July/August 2026 Vintage Truck
/The July/Auguts 2026 issue of the magazine is available in our gift shop now and will be available on newsstands soon. The cover features Mike Klatt’s 1940 Dodge VC. Check out the cover story by Loren Hoekema, Photos by Al Rogers.
Cover Story | 1940 Dodge VC
The Plumbers’ Pickup
This 1940 Dodge VC is a multi-generational joy!
Story by Loren Hoekema, Photos by Al Rogers
Mike Klatt’s 1940 Dodge VC pickup has been passed from his grandfather to his brother and then to Mike. Grandpa was a plumber, Klatt’s dad was a plumber, and Mike Klatt himself … you guessed it! The plumbing trade runs in the family and the little green Dodge represents the industry as it has progressed from generation to generation.
“My grandpa bought the Dodge used in the early 1960s,” Klatt said. “You bet I remember it, and I remember riding with Grandpa. He always smoked big cigars and chewed Plow Boy Tobacco. I’ll always remember that.”
Klatt’s brother, Norby, inherited the Dodge 1/2-ton when Grandpa passed away in 1977 and owned it until sometime in the 1980s.
“Norby didn’t really drive it much—maybe on Saturdays or occasionally to the dump,” Klatt said. “He wasn’t the kind of guy that would ever restore it or do anything with it, whereas I planned to someday restore it, if I could.”
Sometime in the 1980s, Klatt finally found a way to acquire the pickup.
“Norby owned an old ’70s Chevy pickup with a bad transmission, and I had a buddy that had a car repair shop,” Klatt said. “I told him I would put a transmission in his Chevy if he gave me the old Dodge. So, one night after a few beers, we put a transmission in Norby’s Chevy, and he gave me the title to the 1940 Dodge!”
Klatt now owned the 1940 pickup, but it was deteriorating badly, did not run, and Klatt had neither the time nor ambition to restore it. He moved the Dodge to a storage unit owned by a friend, and it went into a lengthy hibernation.
Some 25 or so years later, in 2010, Klatt began the restoration. Working through Gunner’s Great Garage, a business run by former Old Cars Weekly editor John “Gunner” Gunnell that provided do-it-yourselfers with space and resources to work on their collector cars, Klatt located a restorer. After taking the pickup apart, the first restorer quit, but Gunnell was able to locate a second shop—only 3 miles from Klatt’s house—that was willing to tackle the project. Mark Seidler, the second restorer, bravely took on the Dodge as a project he had not personally disassembled and that was a pile of parts and pieces. He took the truck down to the bare frame rails and rebuilt it from there.
We would love to get a copy of the July/August 2026 issue of Vintage Truck magazine in your hands! A wide variety of classics are waiting for you!
Articles in this issue include:
FEATURES
Tin Lizzie Gets a Bed
Robert von Bernuth’s 1925 Ford Model T Runabout Pick-Up is starting its second century in great shape!
Story by Robert Gabrick, Photos by Brad BowlingThe Plumbers’ Pickup
This 1940 Dodge VC is a multi-generational joy!
Story by Loren Hoekema, Photos by Al Rogers“Safe and Attackable”
This 1939 IHC is a piece of Minneapolis history!
Story by Jim Volgarino, Photos by Al RogersVolkswagen Fighter
Pete Borchert’s 1964 Corvair Greenbrier was meant to compete with the best from Germany!
Story by Art Aiello, Photos by Eric Schulzinger
Departments
Letter from the Editor
Milestone Pickup Trucks: 1966 Ford F-100 4X4
The Road Less Traveled: Prewar Hispano-Suiza
Photos from the Attic
Spoked Wheels: Driver Comfort and Protection
Aid for the Anxious Amateur: Rolling Restoration
Classifieds
Show Guide
Granny Gear: The Racing Bearing
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