[Pick121]

The history of this truck: it was first put into use as a service truck for Peterson-Caterpillar in San Leandro, CA. This explains the “SPEC” paint code, it was originally painted Caterpillar Tractor safety yellow under the green, you can see the yellow poking out in a few places. It has a V8 and a PTO that ran a compressor on a rear flatbed, along with a welder setup (the PTO is still there but the compressor and welder are long gone) The Caterpillar Tractor factory in San Leandro was a major producer of tractors and other machines in the mid 1900’s, and a great many folks from the area were employed there until the plant shut down in 1985. The Peterson-Caterpillar equipment dealer is still in business in San Leandro! Johnny tells me the truck was bought by his father in law to be used for his cattle and hay farming operation. The engine was blown and rebuilt before they bought the truck so not sure if it is original engine or not. Johnny’s FIL had the cattle cage added to transport cattle. I will get the rear casting number one of these days, but the front stamp was a lot easier to see. It looks to me like 9S0304XTO which I think is a 327. I will try to get a better photo this weekend