This handsome rig resides at the R.E. Olds Museum in Lansing, Michigan, which is a wonderful small museum to visit if you’re interested in Oldsmobile or REO history. In 1967, White Motor Corporation combined Diamond T and REO Trucks to form Diamond REO, before selling the brand four short years later. This Diamond REO Raider is a 1974 model from the last model year of Lansing production, nearly 70 years after Ransom E. Olds founded REO Motor Car Company.
I know very little Diamond REO history, and I’ve never watched the 1970s trucker drama Movin’ On (surprisingly), but this still image of that program has a whole lot to like: a Raider with green stripes of varying shades, red pants with a crazy jacket, and a cool orange Scout II in the background.
Edit: I just watched half an episode on a streaming service. It’s…OK.
Edit #2: My wife just picked the low-hanging fruit, saying “I just watched half an episode on a streaming service, and moved on.”
Back at the museum, this sign is perched near the featured Raider, a taunting reminder that I don’t have room in my house for either the truck or the signage.
After being sold by White, Diamond REO continued in limited production under a couple different corporate owners until 1995, but to many fans, the 1974 models were the last true REOs, being that they were assembled in their hometown. I think this is one of the most striking big trucks of all time, so I ask the comment section – do you have any experience with or stories about Diamond REO trucks? And can you tell us more about this Raider?
I cannot add a thing, other than my appreciation for your writeup. There is something appealing about those old trucks that were designed to be something other than fleet-bait (which is what so many of the trucks of the time were). Maybe that’s why I have more trouble working up enthusiasm for my hometown truck – the Internationals from Fort Wayne. Although I have never looked into it, I have always had the impression that those were mostly fleet specials designed to work anonymously until they were worn out and forgotten.
Are the diamonds on the grille color-keyed to the truck? They are blue on the blue truck and appear to be green on the truck from the TV show.
Rumor has it since VW is acquiring Navistar / International Truck, there will soon be a GTI version for a little extra zest in appearance and driving characteristics.
Can we also get a new Scout?
When it comes to illuminated branding, those diamonds beat the Chief or Hernando any day. Starting to approach the decorated trucks of Africa and Pakistan.
I know nothing about the trucks or cars, but I do have a Reo Flying Cloud lawn mower in my basement with the reo 1.75 hp engine on it. My retirement restro project. Thats all I have…
I’d like one of those. They even made their own engines!
The museum has plenty of those too!
Like you, I know very little Diamond Reo history, but the story appears to be an interesting one. For one, it’s odd to me that White would create the brand, and then sell it shortly afterwards… which seems on the surface to be a strange move, since they’d be selling products in the same market segment. Unless for some reason, Diamond Reo somehow was in its own niche. I don’t know.
And also, I wonder who sold Diamond Reo trucks? Did White distributors generally pick up Diamond Reo too? I’d imagine it was hard to break into the market from a distributorship standpoint.
And then to have the whole brand go under just a few short years later.
It couldn’t have been an easy road to be an independent big rig manufacturer, so I’m sure there’s some fascinating history there. (Last month I saw a Marmon big rig on the road, which was another independent manufacturer, and that piqued my interest quite a bit… I wish I had gotten pictures!)
Anyway, thanks for highlighting this truck… definitely interesting.
I don’t have time to dive into the history of Diamond and White, but generally there are two reasons companies do this:
1. to get access to their production facilities, rather than build new ones.
2. to “remove” a competitor, by essentially consolidating them into their own range of products.
The question is: were these sales of production facilities too, or just the brand. I’m going to guess it was #1 the first time, and #2 the second time.
The truck industry has been on a constant trend towards consolidation, for a long time. But sometimes brands are worth holding on to.
Not uncommonly, big truck makers who built “commodity/fleet” trucks also wanted a premium brand truck to sell to owner-operators. Even if they were largely the same under the skin.
Thanks; I did a quick research on the sale and it seems that White sold the Diamond Reo brand, and along with it a Lansing factory, and a good chuck of management and R&D employees. The factory was rather aged at time time – not sure what eventually became of it.
