Chevy towing , real or fake ?

[raji2pac]

hi , i found these pictures on the net and i'm asking if this is true or just fake , it's a very weird towing

[67swb72klb]

the first pic is questionable let alone the rest of them

[raji2pac]

Agree !!

[SilverMiner]

Yeah, the Chevy pickup part is fake (but how or why?) but the seven trailer log train was real - here's a YouTube video of the actual event in the summer of 1972:

Hauling Logs - SEVEN Loads - YouTube

I'd be interested to know where you found the pickup pictures. They seem to be generated from actual photos rather than the video, so they would be from someone who was actually there. Also, if they are in fact a fake the Photoshop work is exceptional. Somebody went to a lot of work, and it would be fun to know why. Are they a huge fan of square-bodies? Some anti-Ford joke?

Attached is a scan of the article about the event from the Oct. 1972 Overdrive magazine.

[raji2pac]

Yeah i can accept the truck tow but the Chevy part was so weird ! i found the pictures here
http://flipacars.com/cars/chevrolet/...l#.Uy4cUD95P-Y
With no info's ?!

thanks

[SilverMiner]

Whoa - I'm going to call this real! No Photoshop! Check out this fella's Flickr page, which is where the "flipacars" site swiped the photos from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickan...7626914952959/

He even has old newspaper articles documenting the filming of a Chevy commercial in the Thompson Falls area of Montana, recreating the load I linked to above but with a Chevy pickup in place of the 359 Pete. As noted above, the load on the truck is more than just a bit close to the rear of the cab. My guess is that it was a straight line "stunt pull" purely for the commercial. I believe that a Chevy could pull this load and get it rolling, but I do wonder how the heck they activated the air brakes to get that series of trailers to come to a stop.

Cool find, raji2pac. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[izzy_Britton]

yeah, the logs are against the back of the cab or pretty darn close. looks like it is a set up but nothing appears to be in motion. would be curious to see more tho

[raji2pac]

You're welcome SilverMiner it's with pleasure , I'm a chevy truck fan ! and thanks again to my egyptian friend Mohamed because he remembered me by this pic that i forget , and thank you so much for your explaining !

[71swb4x4]

Here is the text from the ad

Originally Posted by https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickandjanettaylor/sets/72157626914952959/

In the early '70s Chevrolet ran a series of commercials in which they attempted to demonstrate the superior qualities of the Chevrolet Truck. They pulled a Boeing 747, a house, a large boat, and many other items.

In the days of hauling logs down the Thompson River drainage in Western Montana to the Rail Head near Flodin's Mill, Claridge Trucking enhanced their efficiency by pulling multiple loads behind one truck. It was not uncommon to see doubles and triples. One of their drivers, Floyd Veach really got into this and worked his way up to where he could pull 7 loads behind one truck. It looked like a train going down the ACM road. Please understand that many of these loads were pulled over 50 miles. This feat earned him recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Chevrolet decided to use this feat as yet another commercial to demonstrate the power of a Chevy Truck. In April of 1973 they came to Thomson Falls and filmed a pilot. And then in September came back and made the real commercial. Unfortunately the oil embargo hit about that time and Chevrolet never ran this ad on public television.

In this set is an old 8mm film of Floyd Veach actually driving a 7 load haul down the ACM road. There area also shots of his world record haul. His was kind enough to share this video and some of the still shots with everyone. I have also placed a one minute collage of some of the ads that Chevrolet ran during this era. And finally here are some still shots taken by my father in the spring of 1973 as Chevrolet filmed the pilot.

Oh yes, one more item of trivia. ACM stands for Anaconda Copper Mining. Anaconda owned huge volumes of timber land in the area and logged that land for years. So that they could get the logs to the rail head at the mouth of Thompson River, they constructed a private road system that covered hundreds of miles and stretched way north of Hiway 2. This road was built in the late 40's. My father worked during the winter of 48 and/or 49 piling brush and helping the Caterpillars building the road. Some of the old timers (besides my dad) who were around in those days were the Cat Skinners; Elmer Butte, Harold Heater, and Benny Dickson. The guy who handled the dynamite at that time was Cliff Anderson. These were great times for the development of the Thompson Falls area.

[Wrecked1982]

maybe he had 2 or 3 doubler setup to get that Rolling hehe

[Rubble]

I have a really hard time believing they actually pulled that load with the Chevy and like was posted before,how did they stop it?? It would have gave that Pete enough of a challenge to get those trailers rolling.I used to truck & it was tough enough to lift a 8 wheel jeep- tridem lowboy with a D8R weighing around 150,000lbs let alone 670,000lbs!! More so if it was trying to lift out of a soft field.

[andrewmp6]

The first photo the trucks shadow don't look right and the trailer is way too far forward for it to even turn.

[SilverMiner]

I don't think it ever had to turn - it was a straight shot tow just for the cameras. The shadows are what the are, I firmly believe these photos are the real deal, no fakery or photoshopping. The remaining questions are how the heck they got this giant train moving in the first place, and then how the heck they got it stopped once it did start moving.

For getting the whole train started, based on the photos I'm certain I know this area pretty well. They were smart enough to set this all up on a very slight downhill grade on one of the firmer (and straighter) portions of the road just east and a hair south of Thompson Falls where the ACM road meets HWY 200. But still, stopping must have been a challenge. Maybe it was all anchored at the rear to a D8 or ten with just enough slack to achieve the illusion.

Either way, very very cool. There was a video on the Flickr page showing multiple Chevy commercials from back in the day showing our trucks pulling a variety of extreme loads, but not the log train. Too bad - I wish somebody had a copy.

[meatwagon83]

according to the article it is real

[Old Truck Man]

Having drove truck and having hauled logs, I think Ive figured it out. The partial picture of the loader gives it away. that loader has air brakes. a pair of air hose connection,s was made to allow the loader to release and apply the trailers parking brakes. and the loader pushed the load. and the loader stopped the load. notice how on the first trailer the logs are placed rearward so as to not place much weight on the Pk. The truck wasn't really doing anything. it was a publicity stunt a Fake publicity stunt. You could have replaced the truck with a Ox team and dolly wheels or a vega ect.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

Having drove truck and having hauled logs, I think Ive figured it out. The partial picture of the loader gives it away. that loader has air brakes. a pair of air hose connection,s was made to allow the loader to release and apply the trailers parking brakes. and the loader pushed the load. and the loader stopped the load. notice how on the first trailer the logs are placed rearward so as to not place much weight on the Pk. The truck wasn't really doing anything. it was a publicity stunt a Fake publicity stunt. You could have replaced the truck with a Ox team and dolly wheels or a vega ect.

You are correct. I remember when this ad (this series of ads, acutally) was created. The truck was used to get the load rolling but you are correct on all other counts.

K

[parrisc19844x4_468]

I think its real and posting the picture of the chev truck on all my ford firends facebook page.

[cedens]

Still more impressive than some rice burner pulling a space shuttle through hollywierd

[nekkidhillbilly]

direct flat pull at 10 miles an hour still though. i watched a lawnmower pull a c60 the same way.