For those looking to haul cars in style

I came across this and immediately thought of Mr. Merklin...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120651598406&viewitem=

Nice looking, but 55 cruising, hell school buses do that in our school zones. You'd get a ticket for going too slow on I-95 or the Palmetto Expressway in downtown Miami.

Hauling just one car, the driver will surely starve i.e. diesel mileage 6 mpg @ $3.29.9 per gallon = .55 per mile just to cover fuel costs. I see three squares of mac 'n cheese... btw the the repo guy called, will be there on or about the 15th of the month.
I've added front and rear flip out extensions after this photo was taken, the forth small car and or a few bikes / ATV makes things a bit more in the black. ~Alan

I saw that truck on Bring a Trailer and thought it would be perfect for carrying the Speedster to and from Carlisle if I had the extra cash. Then I read the 55mph part.

Buy a light 900 lb. single axle full deck trailer, I finally did for about $1,500 has side pockets, third centered ramp for a lawn tractor etc. and the GWV is 2,990 lbs.

Ferrari used a very similar truck to haul their Gran Prix cars all over Europe in the early 50s. Some even held two vehicles. The whole purpose of this style transport is that your are NOT subject to maximum towing speeds. I suppose even the truck drivers on a Ferrari team back then thought they were Juan Manual Fangio!

I think it's cool! Needs longer legs, maybe a splitter - got enough room for that and more motor. That will solve the 55 mph issue.

This will probably make all of you scream in horror, by drivetrain of choice would be a cummins diesel in that Chevy.

angela

350 pound-feet in the small block ought to be enough, no? Especially with a Speedie or something like it on the back. Might only need a new ring & pinion for highway use.

Alan - Can you provide some info on where you got that trailer? My wife's SUV has a towing capacity of (only) 3500 lbs, but that my do the trick if I can save up my pennies.

Ed,

Not sure where the 350 pounds of torque came from, I didn't see a torque/HP number in the ad. Most 350's don't have 350 pounds of torque in stock configuration. No real mention of hot-rod parts. Probably can safely guess 250 to 275 pounds of torque, is pretty common with stock builds. 300 to 325 is a pretty easy number with a few mild parts. It would be adequate in a hauler like this. I use the term adequate in a less than enthused sense, like when you describe your MILs driving skills "adequate" as in nobody died on the way to Thanksgiving dinner - LOL!

This is a heavy truck. It's rated at 24,000 pounds (truck plus load), a SWAG guess at it's unladen weight is probably at least 8 or 9,000 pounds? That's a real guess, those were very heavy trucks, the weight could be substantially more.

When you start doing the math with those numbers, a stock small block is going to be pretty under whelming. This is why most of the older tow trucks we have in town here have the big 500 cubic inch cadillac engines in them. Torque. The only way to get more is to go diesel (or spend cubic dollars).

angela

Lane I'll dig out my spec sheet etc.

I get a chubby when Angela talks like that...

Chubby? What the hell does that mean?

Well uhhh, let's just say Vincenzo gets "somewhat aroused". Yeah that's it.

There's two things that are GUARANTEED to get Vince rollin';

Beehives and Oban.

You come to the part with those, well, you'll probably leave with Vince. I think that's how he and Gerd met.

angela

Touche, Angela. I had no idea that truck would weigh that much with nothing on it. I guess there's a reason they didn't put small blocks in big trucks in the first place.

Vince,

Love the Monza pipes, flat bottoms just like mine.

They match the beehives...

notice the hauler is at FastLanes, outside of St. Louis. We made a little trip through there last month...a lot of decent cars and not all were crazy priced. No Speedsters and only a couple of Porsches. One of the owners is on the right in the photo....the one on the left is not worth discussion.....if you are in the area, recommend a visit...

there is someone to the left? nice beehives.