1959 Ford COE Cabover with Factory Sleeper Detroit Diesel Allison Transmission

1959 Ford Cabover COE C800 Single Axle Semi Description

This 1959 Ford Cabover COE C800 with rare sleeper option was owned by a friend and I bought it at his estate sale 5 years ago. Erwin owned Schubach’s Foreign Car Sales in Spokane, WA, specializing in Porsche, Triumph and VW (found his business card in the glove box). He told me he installed a set of ramps on the truck and used it to transport newly purchased, used inventory to his store. Sometime in the 70s he decided to lengthen the frame in order to carry more cars at one time. He drove the truck into his huge shop at his house, put it on stands, removed its chrome wheels and tires, purchased a tag axle to accommodate the frame extension, removed the 2-speed rear differential and was ready to do the work when he received an offer he couldn’t refuse for his business. Without the business he didn’t have a use for the truck, so it slowly became part of the fixtures in a corner of his shop. More than 30 years later I bought it from his widow a year after his death. Between the time of his death and my purchase another family member sold its wheels and tires. I did locate another complete set under an attached lean-to, likely the originals. Those are on the truck now. They are 11-22.5 in size. In the massive piles of stuff I located a set of u-bolts to fasten the rear differential to the frame and enough lug nuts to hold the wheels, and then I towed the truck to my house 2 miles away. It has a 6V-53 Detroit Diesel engine with an Allison automatic transmission. I have not tried to start it. I don’t know anything about the engine other than it has fresh, unused oil in it enough above full on the dipstick to fill an empty oil filter canister. The transmission oil is clean, but obviously has been used. The truck has power steering. The engine cooling fan is missing, but the belts are in place and tight. The air cleaner assembly is also missing. I’m guessing those were somewhere in the piles of stuff and I didn’t realize it at the time of purchase. The house and shop have since been sold and everything is gone.

This truck is rust free. The paint has worn thin in a bunch of places and the brown primer is visible or maybe he intended to paint it and those are sanding spots. Most of the emblems are off along with the mirrors. I did not locate them in the building. The rust colored stains are from metal fasteners, not any body panels. The truck was last licensed in 1978; Erwin’s dealer plate is still attached. Papers show he used it for collateral on a $5,012.00 loan in 1979. It appears he purchased the truck in 1965. Since Erwin was a dealer, he never transferred the Wisconsin title into his name. It is a clear title with only the seller’s signature. The date of sale is not written on it or the name of a new owner; those spaces have been left blank.

Again, the truck is rust free. Its interior is excellent, even the bedding in the sleeper is nice. It shows 51465.8 on the odometer. It has twin 50 gallon fuel tanks. The driver’s windshield has a crack and rock chip. The rest of the glass is nice. There is a dent on the driver’s side just below the sleeper where something scraped along that corner. The backside of the dent is easily accessible when the cab is raised.

Dimensions:

Length: 238”

Width: 96”

Wheel Base: 152”

Back of cab to end of frame: 158”

Sleeper Inside width: 24”

Sleeper Inside length: 82”

Shipping is up to the buyer, however; I can assist with loading. The truck must be paid in full before it leaves my property.

It would make a great classic car transport if it had a rollback installed.