It was udderly delightful to meet up and talk with Dennis about his 1954 DIVCO (Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company) Model U, Snub Hood milk delivery truck, “Arlean”, on the weekend. I had first met him at the Fulton Avenue Octoberfest Cruise about three years ago, but that was before I started writing our featured cars of the week articles, so seeing Dennis and Arlean again made my day.
DIVCO was a company that specialized in building delivery trucks and vans; primarily milk trucks, for home delivery (those of us who are old enough, definitely will remember those halcyon days.) When Dennis was in high school, he drove a 1955 Dodge pickup, and in around 2011, he decided to shop around for another one in an effort to recapture his love of that ride and those days. While conducting his search for a Dodge pickup, Arlean (named after Dennis’s aunt) happened to pop up on eBay. Even though she only had the frame and body to offer – not even a firewall – Dennis couldn’t resist her charms, so he bought her instead of a pickup. Despite all her blemishes and short comings, he got sucked in and just had to acquire her. She originated from Boise, Idaho; and as shown in the photos, she served her entire working career with the local Triangle Dairy there.
After the purchase, Dennis had Arlean delivered to Yuba City, where he lived at the time. There she sat in a barn for four years. While there, Dennis lucked out by locating and contacting (on Craigslist) Brandon McNamee of Oroville. Brandon did all the restoration and modifications on Arlean. Brandon would drive from Oroville to Yuba City to work on the job, often sleeping overnight in his truck next to the barn. The truck was totally disassembled and reassembled in those four years. The interior was taken down to the bare walls/shell and the truck, as a whole, down to the bare frame. There used to be shelves and racks in the back. Actually, the first thing Dennis did after purchasing Arlean was re-upholster the original seats with Holstein cowhide. I might add that they are extremely comfortable and I found them to have great lumbar support.
Arlean is a stand and drive ice truck, although one could also drive it sitting down. She is an ice truck as opposed to a refrigerated one. She now boasts a Chevy LS 5.3 litre, V8 engine, with engine cutouts and over 400 HP. That’s one stampeding cow! These trucks originally came with either a Hercules or Continental 4- or 6- cylinder engine, with a maximum output of 32 mph. The original frame has been modified for Accuaire air bags. She runs on 15′ US wheels (artillery wheels), and is now driven by a 4 speed Chevy L460 automatic tranny. Because it was a business truck, the doors had no locks or latches for obvious reasons. Originally, the trucks had a two-pedal control system: the left pedal being both a clutch and brake. When pushed halfway down the clutch would disengage, releasing the pedal would re-engage it; pushed all the way down would apply the brakes; the right pedal, being the throttle. So, the scenario would go like this: The delivery man would stand while driving (very slowly), push the left pedal all the way down to apply the brake and jump out and make his delivery, re-enter the truck release the brake and make his way to his next stop. So, back to the unlatching folding doors – because the truck would/could not exceed 32 mph, it worked out just fine; making it easy for hopping in and out. However, once you hit 40 mph, which with the new mods, Dennis can and does do, the doors would fly open! So the original folding doors remain, although with a slight modification of added latches.
Because Dennis wanted to be able to stand up and drive Arelean while participating in parades, etc., he wanted to convert the floor throttle and brake pedals to hand controls. So, he contacted a disability transportation retrofitting company about getting the conversions made for those hand controls. The company asked him if he was disabled – “No”; “Do you have a letter from a doctor requesting such need”? – “No.” Outcome – Sorry Charlie, you’ll have to enroll in a class. Dennis opted out of that for the time being. However, Dennis was able to procure some drop down, swivel seats for the rear of the vehicle from a disabled driver conversion company.
As evidenced by these photos, Dennis has really gone to extensive detail, milking any and all available sources he could, to insure that Arlean and her cows remain outstanding in their field.
Story and photographs by Carol Marcopulos
