Curt Raymond wrote:
I learned how to drive on a '47 KB-7 hauling potatoes for my great
uncles at the ripe old age of 12. Drove my cousin Tom nuts, he was 17
and could legally drive but I was already bigger than him and could
handle the KB-7. He was stuck unloading barrels in the potato house.
I never experienced speed higher than third high and that was only
on one long section of field road, any faster and I don't think I'd
have been able to hold myself in the cab. I wish I knew what happened
to that truck, it was quite a beast.
-Curt
---------
They ARE quite a beast. My brother owns two, a '42 stake body and a
'48 gin pole. He wanted to take both to the Antique Truck Historical
Society nationals this summer, so I got to drive the '42, towing his
Ford Explorer as a dinghy. Never felt the Explorer back there. It
would cruise at 55, eventually, but liked 45 better. I had a blast
driving the thing. Once you got used to the weird gears, and if you
can double-clutch, it was pretty easy to drive, with relatively light
steering and very strong brakes. Not quiet or smooth, by any means,
but the crank-open windshield sure is great for keeping cool. I want
one on my non-ac-equipped vanagon! Wouldn't mind ten gears in that
one, either.
--
Dan Weeks
82 VW Westfalia 1.6 TD conversion 186k
82 Mercedes 300SD, 275k
