75-Years of Freightliner in Pictures

This 1930`s Fagol, the first COE reshaped in the Freightways maintenance shop in Portland, Oregon, was the predecessor of the Freightliner COE.

A late 1930s conventional, reshaped by Consolidated in Portland. Such trucks were specially designed to operate on the rugged, unpaved open roads of the West.

Early 1940s Freightways prototype COE, built in the corner of the Consolidated Freightways maintenance shop in Portland.

Early Freightliner "Shovelnose" COE model, from 1941. The straight truck was designed to meet North Dakota`s 50-foot overall length requirements.

Forerunner to the Freightliner Conventional was this tractor, modified in 1941 at the Consolidated Freightways shop in Portland. These conventionals bore no nameplate and were dubbed the ?no-name conventionals?.

The first Aluminium Freightliner cab, developed in 1948 and purchased by Vince Graziano, represented the first sale outside the company to a consolidated Freightways lessor.

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Seen ready for delivery, these four trucks were built at the N.W. Quimby Street plant in 1950 and included both integral sleeper and non-sleeper cab models.

The first Freightliner truck sold to an unaffiliated customer - in 1949 went to this Oregon lumber hauler who simply walked in and paid cash.

This Cantly and Tanzola tanker truck, built in 1951, was the first White-Freightliner designed for petroleum transport.

This single-drive "Bubblenose" non-sleeper COE, purchased by the Mayflower Milk Company of Portland in late 1951, was the first truck manufactured under the new White-Freightliner marketing agreement.

Aluminium nose sections were assembled on a special jig near the start of the U-shaped assembly line of the Swan Island plant.

Ken Self, Left and "Jake" Jacobson, assistant superintendent, examine a detail of Freightliner`s cab construction. Jacobson originally hammered the cab skins by hand.

Introduced in March 1953 was the first 48 inch cab, dubbed the "Spacemaker", representing the first new cab style. Incorporating a Cummins engine mounted horizontally under the frame, this truck, a model WF-4864 tandem axle was purchased by Lee & Eastes Inc.

Evolved from basic sketches drawn by Ken Self and Norm Chew, the WF-5844T tractor was unveiled in 1953. It provided maximum all-wheel drive traction on an extremely short wheelbase, and was designed to pull two trailers over the rugged mountain passes of the Pacific Northwest.

In 1965, the experimental TurboLiner became the first Freightliner with a gas turbine engine. Although it weighed 2,400 pounds less than comparable piston driven rigs, the rising cost of petrol doomed the project.

In 1968, Freightliner built this 104-inch COE, naming it the "Vanliner" in honour of its owners, a driving team that worked for Greyhound VanLines.

The name stuck.

A prototype model of the first completely Freightliner designed conventional was built in late 1973. Full production began in the spring of 1974. (Note the non-standard name plate - sign of things to come as Freightliner started to wind up their dealings with White the following year.)

Freightliner unveiled its new 96-inch cab-over at the International Truck Show in Anaheim, CA in 1973.

In its 1976 advertising literature, Freightliner proudly displayed an early conventional model bearing the new nameplate. The Western scene emphasized the company`s Western Heritage and clearly identified it as one of the desirable Western truck brands.

Colour coordinated COE and Conventional models were the first Freightliner trucks to be displayed in a major trucking show - the Mid America Trucking Show of March 1977. The painting of both trucks in the same design and colours established a format for stylish presentation that continues today.

On May 17, 1979 the first Freightliner vehicle was built at the company`s new Mt Holly, NC truck plant. Freightliner executives, left to right: Bill Criter, president; Joe Harth, vice president of manufacturing; Martin Snowey, plant manager; and Jim O`Connel, general manager of truck manufacturing.

1942 Freightliner Conventional and COE, restored by employees of Freightliner Corporation and Portland Freightliner dealership to commemorate Freightliner`s 50th anniversary in 1992.

Information and Photos Courtesy of Freightliner Trucks