Andrew Pagels, owner of Franksville, Wisconsin-based Richard Pagels Trucking, grew up riding in trucks with his father, Richard, in the late-1960s and early ‘70s. During that time, his favorite truck model was the Peterbilt 359, and he always knew he wanted to own one at some point.
About three years ago, he got a chance to buy a 1972 model and, though it was at the height of the pandemic when parts costs were at their peak, he knew he needed to jump on the opportunity.
His initial plan was to fix up the classic enough to put it to work in his tanker-hauling business. “It wasn’t intended to be a show truck,” he said. “It evolved into a show truck” during the build process as more parts started coming together.
The rebuild took about 2.5 years, he said. By the time it all came together, “it’s like, ‘Hey, this is good enough to go to Louisville,’” to enter it into the PKY Truck Beauty Championship at the Mid-America Trucking Show.
It turns out that was the right call, as Pagels and the rig picked up a third-place trophy in the Limited Mileage -- Bobtail with Miles class.Video and photos by Lawson Rudisill
Those pandemic parts prices led to the truck getting its nickname, “Stupid Money.” When Pagels was calling around to shops to find parts, he’d hang up the phone and say something to the effect of, “Everything’s so much stupid money.” His wife picked up on it and told him that should be the name of the truck, and it stuck.