The entire factory and office complex was torn down about 1979-80. The land was vacant for most of the ’80s-90s and has been gradually redeveloped over the last 20 years.
Some of the managers & engineers took the ideas for a new fire truck design and founded Spartan Motors which builds fire trucks, RV chassis and delivery vehicles.
Prehistoric brands sometimes try a comeback like Sterling Ive been driving one this week Eight wheel tractor towing a quad semi tanker, Detroit powered with a Eaton smart shift 18speed AMT, noisy but plenty of grunt its done a big mileage and was parked but both the Scania 500hpV8 and Cat 630 have bitten the dust so the Sterling is again running 24/7 like it always has.
I want one to drive around town. There are lots of bro-dozers I need to roll over.
A gentleman my Dad worked with had picked up an old conventional tractor (no sleeper) that he slapped a steel flatbed on and drove around like a pickup truck. Though the gentleman was a diesel mechanic by trade and I think it was partially a situation of “I bought it cheap and I can run it cheap because I know how to fix it.”
And former Western character actors in Plymouth Valiants?
This from wiki:
“They named the band REO Speedwagon, from the REO Speed Wagon, a 1915 truck that was designed by Ransom Eli Olds. Doughty had seen the name written across the blackboard when he walked into his History of Transportation class on the first day they had decided to look for a name.”
Country band Diamond Rio of course also named for REO, so Ransom E. Olds had two popular bands named after him.
Diamond Rio purposely made it “RIO” instead of “REO” to avoid copyright/trademark issues but apparently REO Speedwagon wasn’t concerned.
I’ve been wondering this for a while – what is the brand strata of American trucking? Which ones are the lowly Plymouths, the heavy-duty Rams, the luxurious Chryslers? Does any truck brand lay claim to anything anymore or does it all depend on how much you option them up?
Once upon a time Peterbilt and Kenworth were sort of the Cadillac and Lincoln of heavy duty trucks, though in fact with the same corporate owner they shared almost zero parts except 3rd party engines, transmissions, axles etc. Western Star, Diamond Reo and Marmon were smaller independents in the same category. But now, with Peterbilt- and Kenworth-branded Japanese and European lighter duty trucks, there’s no real brand stratification, though with the brands there’s definitely a fleet and owner-operator hierarchy.
You should give Movin On another chance – some famous actors Claude Akins and Frank Converse, and Rosie Grier too! Plus it was filmed almost entirely on location all over the country, unusual at the time. It’s a great show for car and truck spotting as well as other landmarks.
I probably will…the episode I watched seemed cheesy even for ’70s TV (and I LOVE ’70s TV…Adam-12 and The Rockford Files are two of my favorite shows).
I’m pretty sure that the truck in Moving On was a Kenworth.
IH has a “Halo” Truck.
In general the Plymouths of the industry were Fords, GMC and International. With two of these gone Freightliner would take up the flag.
However a lot depends on the truck, the driver and where is it working. Day cab COE’s are rather sad but give the truck decent power and a tight route and then the truck is just right. Give the driver a choice between a fancy Pete or Kenworth conventional with 350 horsepower or a OK spec Freightliner with 500 horsepower and I’ll bet the driver takes the Freightliner.
Low Cab Forwards are THE worst, nothing you can do to make these desirable, main use is garbage trucks, crane trucks and concrete pumpers. If you ever wanted to know what a pair of dice being shaken in a cup feel like, this is it.
The other thing that complicates ranking the trucks is the shear variety available from just one manufacturer.
Petes and Kenworths are the Cadillacs
Volvo the Beemers
Western Star is the GMC
Mack is the Ford Super Duty
Freightliner and IH/Navistar are the Chevy/Ford
We have several Frieghtliner Argosy cabovers on the fleet I work in 500hp is a klittle underbaked most of ours boast 600hp with a couple of older 550s still going, better to drive than most Kenworths but still not nice, Volvo is where the ride comfort is we have two a 600hp and a 700hp, drive them all day and you get out feeling fresh rather than shattered like in a Argosy.
Mack is Molvo Mack cab Volvo powertrain or buy a UD same power train Japanese cab and Chassis.
