I came across this old truck when I was taking pictures of an old abandoned farmhouse. It's a 1946 REO, Heavy Duty truck.

Here's a bit of history:

In 1897 Ransom Eli Olds founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Co. He left the company in 1904 in a dispute and General Motors purchased it in 1908. Meanwhile, Ransom started the REO (pronounced as one word) Motor Car Co. in Lansing, Michigan and added a plant in Ontario, Canada in 1910. In 1936 they went to producing trucks only.

The company produced what was called the REO Speedwagon in a variety of configurations, from an early pickup, delivery vans, tow trucks, cranes, etc. from 1915-1953. Production was suspended in W.W. II and resumed in 1946.

In 1967 an American rock band took the name R. E. O. Speedwagon, pronouncing each letter of Olds' initials.


KT, you have done a wonderful job researching and photographing this old treasure. I enjoyed and appreciate your effort very much. Please keep up the great work!

Phil

In 1957 REO became a subsidiary of the White Motor Co. (which, incidentally produced the iconic Glacier National Park "Red Buses"), and later in 1967 merged with the Diamond T Trucks to form Diamond REO. An American country music band took the name "Diamond Rio" as their group name from Diamond REO trucks. However, they kept the misspelling "Rio" because it sounded more country and Western to them.

Volvo later took over the White Co. and currently holds the rights to the REO brand name.

Anyway, here's a few shots of one of those old classics and a restored version from the Public Domain.