In addition to conventionals, Corbitt also built COE (Cab Over Engine) trucks. And one of those, the legendary 600 Series “high boy” had a sleeper compartment in front, over the engine and directly below and in front of the dash. One can just barely make out a vent for it under the air horns. And it used a British Gardner diesel engine to boot.
Here’s one in action, in the early ’50s. About ten of these were built specifically for Turner Moving Engineers, which apparently specialized in long and oversized loads. And since this kind of work often required a larger crew, these trucks also had a huge bench seat running the full width of the cab, to seat 4 or even 5 men, in a pinch. Or one might prefer to be down in the sleeper.
Here’s another closer look, at the one remaining truck of this series. The open door is for storage compartments. The sleeper is directly above that, and accessible from inside the cab.
Corbitt also made more conventional COE’s too, like this D800 Series.
At first I thought the storage compartment behind the little door was the sleeping compartment. As it is, did one of the guys on the bench seat wake up the sleeper with a kick when they wanted to catch some Z’s themself?
That photo of the survivor looks like it’s at a vintage truck show in North Carolina. Its owner could also belong to the group dedicated to preservation of Corbitt trucks, which now has its own museum in a structure bequeathed to the City of Henderson NC, specifically for use as a museum. It opened in 2015.
They apparently now own the Corbitt trademark.
Corbitt Preservation Association:
https://corbitttrucks.com/
That TALL one does rather remind me of a old Elgin street sweeper of roughly the same vintage: neither had any sense of style or ergonomics! The operator accomodated the machine, not the other way around; rather like a certain crane truck brand that provided a design project in the mid 70s. Their engineers could not quite comprehend, at first, the need for the machine to FIT THE MAN so the machine could be more productive!!!
That ingrained MACHINE FIRST bias provided some interesting meetings/presentations.
DFO
Thank you! It was reminding me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. A familiar sight from my younger days.
Pelican
Thanks, mark bremer—I’ve always thought “Elgin Pelican” a delightful & memorable name for the product:
I would love to see interior pictures of this configuration; I’d imagine that height would be a detriment to utilization of the sleeper compartment.
Wow! First time drivers must have done a lot of flinching approaching bridges and signal lights. Great visibility except for whats right in front of you.
The downward firing air horn takes care of the lack of front forward visibility. They simply hook the horn to the brake circuit like NY City taxis do. Hit the brakes and blast the horn simultaneously. The link below shows practical application.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D1aZO3mz9eWc&ved=2ahUKEwjJk8Dz7ofsAhXIK80KHVvKDF0Qo7QBMAB6BAgEEAE&usg=AOvVaw3001X9I_icziYtFOL2PROD
“Sleeper compartment” directly below the sole of the driver?
Hell NO!
“Just a heads-up for the new drivers: when you stomp the brake pedal you’ll usually hear a loud screeching noise. That’s not the brakes.”
Not to metion the sleep you’d get when the driver let that air horn go!
“Machine First” is a marvelously appropriate description. While an absurd design to me on many levels it was likely a godsend to that one lucky guy after a long day schlepping furniture.
There is a video of a Corbitt farm tractor on YouTube:
Apparently not a success.
I’d love to see the compartment and wonder how one would manage to sleep in there while another driver spells you and you are on top of an engine moving the truck at 50 mph. Noise and heat?
Where do you keep the step ladder while you’re on the road?
I’m getting a “pod hotel” vibe here.
I was hoping for interior shots to be able to piece together where the sleeper part is on these trucks.
Another creative option for locating the sleeping compartment, like the Convoy that was featured back in June.
But unlike the Convoy – where the engine was behind the sleeping compartment – I’d imagine in the Corbitt the relief driver was required to say prayers before going to sleep, in the hope that there’d be no leaks from the exhaust manifold located directly below his bunk!
What a pisser of a truck! I agree with the remarks about the sleeper. OUCH! Thanks for the presentation. Tom
I hope they had some sound insulation in there.
Bottom picture seems to be from Marine Travelift which is an interesting company on its own that kind of revolutionized boat hauling in the USA.
Interior photos of the regular and Highboy cabs. No mattress in the sleeper. Photos from https://corbitttrucks.com/1951-d603-t-29-aka-tall-boy/