I worked at DR when they produced the two show model Raiders. All polished aluminum frames and red pearl laid over that beautiful blue. Was laid off two years to the day I was hired. About 1984 I got an interest check on the two weeks of vacation I was owed – LOL!
I figured it’d be a yawn to most, but I was going to mention Diamond Reo’s aluminum frame rails. Also DR’s “own” aluminum pieces, many of which became desperately needed unobtainium after the shutdown; for example, COE cab hinges.
Very neat!
Many “retired” REO 6×6 military trucks were converted into dump trucks here in the decades after WW2. A Euro-diesel engine swap was common, of course.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/truck-stop-classic-1963-reo-m35-6×6-dump-truck-civilian-job-after-the-military/
I recognize the REO front and axles, not sure where the “cultured” -lol- cab with curved glass came from?
See link to article in my comment above: “Coachbuilder J. van Eck en Zonen (J. van Eck and Sons) made the steel cab”.
Thanks
White bought REO in the late 1950’s primarily to get REO’s highly regarded OHV 6 and V-8 gasoline engines to replace their hoary old ‘Mustang’ flathead 6’s. White continued production of most REO models, rebadged the medium duty REO’s as the White 2000 series for distribution through the White dealer network, and adopted the REO engines into various Whites. Why White bought Diamond T was less clear. Diamond T had a strong relationship with International Harvester sharing engines and cabs, and Diamond T even built some heavy duty International trucks under contract. Paul’s surmising of removing a competitor could have been a possibility.
The museum has a REO “Gold Comet” V8. I took a few pictures of it, too.
Here’s the info. sheet…
Interesting timing, as I ran into an interesting old REO COE picture recently, of a model (V63) that I cannot remember ever having seen. I was going to write it up, but didn’t get to it. It used this Golden Comet V8.
One more picture…it looks like the Gold Comet runs an old Holley Teapot like Ford used for a few years in the ’50s.
Provision for the “other” carburetor bolt pattern is visible. Studebaker intakes were like that too.
Before anyone realized what a monster the new REO 8 really was, some car magazine did an in depth speculation on rodding it. Lol
Sure does have a dual pattern intake. A ‘Teapot’ with a governor is rare, can’t think of many other trucks that used those. Truck Y-Block Fords and some GMC’s with Olds V-8’s were about it, I think.
It is hard to find information on the successors to the REO. Osterlund Corporation in Harrisburg bought the rights to REO, but I thought that this was in 1979. I see from the information from Bruce that I am wrong. I called on REO dealers when I represented Cummins Diesels from 1979 to 1981. Production was to order because Mr. Osterlund could only produce so many. So, stock units were not common. It was still a good truck. IH always had a premium truck and still does. We see very few of them here in The East. IH has always been considered a “Midwest truck.” I sold IH’s in the late 1960’s. My favorite premium truck is one that I sold, AUTOCAR! I still look at them, new and old, as they roll down the highways and byways. Autocars were known to be built for use for 25 years. When Volvo got rid of the marque, I was pleased to see that it resumed initially producing the COE and Low COE models, which are vocational applications. You can see the current models at https://www.autocartruck.com/
A guy I was at school with’s father oewned a fleet of Trucks most D series Fords by then but their first brand new truck got hauled out of storage and restored in the early 60s it was a 1935 REO Speedwagon 5 tonner along the sides of the bonnet was painted ‘over 1 million miles on Mobil oil’ I think they still have it stashed away somewhere.
My dad worked for Diamond Reo in Lansing from 1973 to about 1975 or 1976. He was a draftsman. He made the repeating diamond pattern down the front of the grille. He said he liked working there b/c he could draw up a part, bring it down & get it machined to see it in 3-D. When I was a kid, we’d always look for those semis on road trips.
The Movin On truck was a Kenworth W900 and was the real star of the show. However, in Episode 11 “High Rollers,” (1974) Frank Converse’s character takes a test drive in a beautiful green Diamond Reo Raider… including a race with a White Freightliner. Lots of great truck spotting in that episode!