(first posted 8/2/2015. I just saw it again a couple of days ago, in almost the same place)
Friday 7:15 PM. Temp: 102° F. 30th Ave Exit of I-5. Headed to the river, for our nightly hike along its cool shady banks to our little (semi)secret swimming hole.
Stephanie: Oooh; look at that cute old truck at the gas station over there. You need to shoot it.
Paul: I can’t be bothered; I’ve shot a few of those already, and I can already tell it’s anything but original. There’s so many of these old resto-mod trucks sitting on a modern pickup truck chassis.
Stephanie: Oh, but look at the cute little tiny canoe on the trailer.
Paul: Whatever; I want to get to to the water.
And so I drove on, and made the turn toward Mt. Pisgah. But after a 100 yards or so, something about that truck, which I only saw for a moment from some distance, called to me. Or maybe I felt guilty about the cute little canoe. I made a U-turn, and pulled into the gas station. Good call.
I peeled off two shots quickly from far enough away to get the whole rig in, as I could tell they were just about to pull out. As is so often the case when shooting, I was only focusing on getting the shots, not taking the time to really examine the details of the vehicle. As I walked up to it, I did notice that the wheels were a bit different from the usual offset truck wheels, but didn’t look closer. I heard him start the engine, and from the sound emitting from under the hood, I could tell it was a healthy V8. Quite predictable.
As I stood there, listening to the grumbling engine, I heard another starter motor and another V8 spring to life, but from under the back of the bed. What the? I walked back a few steps, and there under the flatbed was a complete Toronado V8 drivetrain.
Holy shit! That’s totally crazy! Twin Olds V8 engines; all that power for a little truck!
I walked to the cab, looked at the front wheel again, and said:
Twin Toros?
Yup. Take a look through the front grille.
I quickly jabbed my phone up to the grille, and tried to position the lens to peel off a shot, which I couldn’t tell if it was any good until later. But there it is, the front of another Olds V8. But no radiator in front of it? Hmm. The driver pulled out, with a grin on his face, the two V8s burbling gently, as he revved them barely past idle and glided out and then up another notch or two to get up the hill to back to I-5. A twin-engine vehicle makes a fascinating sound, in stereo. It all happened so fast, in a matter of a few seconds. I should have gotten a video of him pulling out.
This is obviously a very seriously engineered rig, and I’m guessing the radiators for both engines are…somewhere, just not readily visible from the front or side where I stood. Maybe hidden behind that big black cover just behind the cab? If I’d arrived a couple minutes earlier, I would have loved to check it out in more detail.
I’m guessing his gas bill was pretty stiff. Takes some doing, to feed twin Toronado V8s. If they’re 455s, we’re talking over 900 cubic inches (14.8 L). I assume he can’t just run on one engine, as the non-running automatic probably wouldn’t like that.
I got back to the car and Stephanie asked:
So, are you glad you stopped after all?
Yes!
Did you get a close up of the little canoe?
Sorry, no. I got a bit distracted. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
(Update: thanks to a link left at a comment, we now know this is a local car (Coburg, OR), and that it was a 25 year-long project. It does have twin 455s, and NO injection, as if that was really needed. And the truck just completed a 3200 mile road trip via old Route 66. lebanon-express.com
Fascinating, as Mr. Spock would say. Too many questions come to mind while reading and seeing the photos.
Why? To create an ultimate classic tow vehicle, because the creator happened to have a 1939 Chevrolet pickup truck and two Tornados sitting in a barn, just because the possibility was there (like climbing Mount Everest), or …?
Does Jay Leno know about this creation yet? If not, why not? A TV appearance is certain for the owner, possibly in a drag race with Leno’s twin-engine Toronado.
Regardless of the answers to these questions, it is an amazing creation that deserves some publicity. Perhaps a hot rod magazine or YouTube channel will track down the owner.
That is off the charts lunacy. My mind cannot wrap around all the complex numbers involved with wheel and transmission speed or synchronicity needed to just make a simple turn. I also am impressed by the driver’s mindset, as rather than stop and display his engineering acumen, he chose to blip both throttles and smile while heading off into the 100 hot sunset. Now that is cool to the Nth degree.
A lot easier than you think; assuming the same size diameter tires, the road does all the synchronizing for you!
I’m sure that he did go to some effort to equalize the throttle opening linkage, given how well the truck looks in the pictures, but probably not much more was required in that department.
