Seymour, Texas-based owner-operator Gary Niell might just be the only owner in the U.S. with a zero-miles Peterbilt 379.
The 2002 Pete featured in the video up top was delivered new as a glider and never put together -- “just bare frame rails out the back, no motor, transmission,” according to Stretch Customs owner Kevin Love, who worked with Niell to finish the build. (Love moved his Stretch Customs business from Canada to Texas in 2024.)
Overdrive met Love and the unicorn zero-miles '02 Pete during the 2025 Pride & Class parade and events surrounding it. Find plenty more views on it in the video.
The owner who originally ordered the truck had a friend who helped him build trucks, Love learned of the rig, but that friend passed away. The owner “was a trucker, so he kept driving his other truck and never got around to putting this one together” before also passing, Love said.
Love and a friend found it and bought it from the original owner’s wife with plans to “fix it all up.”
As shown, the odometer still reads zeroes across the board.
[Related: Custom-built 1980 Peterbilt 359]
That’s when Niell came into the picture. Lubbock, Texas-based Love was working on a custom 1987 Peterbilt 359 for Niell’s son, Matt. (Stay tuned for more on the 359.) When Gary Niell saw the ’02 379, he wanted it, “and it just worked out that we ended up doing this,” Love added.
The truck was originally delivered straight from the factory to the first owner and was so new it still had the plastic on the carpet that dealers typically remove -- that plastic remains there today.
Love put in a twin-turbo Acert Cat C-15 with an 18-speed, all new drive lines, a low air-leaf suspension on the back.
The truck had a factory 336-inch wheelbase with a NeWay air ride suspension, originally intended to do heavy-haul work.
“Nobody wants NeWay unless you’re working it with a purpose, and Gary just wanted to show it,” Love said. “So we put a low air leaf on that back,” and that brought the wheelbase to 330 inches.
The only other notable work Love did to it was repainting, as the original paint had faded through the years.
It’s also equipped with Peterbilt’s Bed & Breakfast sleeper, a relative rarity, Love learned from a Peterbilt employee who helped design them.
“He said they were lucky to build one a week because they were so intricate at everything that’s inside of them with the bed that folds down,” a fold-down table and other features. “It was always my favorite sleeper, too,” Love added.
Love and Niell were invited to bring the truck, along with Matt Niell’s ’87 359, to the invitation-only Peterbilt Pride & Class truck show and parade at the manufacturer’s plant in Denton, Texas.
Love said the only time the truck has ever rolled out of a shop on its own power was just before the show to put it on a trailer.
They know it'd eventually roll over to 1 mile just moving around the lot. To guard against it, they're “just not going to plug in the speed sensor.... But it’s never been driven on the road. It’s just a time capsule.”
[Related: Can't miss Hammett Excavation's school-bus-yellow 389 glider]
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Kevin Love: All right. It's Kevin Love with Stretch Customs out of Lubbock, Texas. We got an '02 379 glider here that was never put together. It was delivered from the factory with just the bare frame rails out the back, no motor, transmission. And like I said, it still got zero miles on it.
The story behind the truck was the guy that bought it, he had a friend who helped him build stuff and that, and his friend passed away. So he was a trucker, so he kept driving his other truck, never got around to putting this one together. And then he passed away in a car accident as well. So we found it from his wife and bought it. And we were going to fix it all up and everything, and then a friend of ours, Gary Niell, he wanted to buy it and fix it up.
So that's what we do, we restore these trucks. So I was already doing this '87 for Gary's son, Matt, and it just worked out that we ended up doing this. So it was a pretty cool build putting it together. You know, it's something you don't find every day, a 2002 that still has a plastic on the on the carpet, you know.
So he had a brand new twin-turbo Acert motor, Cat, we put in it with an 18 speed. We put all new drive lines in it. We put a low air leaf suspension on the back. It's 330 wheelbase. And like I said, it's still got zero miles on it. First time it's ever rolled out of a shop on its own power was just a couple days ago to get on the float here, to come here.
Overdrive: So yeah, how do you preserve it at zero miles? You know, loaded onto the trailer. There's a trick to it.
Kevin Love: Yeah. I mean, we're just not going to plug in the speed sensor. Because you're just driving around the yard and stuff, it'd turn over to one eventually, right? But it's never been driven on the road. It's just a time capsule.
It's a bed and breakfast sleeper with a table that folds down. It's something that is very rare. I was just talking to the guy from Peterbilt here. He helped design these bunks really back in the day, and he said they were lucky to build one a week because they were so intricate that everything that's inside of them, with the bed that folds down. It was always my favorite sleeper too. So yeah, yeah, it's pretty cool.
Overdrive: Yeah. So what was, you know, taking on a pretty much a brand-new truck. What's the build process like on something like that?
Kevin Love: This one actually came together really quick because, you know, we just took the cab and sleeper off, set it down. Unfortunately, it was really faded from the sun really bad. So we had to repaint it. But as far as putting it back together, I mean everything is still there. Just plug and play, turned the power on. All the lights work inside. The interior was, you know, pristine. We didn't have to do anything to the interior, just clean it up. So yeah, it was really neat and really fortunate to meet somebody like Gary Niell and his son Matt. I mean, super nice people.
Overdrive: What custom additions did you make to it? I know you didn't want to do too much to it.
Kevin Love: Yeah, really, I mean, other than the Cat engine, it's longer like. So it was factory. It was ordered factory 336 wheelbase with a NeWay air ride because the guy was a heavy hauler, so it just had the bare stubs at the back. So nobody wants NeWay unless you're working it with a purpose and Gary just wanted to show it, so we put a low air leaf on the back, and that's where it ended up. 330 wheelbase.
