Regular Overdrive readers will certainly be familiar with truck show mainstay Gary Jones, owner of the Lawson, Missouri-based SPB Trucking, specializing in oversize freight. He and his trucks have been featured in the Custom Rigs section several times through the years, and known for impressive airbrush work and big bunks. At the 2025 Mid-America Trucking Show, he offered up something a little different -- his take on a California classic 1979 Peterbilt 359 day cab.
Jones bought the rig from Charley Peaster, owner of Sweet Springs, Missouri-based Peasterbilt Customs, four or five years ago but just got around to fixing it up in his style this year.
As suggested, the 359's history traces back to the West Coast, where it hauled hauled hay out of the Stockton, California, area pulling doubles. Jones said in its heyday, it had just a single rear axle.
“It was a clean California truck,” he said. “No salt, no rust, nothing like that.”
Jones said the truck did need a fresh paint job when he got it, though, noting its last coat was laid on in the ‘90s. He gave it the SPB Trucking treatment. “We took this old truck down to the bare metal,” he said. “Of course, we painted it -- we striped it to match my fleet.”
The striping on Jones' 359 extends from the cab down to the deck and rear fenders.
The truck is outfitted with Trux Accessories lights, updating all the old lighting with LEDs. Like the rest of Jones’ fleet, plenty pieces from Talladega Fiberglass complete the look, he said. “We’ve got all their products on as much as we can fit and keep it looking right, you know, and keep that nostalgia look.”
The short-hood 359 is powered by the original B-model Cat with a 13-speed and 3.55 rears, and it sits on a 263-inch wheelbase. That engine and the truck as a whole have just 630,000 original miles. “It was a show truck,” he said. “They worked it, but they didn’t work it every day. It's had a pretty good life, I would say.”
Previous owners, Jones noted (he's the fourth or fifth), had kept it “well maintained” through the years, replacing "parts with stainless and everything. … On the inside [it's] pretty well dialed in.”
The interior of the truck is more or less how it came to him, but Jones plans to replace it with a custom interior within the next few months.
The non-original parts of the interior include the painted dash, steering wheel and more.
Even still, Jones said he’s working with EZ Pete Interiors for an upgrade this summer. He’s also eyeing a refresh of the engine bay. “That’s the one part of the truck that I left all original completely,” Jones noted, “and I want to keep it that way, but I would just like for it to be fresh.”
Gary Jones often outfits his personal trucks with custom big-bunk sleepers, but he plans to keep this truck as a day cab. “I don’t want to cut it up. It’s just too nice of an old truck,” he said.
[Related: Every smart mod to Trucker of the Year's 4M-mile 1995 KW T600]
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.
Gary Jones: My name's Gary Jones. I've got a small company out of Lawson, Missouri called SPB Trucking, and we do oversized loads and basically just big stuff all over the country. So I've had this truck for four or five years now. I purchased it in Missouri there from Charlie Peaster. It's out of California. It's a California truck, and it's a 1979 short hood, 359 Peterbilt. It's got a B model Caterpillar in it with a 13 speed and 3.55 rear ends. I've had the truck now for going on six years, and we just did this, freshened it up this year. So it's always been a red truck, but it needed, it was time. Last time it was done was the early nineties. It was a clean California truck, no salt, no rust, nothing like that, but it needed paint. We had to put our touch on it. So it definitely fits in the fleet now.
It was actually a two-axle and it come out of the Stockton area, and it was a hay hauler. It pulled doubles. So all its life, I'm probably the fourth or fifth owner of the truck, and it's always been well maintained as you could see. So people have replaced parts with stainless and everything on the inside is pretty well dialed in.
So basically we took this old truck down to the bare metal. Of course, we painted it, we striped it to match my fleet. The whole truck is outfitted with Trux Accessories lights. The whole truck turns red. Yeah, we updated all the old lighting and went with LEDs. I know a lot of guys don't do that. They say keep it old school, but I don't want to have issues. So we're just keeping it what we like and what we know. So we've done that.
As always, we have everything wrapped with Talladega fiberglass. Those are my people. So we've got all their products on as much as we could fit and keep it looking right and keep that nostalgic look. So, yeah, other than that, man, it's just a simple old day cab man. It's not much to it. The 260... what did we come up with the other day? A 263 wheel base on it. So it's pretty clean old truck, top to bottom.
It's got 630,000 original miles on it because it just run up and down the coast out there. It didn't have a ton of, it was a show truck. They worked it, but they didn't work it every day. It's had a pretty good life, I would say.
