JANUARY 2025: THIS 1969 DODGE A-100 WAS MINUTES AWAY FROM A DATE WITH A CRUSHER

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Car guys love to tell stories about an old car or truck being saved seconds away from being fed through a shredder or crusher.

Most of them have an element of truth, but in many cases the doomed vehicle is scouted out by guys who hang around wrecking yards and offer more than the salvage price.

David Kirk knew the original owner of this truck as a mentor and friend. His name was Harold Zamzow, and he ran a trucking company. David said Harold probably bought the truck new—or close to new back in ’69 and used it as a parts truck.

Harold was proud of his company, so this A-100 had the same company colors his big rigs wore. This is a Slant-Six truck with an automatic transmission, so it was bought for reliability—not power. 

The truck did its time and then retired in a field where nature took over and inflicted damage. That’s where it sat for years.   

David found out the truck was minutes away from being crushed, so he shot over to the yard and saved it. The process was so close, they’d already pulled the gas tank.

The wrecking yard wasn’t excited about stopping the truck’s execution, but money made the difference. David admitted he, “was glad to get gouged” to save the A-100.

The next step was to get it back on the road. This truck had suffered major rust damage over the years, but David’s goal was simple—make it safe and driveable–but don’t change it too much.

The vintage mags were still on the truck, so they stayed under David’s watch. He took on a process of adding to—not taking away from the truck. The pinstriping is a great example because it was done by Ray Bindr–a local artist and friend of David.

Ray was more of a conventional mural artist, but he was willing to take on the pinstriping. He has since passed away, but his work on the A-100 will never go away because his artwork is one of many reasons why David will never paint this truck.

Another reason is obvious. That’s the same paint Harold Zamzow put on the A-100.

There’s a big rig theme throughout this truck because that’s the world it came from under Harold’s watch. David has a compressor in the truck bed to power the massive truck horns in the back.

The big rig stacks in the bed are also part of the theme and so are the cab lights because that’s how semis roll. The Peterbilt badge on the tailgate is another tribute to Harold because that’s what he ran when he owned his company.

David added some more custom touches to the A-100. The antennas in the truck bed light up because he thought that was a cool look, plus it’s very visual at night.

David said the truck “gets pretty buzzy at 60 miles per hour”, so he doesn’t push it too hard. He added that it gets a regular workout because that’s the key to success with old iron.  The other thing is the attention it gets because Harold’s old truck is a star in 2024.

By: Jerry Sutherland

Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post,  Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.

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