Chesterfield, Illinois-based Don Emmons and his Emmons and Sons LLC business showed off this new-to-Don 1979 Freightliner FL cabover at the 2024 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky, with his sons, Tyler and Brandon.
Emmons started his trucking career in 1979 in a Freightliner cabover. He'd looked long and hard for just such a 1979 model COE and happened across this one on Facebook in September 2023. He bought it, Brandon went and picked it up to bring to their shop, and the three Emmons went to work fixing it up with a goal to keep it as original as possible.
If a part wasn't still on the truck when the Emmons bought it, they tried to match additions as closely to the original as possible. A number of accessories were found in junk yards and scrap yards, while others they fabricated themselves. The visor was made by 12 Ga. Customs.
Green and yellow stripes around the cab were laid by Tony Enrietta with Caps Vinyl Works in Carlinville, Illinois. Don said he wanted to put regular stripes on the truck, but Enrietta approached him asking if he could do something a little different with the stripes. Enrietta gave it all his own flair, and Tyler Emmons then handled the pinstriping work.
Inside, most everything is still original except for some insulation in the sleeper and new carpet.
The diamond-pattern interior and even the seats are original. Emmons just added new covers to the seats to freshen them up.
Some of the work restoring the rig was "tedious," exacting, Don said, including rewiring just about everything, lights, paint work and more.
It's powered by a 400-hp Cummins Big Cam and 13-speed transmission -- both original to the truck as well.
The Emmons' nicknamed the truck "Troubadour" after the 2008 George Strait song. As noted in the video up top, his son Brandon evoked the fitting name when he called it Don's "last ride."
After MATS in March, Don got behind the wheel putting the rig to work as part of his business hauling milk replacer to dairies in New Mexico and Texas and bringing meat back up to Indiana and Ohio.
[Related: MATS 'Build-Off' winner: Immaculate '24 Peterbilt 389 built with old-school style]
Find plenty more views of the rig in the video up top, and for more videos and custom-equipment features delivered to your email inbox, subscribe to Overdrive's weekly Custom Rigs newsletter via this link.
Don Emmons: We pull reefers, we haul a lot of milk replacer out to the dairies out in New Mexico and Texas and we haul a lot of school meat and just meat back out of Texas, back to Indiana, Ohio. Well, it was a 79 Freightliner, 400 Cummins, 13-speed. Got 3.55 rear ends. I was looking for one for a long time.
Originally what I started driving was '79. We found this one just started building her and what was weird about it and we took the seats out of it. We put carpet in it back on the panel. See my birthday's in April and this was built in April and then we didn't know it until we got all this stripe done, all that stuff. Well these are original colors that this truck come out with, except I think it had some black in it. We pretty much left her all original,
Brandon Emmons: Other than the cutoff cutoffs of Volvo cut off.
Don Emmons: I know he looked for one for a long time. So I wanted one V eight Detroit and kind of hard to find. Yeah. You found this one, didn't you Brandon?
Tyler Emmons: No. You found it on
Brandon Emmons: Facebook? I went up and picked it up. Didn't have any exhaust on, drove it home eight hours. Actually had a hole in the floor when we got it. Oh wow. It was cold.
Don Emmons: Yeah. And then the shifter top. Well, it went out on 'em, and so we run like 15 mile an hour home
Brandon Emmons: For the last 35 miles. Took 'em about four hours,
Don Emmons: But we got her. Yeah, we got her home. Everything's original as far as the motor and everything else.
Brandon Emmons: We did everything at home except for the
Don Emmons: Stripes. Stripes. I mean we had to do a lot of wiring, which wasn't bad. I mean it was just tracing that stuff down. Wiring, painting lights.
Tyler Emmons: The pin striping, because I have to listen to them hound at me about what needs to be done.
Don Emmons: He does all our pin striping.
Tyler Emmons: I don't like being hounded.
Don Emmons: Yep. It's just, I mean, we had to put exhaust on it.
Brandon Emmons: Switch wheels. Had to switch wheels out.
Don Emmons: We got the fan and air conditioner stuff working and
Tyler Emmons: Yeah. About say the interiors just
Don Emmons: All original. Original.
Tyler Emmons: I mean we went through and stiffened things up, but that's about it.
Don Emmons: Yeah. Putting the insulation in. The bunk carpet. Carpet seats are still original. I just put covers over 'em. A lot of stuff we made. Right.
Brandon Emmons: I like the back boxes and everything. We got out of salvage yards.
Don Emmons: Yeah, we put that old White Freightliner deal on that back panel. The badges on the side. They come on junky yard. Yeah. Yes, it's going next week. Next week.
Brandon Emmons: That's awesome. That's his last ride.
Don Emmons: Yeah. This old cat's going to drive her.
