Wrecker Service Truck

By Albert Sawallich

I come from a Ford family, since before 1920. My dad, Harry Sawallich, was a Ford man and I'll be one until I die. By the age of eight, I could fix flat tires in my dad’s garage.

In 1943, Dad bought a 1937 Ford 1 1/2 Ton, rough looking, farm truck at a farm auction for $300. The fenders were in bad condition and new ones were put on. The rear fenders came from a Fordson tractor found in a junkyard. A rebuilt 100hp Mercury engine was installed. Dad did all of the repairs on the truck, plus the painting.

Dad had a local welder make the boom. He put a new Garwood Winch on it and he was in the towing business. That's the truck in the ad shown above promoting 24-hour towing service by Sawallich Garage.

In 1947, we were in a V-J (Victory in Japan) parade and towed a wrecked 1937 Chevy behind the truck. The Chevy driver was drunk, hit a tree and was killed.

Dad bent the frame behind the cab on the ‘37 when he tied it to a tree and attempted to pull a Dodge truck out of a basement that was being backfilled. The ground caved in and Dad had to pull the Dodge out... dirt and all.

In 1949, dad bought a new 1949 F-5 and put all of the towing hardware, including the boom and winch on it. After straightening the frame on the ‘37, he sold it to a man who did portable welding. I don't know whatever became of the ‘37. We put over 200,000 miles on the ‘49, towing a hot rod to race tracks in Michigan and Ohio. We won a lot of races and trophies. We used Ford, Mercury and Lincoln power plants. We won a 100 mile race at the Michigan State fair in 1954, with a 1939 Ford DeLuxe Coupe that had a new 1954 Lincoln engine for power.

Like I said, I come from a Ford family and always will be.