Battle Ground, Washington-based Craig Vogel wasn’t a career truck driver, but he makes up for lack of long-term trucking experience with big enthusiasm and knowledge of truck history.
Vogel studied electrical engineering in college. When he got out of school, “I wanted to see the country, but I was broke,” he said. “So I got some money, bought a truck, leased to a trucking company.”
That would be his ticket to see the country, or so he thought. The reality was that he “saw the country at night,” he said, in the beam of his headlights.
His second year in the business, his truck’s “Detroit 318 [engine] decided to scatter itself all over Interstate 24, so that was the end of my trucking career, and I drove a desk ever since.”
His passion for trucking never left, and today Vogel serves as treasurer for the American Truck Historical Society.
Through the years, Vogel's collected antique units, primarily farm trucks. “They were fun, but they were no good for long distance travel,” he said. He still had that goal, to truly see the country in all its daylight glory.
Twelve years ago he got the opportunity to buy the 1963 Kenworth 921 featured in this week's Pride & Polish video, up top, which would deliver.
Vogel is only the truck’s second owner. Its first owner was Dean Hobbensiefken, a longtime owner-operator who, in the 1970s, also created and manufactured the unique Paymaster trucks in an effort to squeeze more efficiency out of the diesel engine. Only 14 Paymasters were built over the course of the decade, but Vogel has a photo at home of this Kenworth pulling the original Paymaster on a trailer to a Boeing facility for wind tunnel testing.
That first Paymaster is on display at the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum, which Vogel is associated with. He’ll occasionally pull this Kenworth in and park it next to the Paymaster with the photo of the two of them together on display.
[Related: Back to the future: Remembering the Paymaster]
Vogel’s Kenworth was Hobbensiefken’s primary workhorse and it ran export lumber from central Oregon to the ports of Portland and Seattle for 49 straight years, accumulating more than 3.5 million miles.
It originally boasted a Cummins 220 with a Spicer 4-and-4 transmission. After so many rebuilds over the course of about 2.5 million miles -- “he had rebuilt it so often he couldn’t keep the sleeves in the block anymore,” Vogel said -- Hobbensiefken replaced that original engine with a remanufactured Cummins Big Cam 1.
Vogel said it required “a lot of fabricating to make that bigger engine fit under the hood.”
With the narrow-nose radiator, Hobbensiefken had to push the radiator forward four inches and then have a new radiator custom built just to be able to keep the bigger engine cool.
“It’s quite a radiator in this truck,” Vogel said.
The rest of the unit remains original. When he took ownership, “cosmetically, the four coats of paint on it were pretty tired,” Vogel said. When he stripped the paint down, he found that Aquatone Blue was the original factory color, “which made it very clear what color it was going to be repainted.”
That Aquatone Blue with the original stripe pattern can be seen here, along with a simplified rundown of the truck's history that Vogel added to it.
Additionally, “the frame has not been cut, drilled, stretched or shortened at all,” Vogel said. “There are no extra holes in it. [Hobbensiefken] ordered it to his requirements. He was always hauling the same load on the same routes, so his requirements did not change, and he left it alone.”
Hobbensiefken spec'd it originally with efficiency in mind, cutting weight wherever possible.
It has just one fuel tank, a lightweight aluminum cab, fiberglass fenders, a single rear axle, “some kind of exotic chrome alloy frame,” Vogel said, which to this day has no cracks in it, “so whatever alloy they were using, it held up.”
All told, “with full fuel and me sitting in it, it’s 12,700 pounds, which I think is pretty light for a Class 8 truck, especially one that’s pulling doubles loaded with lumber,” he said.
The interior's all original. “It’s still in functional condition,” Vogel said. “It’s worn, but it is original. It still has all the original Kenworth script gauges in it. It still has the Wig Wag low air warning system, its original air ride seat.”
The 63-year-old interior is a far cry from the more expansive interiors of modern trucks.
The KW is more than just the highlight of Vogel’s garage or a museum, though. He pulls a travel trailer with it all around the country to ATHS regional and national truck shows and events, including the 2026 ATHS National Convention in Springfield, Missouri, where Overdrive caught up with him.
“Between its originality and the fact that the owner ... was an excellent mechanic, it was an easy decision to buy this truck,” Vogel said.
[Related: Classic 1965 Peterbilt 351 restored twice by same owner]
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Craig Vogel: This truck originally hauled export lumber from central Oregon to either the Port of Portland or the Port of Seattle, and it drove it for 49 years -- the same route, back and forth, back and forth. This truck currently has about 3.5 million miles on it. This truck has been extremely reliable. It's never left me stranded, never broke down. I plan to keep running it for a long time.
OK, I'm Craig Vogel, live in Battle Ground, Washington, and I'm the treasurer of the American Truck Historical Society. This is my 1963 Kenworth that I bought in 2014. I'm the second owner of the truck. Bought it from the original owner. It was originally had a 220 Cummins engine and a Spicer four and four. It currently has a Cummins Big Cam 400 and a 13 speed.
I use it to haul my travel trailer all over the country to ATHS national and regional shows. Been doing this for 12 years.
This is the original factory color. It's called Aquatone Blue. And aside from the engine and transmission, it is completely original. The frame has not been cut, drilled, stretched, or shortened at all. There are no extra holes in it.
Overdrive: You know, what kind of condition was it and when you bought it from the original owner?
Craig Vogel: Well, the original owner was an excellent mechanic, so mechanically it was ready to go because he was still working it. Cosmetically, the four coats of paint on it were pretty tired. We had strip it down, and that's when we uncovered this blue, which made it very clear what color it was going to be repainted.
The interior is still original. It's still in functional condition. It's worn, but it is original. It still has all the original Kenworth script gauges in it. It still has the Wig Wag low air warning system, its original air ride seat. It's pretty, pretty close to original, which between its originality and the fact that the owner, who I knew was an excellent mechanic, it was an easy decision to buy this truck.
Overdrive: When you got it, you put the new paint job on it and swapped out the engine, I guess.
Craig Vogel: Well, he had swapped out the engine a few years earlier. Yeah, the original engine, he put 2.5 million miles on it, and he had rebuilt it so often he couldn't keep the sleeves in the block anymore. So, at that point, he bought a remanufactured Big Cam I 400 and had to do a lot of fabricating to make that bigger engine fit under the hood.
And with the narrow nose radiator, he had to push radiator four inches forward and then have it custom built to keep the bigger engine cool. You know, it's quite a radiator in this truck.
Overdrive: Is there anything else unique about the truck or its history that you haven't mentioned yet?
Craig Vogel: Yes. The original owner of this truck is fellow by the name of Dean Hobbensiefken, and he is the guy that created and manufactured the Paymaster truck. So, the museum that I’m associated with back in Oregon has Paymaster serial number one. And I have a photograph of this truck carrying Paymaster number one up to the Boeing plant in Washington to put it in their wind tunnel for aerodynamic testing.
And so, it's kind of cool. Every once in a while, I'll park this next to the Paymaster in the museum and show that photograph and put the two back together.
Dean ordered it to his requirements, and he was always hauling the same load on the same route. So, his requirements did not change, and he left it alone.
Overdrive And he said he was very weight focused?
Craig Vogel: Very weight focused, yes. This truck, one fuel tank, lightweight aluminum cab, fiberglass fenders. It's got some kind of exotic chrome alloy frame on it. It's not even aluminum, with full fuel and me sitting in it, it's 12,700 pounds, which I think is pretty light for a Class 8 truck, especially one that's pulling the doubles loaded with lumber.
And no cracks in the frame, so whatever alloy they were using, it held up. Yeah.
