Pacific trucks may not be a name that is wholly familiar to everyone outside of hardcore truck geeks but it probably should be. This company built some really neat stuff over the years and they had a reputation of being indestructible, overbuilt, and solidly engineered rigs for whatever situation they were placed in. They were largely used as off road trucks in logging, mining, and large construction settings. Those harsh environments test every nut and bolt of a work truck’s being and Pacifics made the grade for strength.

Like many of these specialty companies, Pacific has an interesting ownership history. Born in 1947 Pacific trucks grew and grew into a significant manufacturer through the 1950s and 1960s and was then sold to International Harvester in 1970. In the early 1980s the company was sold to an outfit in Singapore and Pacific trucks were soon  being built and shipped in volume to Asia and Malaysia to service their booming timber industries. The company changed strategies over the years and by the early 1990s the truck building division of the company was no longer a priority so the last official Pacific truck was built in 1991. The company was then largely in the parts and distribution end of the supply chain.

But wait, this video shows the a Pacific truck being built in 1995. What gives? Awesome. That’s what gives.

Three mechanics who were with the company and had been for decades took on the project of building the last complete truck they could out of the spares that they had at the Vancouver parts depot. They built the truck at the back of the shop and as you will see, had to knock part of a wall down to get it out! The huge, 55,000lb truck was designed to haul 250-ton loads of iron ore and may still be doing that as you read this.

Currently the Pacific Truck name is owned by Coast Powertrain Ltd and they have every blueprint, plan, and scheme from day one to the last day of the Pacific Truck manufacturing history. They currently produce parts, subassemblies, and they have the capability to once again product Pacific trucks like the one you see here. How rad is that?

We believe that this truck has a massive 800hp Cummins in it but we are not 100% sure. Just the sheer mass of the thing is amazing.

Press play below to see the final Pacific P12W3 Truck roll out of the factory –

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Those of you who have driven manual transmission trucks probably know that they’re not the quickest-shifting things in the world. There are some mutant drivers who can shift anything though, like this dude, who’s gone into the 12.60’s in a ZF6 manual transmission Duramax. After a second gear launch, he rows through the gears like a madman until 5th, and even shifts the transfer case out of 4wd (look close or you’ll miss it) during the pass! If you think you’re a badass for being able to shift your Pro-shifted T5 or clutchless Jerico or Lenco well, step up to the plate, and see if you can do this in a diesel.

Perhaps the most incredible fact of all, is that the truck is very lightly modified, with just a tune, intake, exhaust, and clutch, dropping it from high 15’s, to mid 12’s! We’re willing to bet more than a few musclecars have felt the sting of this mild-looking Duramax-powered Chevy.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THIS DRIVER GET SOME WHILE BANGING THE GEARS IN HIS DIESEL TRUCK –

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For this week we’re throwing down two stroke style for our American Powertrain Starting Shift. We get to sit (literally) in the driver’s seat of a 1980 GMC Brigadier dump truck as it hauls a big Vermeer log chipper up a steep grade somewhere in Connecticut. The truck looks to be pretty much immaculate. The interior is mint, at least as far as we can see. The engine in the truck is a 6V92 Detroit Diesel two stroke and it sounds mighty fine when the driver is putting it to work climbing up a pretty long and sustained grade.

The transmission in the truck is a 10-speed Road Ranger and while the guy isn’t necessarily performing any tricks with the thing or beating on it, the trans seems to shift nice and smooth and give no complaints. The pull starts off on level ground and the the grade picks up and seemingly continues to get steeper as the truck gets to the top. As he briskly walked through the gears at the base of the hill he has to drop a couple of gears by the time he gets to the top to keep the forward momentum going. The truck is pulling a Vermeer log chipper with a log loader on it. That’s the swivel seat that is on top with an arm that the operator can use to pickup and load material into the chipper. It weighs 15,000lbs when equipped with the loader so that thing is no spring chicken for sure.

Note what looks to be the tach bouncing all over the place in the dash! We really wish we could see the rest of the truck because the Brigadier was a pretty handsome model of rig and as we said earlier, all indications are that this thing is a showpiece. The 6V92 in this truck would have carried a rating of around 325hp. The Brigadier was made until 1988 when it was replaced by the Topkick model.

Press play to see and here this 6V92 Detroit Diesel work up and down the gears

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