Photo: Mecum
Ever since Gottlieb Daimler made his No. 42 in 1896, the world has never been the same. As soon as that century ended and the 20th began, trucks became a commonplace presence on the world’s roads in general, and American ones in particular.
There are now three major truck makers playing in the segment, and coincidently or not they are also America’s Big Three: Ford, GM, and the recently-founded Stellantis. But there was a time back at the beginning of last century when there were a lot of others, including the big players of the time, Autocar and Reo.
Diamond T is another truck company born in the early 1900s that was hell-bent on making a name for itself in the emergent truck. It played around with various designs until hitting the jackpot with a heavy-duty one during World War II. It was one of the workhorses of the British Army during its campaign in North Africa, but the company’s products were also used by the American military.
Generally, there were three main trucks being built by Diamond T back then, the 80, 201, and 202. All shared the same four-cylinder engines of Hercules make and linked to a 4-speed manual transmission.
The one we have here is a 201 model, of which around 7,000 were made. Not that many survived to this day, and many of the ones that did are not in great condition. This one, however, looks all new and polished, and that is thanks to restoration work conducted a while ago.
All red and chromed, the truck is the work of a Diamond T specialist by the name of Alan Reibe and was kept as close to the production original as possible, with the original dashboard and gauges, a banjo steering wheel, but also a modern twist, an oak bed floor.
The truck is for sale during the Mecum auction in Glendale in March. No estimate as to how much it is expected to fetch has been made.
Diamond T is another truck company born in the early 1900s that was hell-bent on making a name for itself in the emergent truck. It played around with various designs until hitting the jackpot with a heavy-duty one during World War II. It was one of the workhorses of the British Army during its campaign in North Africa, but the company’s products were also used by the American military.
Generally, there were three main trucks being built by Diamond T back then, the 80, 201, and 202. All shared the same four-cylinder engines of Hercules make and linked to a 4-speed manual transmission.
The one we have here is a 201 model, of which around 7,000 were made. Not that many survived to this day, and many of the ones that did are not in great condition. This one, however, looks all new and polished, and that is thanks to restoration work conducted a while ago.
All red and chromed, the truck is the work of a Diamond T specialist by the name of Alan Reibe and was kept as close to the production original as possible, with the original dashboard and gauges, a banjo steering wheel, but also a modern twist, an oak bed floor.
The truck is for sale during the Mecum auction in Glendale in March. No estimate as to how much it is expected to fetch has been made.
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