeper would make issues with leaking and insulation. Learn something new every day.
Truckers try their best the ones that live the life. It's not about money because if ur an operator we know this isn't the lottery job. The roads beat on our trucks the winters try to steal our frames ..,... But no matter what crazy thing that goes on some of us you just can't keep us away from sound of humming tires at night a good radio station and lights that light up the Sky's. We just love the freedom of the road. It's not for everyone but to a real trucker his truck is his pride and his passion is another mile. To the legends and hearts of the truckers that know what I mean God bless
Thank You for sharing this beautiful rig! Loved the tour and that engine sound! Looking forward to seeing it restored! What's the story behind the Firebird?
I have heard many stories about the bird. I never got to see it. 30 Forward 10 reverse. My husband use to drive with Steve coast to coast. I have some professional photos of this truck with the matching trailer at the Saylorville Dam in Des Moines.
I know this is an old video so I don't know if you'll see this but how would the sleeper affect the cab being raised? Obviously, there has to be a boot or something between the cab & sleeper to keep it watertight, so would you have to remove the boot every time you lifted the cab? Or how would you go about checking the oil in the engine during a pre-trip if you had to leave the cab down
Going to take at least $ 80-90,000 to restore this great truck inside and out. Gets 3.7 MPG ouch ! New trucks today are getting 6.8 MPG . There are less than 8 of these left on the planet.
As a kid me and my grandpa got to ride when they got it finished my grandpa knew the builder the original next to it and have some pictures of me inside of it my grandpa drove a truck for 43 years
This is one sweet ride. Tis a little close inside, as most cabovers would be. Love the rig.😍 Cabovers rule! It sure lights up at night. Show the outside during the day...walk around and give the engine specs. 🧐
I used to run the road A lot of back roads to Chicago across routes 20.30. 6. Into Indian A I saw 1 that must have been a ol moving company s in the weeds .I always want 1 and never got to take pictures of it.
Mane that's a good sounding truck they don't make them like that anymore and that truck would make a great show truck project even though you gonna restore it back to it's original since the 75 chrome shop truck show and these other custom truck show that's coming up? but you could still keep it orininal but customize it up a little bit but your truck to whome ever owns that truck? you can do whatever you want to the truck but i'm just saying?
About 5 years ago seen this truck setting behind a truck garage in East Earl Pa , I wanted to buy it but owner of garage said owner wouldn't sell it . I tried a few times , wanted to fully restore it .
We bought it like it is now and it had been sitting for a while so it didn't cost us much. to have one built now I imagine would be pretty expensive but well worth it!
The pass through is small because of the angle needed to tilt the cab. A fellow from DesMoines owned them both for many years, I spent my youth eyeballing her from University Avenue.
Seems like an awful lot of wasted space using that stock Kenworth sleeper cab, since those were horribly space inefficient on cab-overs with the dog house. Spec a day cab, then put that big box sleeper behind it, you'd have about the same amount of usable space. Either make the box sleeper longer or shorten the overall length of the truck.
Thsts,what they used to run in the 79s and 80s. And length laws made you use those.o.t r.drivers just wanted a big bunk on them.dince you lived on the road .
I'm not sure if it will be at the Southern Classic but as long as its not being worked on we will definitely have it at our 1st annual LCM Family Gathering in Morgantown Pa.
That’s awesome that’s the way they should do even the new ARI sleepers I love the fact that there’s like rooms it makes you feel like you’re actually in a little condo LOL
