So when I first joined, I promised some pics of my dad's former rides. I was born in 1981, so I wasn't around for all of them, but have heard plenty of stories. There have been several more since these rigs but I can't find the photo albums at the moment.

1974 Trailduster 318



Dad said he bought this in 1975 from the local Ford dealer. It was shortly before his labor union went on strike, and the credit union wasn't too kind on giving him a loan with a strike looming in the not too distant future. He told them he needed this truck so he would have a place to sleep on the picket line. Him and a few coworkers even made the front page of the local newspaper sitting on the tailgate during the strike.





Here it is in "The Great Blizzard of '78". I can't recall the exact amount of snow that fell, as everybody has conflicting numbers, but it was a helluva lot. This is when he still lived inside city limits, and tried to go out for some groceries. He said it took him 2.5 hours to make it a 1/2 mile.

Part 2: what you've been waiting for

My dad likes drag racing, and was building cars to do so. He said the TD was ok but he wanted a pick up. So he cruised on down to Macklin Dodge, and traded the 'duster for this:





He ordered it, and said he wanted white since most of the others were yellow. I can't say I blame him, as I'm not much into yellow myself. He said he breifly thought about ordereing a new 78 Aspen Super Coupe, but he couldn't pull a trailer with it.

In case you don't know, the car is a 1951 Henry J by Kaiser. It had a straight axle and a 383 from a 68 Newport wagon. Here is a couple more pics with the truck in the background. He says he has a bunch from when it rolled off the car carrier at the dealer, but cant find them right now. I'll keep leaning on him about it.





Later on, when I was 10 or so, I remember seeing this truck around pulling grain wagons a few times. I remember it being fairly rusty and then I just never saw it around again. It later resurfaced, sorta, when a kid I was in boy scouts with showed me pics of the fenders he got for his 1980 stepside project. Yep, they had the Tophand decals on them, so its safe to say this truck has gone to the big scrap yard in the sky.

Part 3

Although he really never said why, I assume he traded the Tophand for this truck due to it being a club cab. My dad was a truck driver, and his attitude was "bigger is better". I think he got it from a GM dealer in Ft Wayne, but I can't say for sure. I think this rig is drop dead sexy in black and silver.





I actually remember riding around in this truck. He had it when I was born, and for a few years after. I always loved riding in the back of the cab. I can remember laying on my belly on the floor with my crayons coloring. It was the perfect spot for a small kid, but the police would have a field day with you now for trying that. Heck, I hauled my kids around in my 90 club cab and had to convince the officer that the seats were factory and equipped with seat belts.

Part 4

After having a club cab, there's only one truck to get. A crew cab. Here is his 1981 D350 crew.




I'm not sure why he needed a crew cab, as I was an only child, but man it was awesome having all that space to myself! It sure is ugly though, as it takes alot to pull off 2-tone brown and this sure isnt the way to do it. After a while of trying to run a drag car and be a single parent, something had to go. Fortunatley it wasn't me. He sold the Dart (originally a 69 340 4spd, I sure would like to have it now!) and traded the crew and the trailer for......a 1980 Corvette POS. Not one of his brightest moves, but he was styling right???? I saw this truck a few times after he got rid of it, and it was used for a construction rig and was in sad shape. I assume its crushed by now.

Anyway, enjoy the pics, and I'll try to dig up some more on the Tophand. Stay tuned.

Great family Dodge stories & Photos!!!!

Man that's the 1st white longbed TopHand that I've seen. Thanks for sharing the pics with us.

Those are some of the BEST vintage pics that I've
seen!

Wow your Dad knew how to pick the coolest

including the Henry J

Wow RumbleFish those are some really good pics! I know it took a lot of your time to post all these. Your efforts are very much appreciated!

thanks guys! i figured you'd like them, sorry for not getting around to it sooner. here is the link to my photobucket album that has the rest of the pics i scanned.

http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q258 ... %20trucks/

feel free to copy or use these pics however you'd like, i put them up to share.

i sure wish i had a tophand like this. heck id even like to put together a replica, but im sure getting decals for it are impossible.