In April 2008 while visiting with an ice cream man about old cars and
trucks, he talked about the old REO beer truck on his route. He said he
wanted to get pictures of it before it was gone. Upon visiting with the
73 year old farmer, we found out that he had sold it a few years ago for
scrap and wished the man who owned it would get it off of his farm
because it was an eyesore. We made contact with the owner and was able
to purchase it for "scrap price". The V8 motor was locked and half the
suspension was removed, but the cab was very solid.

Truck Background:
In early 1973 when the brewery closed down, the REO fl#46 was driven to
the North End Auto Wrecking yard in Dubuque, Iowa and sold for scrap the
"first time". Vic Leibfried of the Avalon Garage in Richardsville, IA was approached by Harold and Dave Dattismon(father and son)about needing a power plant for a saw mill on their farm South of Sherrill Iowa. Vic went to Northend Auto and purchased the REO for "scrap price" to be modified for the saw mill power plant. Vic torched off the rear frame, front fenders, and front suspension of the truck and mounted it on blocks for the saw mill. Dave Dattismon said it worked great on the saw mill.

In May 2008, the Wolf brothers re-hired 87 year old Vic Leibfried and his son Mark from the Avalon service center to help wrench the REO on to a trailer to start the patina restoration. After two months of trying to find the correct suspension for the truck, they had to settle for a replacement frame and motor for the truck. They could not find the parts for the old V8 A603 anywhere that someone wanted to sell. They kept the old motor, transmission and frame for future restoration of the truck. The Wolf brothers purchased a 1968 Ford F750 retired fire truck from Jim Simon Fire Repair. It had a 391 Ford big block, Clark 285 v10 5 speed transmission with only 14,700 miles on it. The Ford cab was then removed and the frame sandblasted. Anything else that was attached was repainted, including the motor. With modifications to the cab and frame, the old REO fit nicely. See our photo gallery for before and after photos.

We hated to see the old truck with so much history behind it get crushed, so that is why the Wolf brothers got "BREWTUS" as we call it, back on the road. Patina restoration is when the motor and suspension are updated but the original paint and rust are left on the vehicle for it's history. The old truck was perfect for this since the original lettering was still intact.

See our photo gallery click here