A twin engined vehicle has looong been a fantasy of mine; I’ve probably got less than ten (<10) years left, if I plan to be able to do the work myself…
Obviously, something with a pair of 455s would be an ultimate foundation, there are plenty of options with smaller FWD engine/xmsn packages; Motor Trend (or Car & Driver? But I think it was MT) did a twin engined Honda CRX back in the mid-80s. I'd saved that issue for years, but I've moved a couple of times since the last time I've stumbled across it (there are still boxes of magazines that haven't been opened…).
Not ready to give up that fantasy yet! 😉
Might you be a distant relative of William, Frank and Louis Fageol, Randy? 😉
http://jalopnik.com/the-craziest-twin-engined-racing-cars-were-made-by-a-bu-1683914079
They didn’t call it a ‘Twin-Coach’ for nothing! The Greyhound Scenicruisers originally had twin engines, but were later modified to a single diesel V-8 for reliability.
Yeah, that was the plan, Bob. Sounds great here but it didn’t quite work out they thought it would.
Twin GM 4-71’s…
Gene; thanks for those two images. I searched all over the web for a shot of that twin 4-71 powertrain for my Scenicruiser post, but never found one. I’m going to add these to it.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-gmc-pd-4501-greyhound-scenicruiser-everybodys-favorite-bus-except-for-greyhound-and-gm/
You’re very welcome, Paul. It’s a scan of a couple of pages from a reprint of an original promotional booklet. Corgi (the diecast model company) did these when the produced their series of pretty decent 1/50 scale replicas a few years ago, including some with the twin radiators of the original configuration.
I have one of each of the different liveries that were issued. 😀
That was Car and Driver – probably my favourite project car they built.
It was Car and Driver who created the twin-engined CRX.
Car & Driver did it with a CRX powered by 2 Accord engines. There is also a 24 Hours of Lemons with 2 twin engine Toyotas, one MR2 and one FX16.
From the looks the “under-hood” pic, not only does this truck have twin Toro 455’s but I think I also see solenoids for a NOS system, can never have too much power.
Maybe; but if I had to guess, no. There’s nothing about this rig that screams “hot rod”, down to the very modest (and quiet) exhaust systems and the also very modest sized tires. I don’t think this is about crazy four-wheel burnouts. I suspect it’s an engineer-type who just got it in his head to build this, because he (literally) could.
That is definitely port nitrous plumbing visible with the separate blue and red fittings feeding that single spray nozzle–one for gas and one for nitrous. Must be a serious sleeper!
Perhaps! ?
I guess that’s one way to make a 4WD vehicle. Very impressive, maybe someone at the Cohort will run into it again soon and be able to ask some questions.
No way! That’s just INSAYYYYNE! Unique and beautifully executed.
Maybe that trailer isn’t really a teardrop camper, but an auxiliary fuel tank. 😉
Or maybe there’s another Toronado drivetrain in the trailer? 🙂
Fantastic find! I wounder if one engine can just be left in idle/neutral to run trans pump and save fuel when not needed/wanted for extra go or 4WD. Would have never guessed this drivetrain combination on this great looking truck. Hope the owner finds this posting and can add more info. Stephanie saved the day with pointing out this machine! Radiators must be in the black box, can’t think of anywhere else they could fit. Kept it all GM to boot.
I don’t think you could reliably do that, as PN alludes to.
Though a little more complicated, something like locking/freewheeling hubs might be a solution (I have ZERO experience with them, so don’t know how viable that is).
I agree with 67Conti- If the second engine idles in neutral, it should maintain sufficient lubrication to prevent any transmission damage.
However, using a 445 cubic inch powerplant as your lubrication pump strikes me as overkill. Still, it should be cheaper than engaging drive on both transmissions.
I’m guessing that very small amount of difference in fuel consumption is not really an issue here. If he was really concerned about that, he wouldn’t have gone this route. Both engines were running at the same rpm as he pulled out. Almost surely the throttle and transmission controls are both simultaneously controlled by one pedal and lever.
Thats hard to say Paul, but I would think it would be easier to set it up like a twin engine boat. All you really need is drive and reverse, and a clever guy could engineer a twin 33C cable setup from one pedal to work both carbs. And they do have electronic engine synchronizers today
Yes, I have heard it described as “through the road” all-wheel-drive synchronization.
One option would be to use free-wheeling hubs to disconnect one of the drivelines, but I doubt they would be available for the UPP.
Olds did this back in the 60s, google, Hurst Hairy Olds. They used supercharged 425s.
