If you like old trucks, here’s your holy grail. The Timber Crest Farms collection that’s headed to auction in March isn’t the biggest we’ve seen in terms of numbers, containing 14 lots in total, but they’re some of the most beautiful vintage rigs you’ll ever see. I’m not even a big truck guy but I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after seeing these.
Timber Crest Farms is based in Healdsburg, California, up in wine country. The owner, Ronald Waltenspiel, has been restoring these trucks for much of his adult life. Almost all of them are Sterlings, with one lone Peterbilt, making it the largest collection of restored Sterling trucks in the world. The brand was founded in 1906 in Milwaukee, and it only made around 12,000 trucks over its 50-year run before it was bought out and its name retired. That makes these 13 trucks incredibly special just by existing and even more so because they’re perfect.
1939 Sterling JC137 Truck
It’s a shame Sterling didn’t stick around longer. From where I’m standing, it made some of the prettiest trucks ever. Just look at this 1939 JC137—it’s like a dually hot rod. There’s no need for a truck to have that beautiful of a grille, sweeping up to its split windshield and its perfectly proportioned sealed beam headlights. And check out the exposed dual chain drives! How sick is that?
Like most Sterlings from the 1930s, the JC137 has a diesel inline-six with a manual transmission. Its interior is as simple as it gets and even has wooden floorboards, but it’s total class.
1935 Sterling HC115 Truck
No modern tractor comes close to this 1935 HC115, at least when it comes to style. With its upright grille and flanking foglights, it looks like a Jeep before Jeeps even existed, and its boxy, narrow shape gives it an elegance you don’t usually see in big rigs. Like the JC137, it also has dual chain drives. And since it has a fifth-wheel plate, you can hook a period-correct semi-trailer up to it, making it perfect for hauling antique farm implements or what have you. (I doubt its ’30s straight-six diesel could haul modern, heavier equipment well.) Its green paint and yellow wheels look great, and its interior is a little nicer than the JC137’s. There’s even a footrest for the passenger.
1917 Sterling 2.5 Ton
The 1917 2.5 Ton is the oldest of the bunch. While it still resembles a truck, with its engine up front, a cab behind it, and four wheels, it’s clearly more rudimentary than even the ’30s models. A look inside shows the black leather bench seat, a chunky wooden steering wheel, and ornate writing on the clutch and brake pedals. You have to learn to work the levers to operate it, and there’s a mechanism on the steering wheel to retard or advance the four-cylinder’s spark and ignition timing. You don’t get that on modern trucks.
1930 Sterling DD13-65 ML Truck
This 1930 DD13-65 dump truck is the granddaddy of them all. The upright grille, bug-eye headlights, and adorable cabbie-hat-style padded roof are just the beginning. The metalwork is sensational looking. Everything from the brackets that hold the freestanding lamps to the protruding frame rails at the front looks like pieces of mechanical art. I also love the color scheme: a red body with a cream-colored exposed frame, and massive black wheels with tall tires. And because it’s a dump truck, it’s extremely handy—not that you should take a rig this nice to the quarry.
These incredible trucks will head to the Mecum auction in Glendale, Arizona, on March 18. There aren’t any estimates for how much each might sell for but, considering their condition and rarity, don’t expect to get them for cheap. Whoever does buy them will have some gorgeous pieces of early automotive Americana.
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