Trucks seem to demand elliptical sentences–and no flourishes. The older the truck, the briefer the sentence.
“My old truck,” high-school classmate Kim Cooper says, sharing the picture that’s below-left. “Owned for five years. Sold it to my brother-in-law a few years ago. 1946 Chevy. Identical to pre-war trucks.”
In officialese, the explanation about the “interim models” went this way: “These are not to be considered postwar models, but they do represent a continuation of the regular 1942 lines, which are being produced under War Production Board authorization from Sept. 1, 1942 to the release of the postwar models.”
While I’m unable to elaborate upon the officialese, I did see a golden opportunity in Cooper’s clipped comments.
“Ye gods! I’ve accidentally borrowed this photo–perhaps for a blog post. Any other photos?”
“I’ll look on my PC tomorrow.”
His search revealed the photo at the top of this post. Looking at it, I am particularly taken with the use of additional white paint to accentuate form and detail.
“Who did the paint? That’s incredible.” Indeed, the white cab and wheels make the truck look like it could pick up and fly.
“You’re being funny now,” he responds. “Just me. Rear fenders were bad. Except they were good where they were attached to box. I found NOS [new old-stock] panel-truck fenders online. CUT off old ones front to back and bolted on NOS. FRANKENSTEIN! Windshield cranked open. Gull wing hood. Straight six. Oil bath filter. Floor starter. Fun.”
Now he drives a modern truck about which I’d expect much more a detailed, possibly even verbose, description.