Truck Show Outtake: 1955 Freightliner “Bubble Nose” COE – And A Couple Of Other ’60s Freightliners

Before the flat nosed Freightliner COE became the most popular truck of its kind for decades, there was its predecessor, the “bubble nose” Freightliner. Conceived in 1940 and and first built in 1942 by west coast freight hauler Consolidated Freightways as a better truck than was available on the market, thanks to its light aluminum cab and efficient cab-over-engine design, by 1949 CF started selling them to other operators. Freightliner was eventually spun off and today it’s the #1 selling big truck.

This 1955 model WF64 must be from right about the end of the bubble nose’s run, as its replacement had arrived in 1954. Since it’s sitting between two of those, we’ll take all three in.

Since CF was not in the business of marketing trucks, they made an agreement with White, then the biggest truck company, to market, sell and service Freightliners; hence the badge. That agreement lasted until 1977.

This is a typical West Coast semi truck with its very long wheelbase, put to use here with a “dromedary” freight box. We have a gallery of many similar and the later versions here, all shot at a California rest stop.

I only vaguely remember these bubble nose Freightliners from when I was a kid. They were predominantly West Coast trucks, and by the ’60s their flat-nosed successors were everywhere. One year (1963?) on our annual summer pilgrimage to Colorado I took along a notebook and tallied all of the brands of cars and trucks I spotted on I-80 (traffic was a lot lighter back then), and White Freightliners were #1, like these two flanking the bubble nose.

The one on the left is a ’67. There were many mostly subtle changes throughout its seemingly endless lifetime (1942 – 1997). This one is still badged White Freightliner. These came with a wide range of engines, but in the era when I was most exposed to them (and rode in them when hitchhiking) the DD 2-strokes, most of all the 318hp 8V-71 seemed to be especially popular. Jeez, these trucks were so noisy inside their aluminum can cabs. I don’t know how the drivers did it, but then my ear issues go way back, quite likely from high fevers as a very young child, in the pre-antibiotic era, at least in Austria.

The other one is from 1968. It still has the original dual headlights. The quads became optional starting in 1958. This one is a straight truck, and most likely still hauls hay or straw with a drawbar trailer. That’s still a very common application for these old COEs, as of course it allows the biggest loads and its seasonal nature. In hay growing areas one can see plenty of these old COE rigs parked, awaiting the next crop.

Since the “White” is missing, this one sports a non-original badge, part of a screened unit. Looks like there’s an air intake behind it. But the Freightliner badge is how they looked after the split with White in ’77.

 

Lots more photos and history here:

A Gallery (And History) Of Freightliner COE Trucks – All Shot In The Sixties At The Same California Rest Stop