Diamond Reo, to be or not to be??

Geoff - The ATHS forum is one source (the forum reads from bottom to top and from page 5 to page 1) .. forums.aths.org/InstantForum2010/78568/d...nfo-help?PageIndex=5 (some good pics here, too, of early & late Diamonds) ..

A model trucks website (some of the model makers sites are the best source of historic info) .. 195.226.113.10/model-trucks.net/diamond%20reo/reo.htm

Also, snippets from at least a couple of books ..

"Beyond the Ruins: The Meanings of Deindustrialization" - By Jefferson R. Cowie, Joseph Heathcott (includes a chapter on the "fall" of Reo, 1955-1975).

"The story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A." - By Lisa M. Fine. (also includes a chapter on Reo and Diamond Reo).

It was White Motor Corp management that commenced the rot in the mid-1960's. The workers were very happy at White, Diamond T, and Reo .. but mergers and corporate shuffles upset the smooth operation of these companies .. as merger after merger took place .. and workers that saw other plant workers as "family", were distraught, as thoughtless cost-cutting took place, plants closed, and immigrant workers introduced.

There was also the Vietnam era, where dope smokers rose seriously in numbers .. homosexuals came out in large numbers .. and then both these, joined the workforce at the truck plants .. thus creating dislike, distrust, and animosity.

White Motor Corp management essentially wrecked the "happy worker" ethos of their plants, and took little notice of unhappy workers.

Then came the attempted merger of White Motor and White Consolidated, an unrelated company that produced whitegoods, and which had nothing to do with trucks.
The U.S. Govt stopped the planned merger, citing the Clayton Anti-Trust Act .. so White abandoned the merger and sold Diamond Reo to Cappaert.
It was probably just a need to raise money, and "balance the books" after incurring the cost of the failed merger .. but Diamond Reo was reputedly solvent, and running satisfactorily when it was sold in 1971.
However, there were claims that loss of a big military contract, hurt Diamond Reo about that time as well.

Cappaert was one of the richest men in America, but a greedy bugger, and an anti-unionist. He cared little about truck manufacturing, and even less about the workers in the truck plant.
He was reputed to have stolen $6M from the Diamond Reo pension fund. He was reputedly corrupt, and worked in with other corrupt people.

As a matter of interest, Cappaert was one of the biggest contributors to Richard Nixon's re-election campaign .. one of the most corrupt Presidents, that America has ever seen.

The bottom line is that Cappaert was out to gut Diamond Reo for his own benefit, and cared little about the workers, the truck line or the plant. He locked the plant up, and locked the workers out, without even telling them a thing.

Even today, there are still gatherings of the remaining ex-employees of Diamond Reo, who still carry on the camaraderie of their plant clubs and groups, with these people having long and fond memories of the period when they enjoyed working for White, and Diamond Reo .. a period when they felt they were valued as workers, and a period when all workers saw themselves, as all part of the White/Diamond Reo "family".

One track that ATHS is a great site especially some of the information / what is it for the day and photos But I am never going to get that time back I've been looking
Geoffb

Hi all,

I too am looking at a Diamond Reo sitting unloved in a yard which looks to be similar year to the one pictured. It has the square headlamp bezels but it has the air cleaner on the passenger side.

What dictated which side the air cleaner was on e.g petrol vs diesel or straight vs V engine.

Thanks in advance.

Bonester, most of those things where modified, qhite often before they were even sold new. The petrol ones have the air cleaner under the bonnet on top of the carby usually. I've seen GM powered and Cummins 160 powered ones with the air cleaner on the left side, but I've also seen 160 Cummins powered ones with the air cleaner on the right side. I've seen verticle and horizontal air cleaners fitted as well. If it's in a paddock near Brisbane, chance's are everyone who wants to know about the truck will know about it, if it's the petrol one near the Gold Coast that has been for sale for about 5 years, the price is dropping, but old mate still thinks he is sitting on some sort of Gold Mine.

welcome aboard NORCOAST im fairly new hear i love the diamonds and reos all the best with your project i try to keep them fairly origional with some personal touches and avoid radical changes all the best don

Were there any Diamond Reos produced with petrol engines? As the Diamond Reo didn't appear until 1967, and as it was rated as a pretty heavy-duty hauler, I would be surprised if any appeared with petrol engines.

By 1967, petrol engines in trucks were losing out badly to diesels, and only International stuck with them for longer than most truck builders.

The introduction around the late 1950's of the smaller V6 and 4 cyl, GM diesels .. the 1960 introduction of the 6-354 Perkins, and the J and C series 6 cyl Cummins .. plus the 1967 introduction of the Ford/Cat 1100 series V8 (later, the 3208), the small V8 Cummins, and the DV-550 International V8 diesel .. all provided massive competition to big gas-guzzling petrol engines, and they largely disappeared from fitment to the heavier-duty trucks, in this era.

Ronnie, the agi blokes where still using petrol motors into the mid 70's. The first Louisville sold in Australia was an LNT 900, with a 477 petrol motor, and straight into agitator work. As far as I knew you could get a Diamond Reo with a petrol motor, you could buy a White 2364 in 1971 with a petrol motor, and they are pretty much the same truck as the Diamond Reo except for the badge's.

Hi Aussihooker,
My plan is to keep the Reo as original as possible. As far as i can tell the Cummins V8 in it was there from new ? I have found patches of the original burgandy maroon colour and might repaint her in that. The chassie was originally a creamy off white colour, but I think i will stick with the red.

Hi norcoast, your Diamond Reo looks like a great project. I'm no expert on D/Reo's but I don't think that Cummins V8's were available here in Australia in your model, BIDSTBC. I would think more chance of Cummins 180 or a 6V53. Regarding petrol engines, Diamond Reo did have a petrol V8 in the offering, but I think only in the US. I don't know the origin of the petrol V8. I think that in Australia if you wanted a petrol engine in a truck that size, you were offered the White 2064 or the 2300 series.
Jeff.

Hi all, just looking thru some information that I did'nt think I had with me,
Many Diamond T trucks were delivered with petrol 6's, it appears that to quite a lesser extent Diamond Reo trucks continued on with a petrol 6. As Onetrack mentioned petrol trucks were on the decline so I think this is reflected in the lessor numbers of D/R v. D/T with petrol engines.
These petrol engines in D/Reo's would probably be REO, Diamond T or White engines.
Regarding the V8 Cummins it appears that there were a few D/R trucks with V8-185. Sydney Water Board being one, I beleive it or they may have been concrete aggitators.