The Mighty COE Ford.

By Mark Weisseg

A little history lesson for those of you who are not familiar with these acronyms. COE was really cab over and they mean that literally because with the cab over the engine it allows better visibility with better and longer bed area.
These trucks were the norm back in the ’40s and ’50s to be tow trucks as well as car carriers. I have a friend in Ohio that buys these types of trucks, strips them down and rebuilds them and restores them using Cummins engines. He likes to use the 4BT or the 6BT engine. The four and the six simply mean cylinders.
These trucks were the workhorses of the day and a matter of fact I have looked at one of these myself that has been fully restored with a gasoline engine because of the car carrier ability for my restored vehicles. Now they have come a long way as far as comfort as back in the day, they were very hard to drive, hard to steer and had no amenities.

Today builders have thrown in air-conditioning, power steering and better seating and lighting and made these trucks very comfortable to drive, allowing hauling a trailer around.

You will see many of these types of trucks still being found in fields and barns because they have not taken off in the restoration world like cars and pick up trucks.
I know a guy out in North Dakota normally has about a dozen of these types of trucks that are in tough shape but all can be restored and rebuilt and you can do nearly anything with the backside of the truck. A lot of people like these trucks because they sit high enough on the road to give you a good view. Also, with all the new creature comfort’s they will ride very nice, you can drive your vehicle up onto the bed in the back and you could pull a trailer. They are very efficient and very cool if they are restored correctly.
All I’m asking you to do is keep an eye out for these COE’s if you desire something very different and cool to haul your sweet ride to a show in. You get to double dip. Show your ride on the truck and show the truck. How sweeeeeeet.

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