Well my fellow Hoons, ever since this olelongrooffan started driving my new baby longroof, my on the road exploits have mostly been destination driven. Well after I posted that tidbit of information, this olelongrooffan once again began pondering what a real balanced existence is. I mean, yes, my job is important and I believe in giving as much as I have to my employer, however, we all need to have balances in our lives. As such, this olelongrooffan decided during that fateful trip across the Everglades to stop and take a moment to smell the exhaust fumes every once in a while. Well, my fellow Hoons, I had just exited off of Eisenhower’s Interstate System when I spotted this Cargostar sitting under that live oak tree just waiting for this olelongrooffan to take a moment and enjoy its nuances. And I did.

Yeah, this is the sight I saw as I was traveling along that roadway on my way to one of my projects over in the FantasyLand that is Naples, Florida. Well, this olelongrooffan immediately engaged the pedal that provides stopping power to my baby longroof and hung a lewey onto that adjacent street to capture a few images of it to resurrect a dormant series here in the Hooniverse, Long Shots.

Now, this olelongrooffan, like I would suspect most of my fellow Hoons do, appreciates the funky and off beat vehicles of our present and past. And cabover trucks fit the latter category. Sure, Isuzu and others have many available cabover trucks available but can any modern company beat a Blue Oval cabover or one offered by a company famous for tractors? Yeah, it’s an INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER.

I am fairly certain that while this sweet ole Cargostar was in the livery of whatever fire department possessed it, it was in somewhat better condition than it is these days. Rust could be found all over this truck, especially along the lower edge of the cab at its pivot points.

The interior was not in much better shape. The headliner was falling and there were several cans of starter fluid laying about. The transmission lever reminds this olelongrooffan of MOPAR’s A100 series of forward control vans the way it was dash  mounted. That loose leaf binder laying on the floor was the service manual for this oldie. I can only imagine the stories this ole truck could share with we Hoons if only that were possible.

This olelongrooffan can only wonder how many swimming pools could be filled with the water this ole pumper truck put through that ancient pump during its lifetime.

The hoses and most of the accessories were not existent on this old firetruck. I would suspect age had gotten to them and they merely crumbled apart over the years. And while the roof top lightbar on the front appeared to be somewhat late model, those bubbles on the rear end appear to be period correct.

I couldn’t ascertain whether these tires were re-caps as would have been done back in the day but the tread on them sure looked adequate for winter time use up north. Down here in the Sunshine State, street tires rule the roost on our municipal firetruck fleets.

And even though this ole firetruck seemed somewhat ghostly to this olelongrooffan, there was an occupant

or two hanging around to keep things lively. When I opened this passenger side door, another one of those reptiles jumped out right at me. I think this olelongrooffan jumped even higher though.

Images Copyright Hooniverse 2013/longrooffan