Reminds me of the double-engined Citroen 2CV Sahara:
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenger-cars/michelin/2cv/history/1958-sahara.html
Very cool and very well hidden, twin engined minis were done once upon a time one tried to kill John Cooper at speed(a weld failed), automatic trans in each end of this would remove the need to synchronize it fully two manuals would have to be shifted simultaneously and require a nightmare of linkages. Radiator is likely in the flat bed
Paul: I can’t help thinking back to your CC on DS #16: the 1966 Olds Toronado, and how you discussed its genesis as a ‘kinky sex’ fantasy among engineers. So how kinky is this? A two engine 4WD with independent axle drives and a mystery radiator placement?
The ideas of what that teardrop trailer relates to this truck seem unlimited: auxillary (3rd) drive, actual gas tank, is that the reserve for the radiator? Parts carrier … and so forth.
Oh to see the dash … two tachometers? Dual shifters? Separate keys or a toggle? Oh my …
Wouldn’t it be great if, for an encore, this guy was working on some sort of dual-powered rig that could detach and operate independently of each other? It would make about the same amount of sense and, if anyone could do it, he’d be the one.
Very cool truck indeed and would love to know more info about it and the Canoe. I can only imagine how cool this truck sounds. Sometimes I look at the fuel pump after someone has left to see how much fuel they put in the tanks and the cost.
OK you doubters, listen up…
You have two separate drivetrains each with its own old fashioned automatic transmission(as in no lockup torque converter). Each of which has a differential powering only two wheels, one at a time.
There is nothing that prevents differing speed between front and rear wheels. There is obviously nothing that prevents differing speeds between left and right side.
The only thing the builder needs to worry about is inefficiency due to mismatched outputs of the front and rear powertrains. The fuel efficiency is theoretically proportional to the power output. Since there are two engines the efficiency should only be reduced by the inefficiency of operating twice the engine at half the throttle(pumping losses) plus the increased friction from twice the drivetrains. However, in reality, there is a further inefficiency due to one engine invariably producing too much power and the other producing too little. ie mismatched power outputs.
Here’s a thought experiment for you:
Imagine the setup we are discussing except the front engine has a 3 speed transmission and the rear engine has a 2 speed transmisson. Both trannies are shifted by vacuum the old fashioned way from the engine it is mated to. What sort of problems do you foresee?
That big green thing being pulled by the truck must be the gas tank for the two engines.
Little bit more info on this interesting truck (Slantasaurus was right about the nitrous!):
http://blog.garagistry.com/2014/07/the-truck-that-hauls.html
Thanx, man! There’s the rest of the story.
I must have been the first person to search for “1939 Chevrolet Toronado” 🙂
HA! Seems like that’s what it took.
No you weren’t. I did a Google search for “1939 Chevrolet truck twin toronado engines” and got nothing on the first couple of pages. And I didn’t see this article when I just now re-did it with “1939 Chevrolet Toronado”. How many pages of search results did it take to find? It should have come up very high, given the specific words that apply to only this vehicle. I’m disappointed with Google.
I was wrong; I actually searched for 1939 Chevy Toronado, not Chevrolet. Apparently that made all the difference…it was near the bottom of the first page of search results.
Hi Paul,
My name is Tom and I am the owner/builder of the twin engine 39 truck. Just saw your postings from last Year. My wife and I recall you asking if you could take pictures of the truck at Jackson’s gas station last August. I think we were on our way to the Brooks steam show. To answer some of the questions that folks are wondering about…
The radiators are parallel with the frame behind the cab. The black boxes are dummy fuel tanks that are open in the front and act as air scoops for cooling. The real fuel tank is in between the frame rails behind the cab. There is a single vacuum line that goes from the rear engine to both transmission modulators. Both transmissions shift at the same time. One gas pedal controls both engines through a bell crank arrangement. The rear tie rod is permanently fastened. The truck is squirrely (sp?) enough with all four wheels spinning without adding rear steering! You were correct in your assessment of running both engines to avoid “towing” an automatic. I always run both engines. Hotrod magazine did an article on how the truck was built Sept. 2014 if you want more details. The truck is very quick and is a hoot to drive! Its kind of a sleeper and has surprised several folks with large monthly payments! Now I will be the first to admit that it is NOT very practical. Lots of fun though! If you would like to see the truck in person and perhaps go for a ride, let me know.
Best regards,
Tom
Good hunting, pl8ster. Thanks.
That is…amazingly impressive. Both from a engineering standpoint and from a quality of work standpoint, plus the “badass factor”. This is one instance where it’s definitely more interesting *not* stock.
Maybe the trailer is just a trailer? Though auxiliary fuel storage isn’t ouf of the question…
Now thats one insane ride! Who would ever come up with such an idea? Bet that thing is a blast to drive.
Needs four wheel steering.
I watched this truck being painted at Les Schoonover’s shop in Springfield, Oregon. That must have been around 2007.