This “Tombstone”-themed tow truck is owned by Mike Coyne and Jeep’s Auto Body Shop in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Coyne showed the truck at the 2021 Shell Rotella SuperRigs working truck show in Hampshire, Illinois, back in July.
Coyne bought "Gunslinger," the 1996 International 4900, brand-new and has been working on it ever since. A big fan of the 1993 film "Tombstone," Coyne has added several touches that pay homage to the movie, including chrome badges on the hood with the outline of the four main characters of the movie and the words "Hell's Coming With Me." Another famous line from the film, "I'm your Huckleberry," can be seen on the rear bumper. Even the grab handles on the truck are made from 1890s shotgun barrels to go along with the theme.
"Huge fan of the movie," Coyne said. "Huge Doc Holliday fan. Always have been. He's the anti-hero of the whole movie. You wouldn't expect him to do what he did. I consider this kind of the anti-hero of the custom truck world because you don't see it too often. Wherever I go, I get a lot of compliments and a lot of thanks for doing something different."
Coyne's business is fairly diverse, specializing in custom auto and truck collision work, regular collision work, buying and selling tow trucks and more. He uses "Gunslinger" only on occasion these days, averaging about 20-30,000 miles a year doing a lot of insurance salvage work and some other specialized work.
The truck has changed significantly during Coyne's 25 years of ownership, as he has added dual vertical exhaust, custom air ride suspension, custom exhaust brackets, custom drop visor and more.
"Pretty much everything you see on the truck was custom-made just for the truck," he said. "You can't buy things for these trucks, you have to make a lot of the parts."
The interior is also fully customized with a 3,000-watt sound system and four TVs.
Most of the work done on the truck was done in-shop with Coyne and a group he calls the "second shift," as they usually worked after-hours on nights and weekends to build it.
"I've always been a dare-to-be-different person," Coyne said. "I always say the Peterbilts and Kenworths and all the large cars are easy to build because you can easily get parts for them because they make a lot of custom parts for them. These, not so much."
Mike Coyne's "Gunslinger" 1996 International 4900 tow truck was on display at the Shell Rotella SuperRigs working truck show in July.
Coyne, a huge fan of the 1993 film "Tombstone," has a number of custom touches on the rig that pay homage to the movie, including these badges on the hood.
Coyne has added one of the more famous lines from the movie to the rear bumper of the truck.
The fully customized interior of Coyne's truck features yet another "Tombstone" quote behind the visor – Doc Holliday's line during the Shootout at the OK Corral, "You're a daisy if you do."
