From the form following function department comes this ’50s-vintage REX water truck. Some said it may be a 1958 model. The mighty REX ruled to water the track surface at Petaluma Speedway for some forty years before getting dethroned just one short year ago. The Cummins diesel under the hood finally breathed its last. The REX not only has a Cummins engine, but also sports a small six-cylinder Ford gasoline mill behind the drivers side of the cabin under the tank. This power plant was fired up to pump the water out of the tank, and is known as a pony motor in dirt oval water truck parlance. The same cool water in the tank was plumbed directly into the pony motor cooling passages, negating the use of an additional radiator. Whether the expired Cummins will be replaced or repaired and the REX pressed back into service is unknown. For now it sits. Job completed many times over. The king is dead. Long live the king!
3 Responses
That piping is fantastic! Wonder how many of those motors could be cooled by that one tank.
Posted on October 22nd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
This is Duel truck’s little cousin. That thing is scary.
Posted on October 22nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Mobile ocean waves
Undisputed water king
Gargantuan sleeps.
Posted on October 25th, 2009 at 12:04 pm