The story about this wild truck–and its even wilder companion (we’ll get to that later)—goes back to the mid-1980s. TV shows featuring high-tech vehicles like Knight Rider and Airwolf were in vogue, and in 1987 America would get yet another. Knight Rider creator Glen Larson would join forces with director Douglas Heyes to create The Highwayman. In this show, which reviews suggest is like Knight Rider with a splash of Mad Max, the “Highwayman” roams around in his truck, solving crimes and mysteries in a dystopian reality. This show features multiple cool trucks, and this one is one of them: The show is probably best described through its own opening narration, voiced by William Conrad: Here’s a look at the vehicles in the show; the truck above is featured prominently in this clip:
And heck, if you want to see a full episode, complete with 1988 car commercials, here you go:
The “Highwaymen” do their crime-fighting out of massive futuristic semi-tractors. The hero truck (below), driven by lead character Highwayman played by Sam Jones, started life as a 1980 Kenworth cabover with a Detroit Diesel 8V92T. It reminds me of a crazy Luigi Colani creation, but it isn’t. According to Hemmings, the truck was converted by Jon Ward Motor Sports of Alpine, Texas into what appeared on the TV screen. The $287,000 conversion involved sticking part of an Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter onto the front of the truck. This functions as the truck’s cab, which features Knight Rider-style computers. In the show, the helicopter portion of the cab can detach and fly away, and the trailer can deploy a Lotus Esprit. The truck is also armed and can even cloak, at least in the show. After filming, Jon Ward Motor Sports reportedly held on to the rig and performed part of an RV conversion on it. In 2009, the shop listed it for sale. As of 2015, it was owned by The Highwaymen USA Ink, a tattoo firm. While not the hero truck, this rig is still pretty cool. It was driven by the Highwayman’s sidekick, Australian outback survivalist Jetto, played by Mark “Jacko” Jackson. This truck’s party trick was detaching and becoming a car. I’ve done a lot of digging and could not find information about who built this rig for the TV show, but it is clear that it hasn’t fared as well as the hero truck.
It’s currently for sale in North Hollywood, California and the seller does give us some hints about its past. According to the listing, the truck’s paperwork says that it’s a 1982 Peterbilt, and despite its visual condition, it runs and drives. If the sound effects in the show are anything to go by, the original truck was powered by a two-stroke diesel. Two-stroke 12.1-liter Detroit Diesel 8V92 V8s were an option for Peterbilts in the 1980s, so it’s possible. It isn’t said what this truck was originally powered by, but at some point, it gained a new Detroit Diesel. That engine apparently has six cylinders, makes 700 HP and is accessed through hatches with Ferrari-style bodywork. Currently, the most powerful engine offered by Detroit is the 15.6-liter DD16, a six-cylinder offering up to 600 HP. Whatever Detroit Diesel is powering this rig, the seller says it has just 5,000 miles on it. There have been questions about the origins of this truck for years. A popular theory, and one that Hemmings speculated back in 2009, is that this is a modified Steinwinter truck. Of course, if it’s weird and German, you can bet that Jason has written about it. I’ll pass the mic to him: Steinwinter was known for oddball creations. Notably, Jason points out that the company took Fiat 500s and Fiat 126s, tossed out their original engines, and replaced them with engines of half of the size. Steinwinter also had a bizarre wedge-shaped 50cc car and a dune buggy. But relevant to what you’re reading right now is Steinwinter’s truck concept. I’ll pass it back to Jason: The carmaker is a German company called Steinwinter, and you can see their logo and Ferrari’s logos side-by-side up there. The Steinwinter Supercargo 20.40 concept was unveiled at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show. This truck of the future was supposed to be easily maneuverable, comfortable, and able to be converted from a semi to a bus. The project was road-tested, but never made it into production. In his piece, Jason also pointed out that the Steinwinter truck was reused five years later in The Highwayman after modifications. But to my eyes, these are actually different trucks following the same concept. It’s said that the Steinwinter truck was built on a Mercedes-Benz chassis and powered by a Mercedes-Benz OM422 four-stroke diesel. The cab of the truck in The Highwayman has a different profile, doors from what seems to be a Chevy S-10, and it also sits up higher than the Steinwinter.
If the seller is correct in that this is a Peterbilt underneath, it’s unlikely to be the Steinwinter. Since The Highwayman first aired in 1987 as a movie, then in 1988 as a nine-episode TV show, perhaps this truck was inspired by the Steinwinter truck. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this is that the concept of a “cab-under” truck wasn’t limited to Steinwinter or whoever built this Highwayman truck. As the Australian vehicle history site Historic Vehicles writes, there have been a number of trucks built with the idea of having the cab under the cargo. Bussing had a truck like this in the 1960s, and in the 1970s, U.S. trailer manufacturer Strick Corporation developed a semi where the trailer was on top of the cab. Ultimately, this Peterbilt is perhaps one of the weirdest trucks that you could own in America, well, aside from the show’s hero truck. The seller claims that $500,000 was spent to construct it, but no proof is provided. They also say that the truck had sponsors for its restoration, but it didn’t happen. It was also listed for sale at Jingle Truck a year ago for $10,000 with a similar description. I’ve reached out to the seller for more details. As of right now, the asking price is $65,000, which I’d almost say is worth it just for something so out there. It would probably be impractical for a semi, but imagine turning this thing into an RV!
If you know anything definitive about this truck, drop me a line at mercedes@theautopian.com. I’d love to solve this mystery once and for all!
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member. • The Tesla Semi Has A Weird And Annoying Issue With Its Windows • The Tesla Semi Finally Reaches Customers With Some Promising Figures, Let’s Take A Look • How A Pilot Turned An Airport Catering Truck Into A Sky-High Mechanical Treehouse Well, there have been weirder things. lol You could drop a Series 60 in no problem, as long as you had space. But a DD16 was only ever sold with aftertreatment systems and a vehicle CAN, which makes retrofitting into something of that vintage a pain, even before you get to the hack & whack modifications. The Series 60 had an electronic engine controller, but it was very self contained. And I would not do a wet bath with a sh!tcase toilet either, You have the room and weight for a real one. Along with a generator, solar package, bedroom, living room with sofa bed, washer/dryer etc and you have the luxury unit You might be able to get away with no slides, though the option is there,. I see this as a 5th wheel oddity. Park it, hit the leveling jack, detach and have an around the town vehicle. Nice to the Steinwinter concept getting another mention. I’d guess drivers wouldn’t want to sit all the way down there, but maybe the idea could work if we ever get driverless trucks. But honestly, for my car-adjacent tv, I was more entranced with Stingray, a much slicker production/concept. You made my day with that reference to such an insane, ahead of its time show. And to bring this around full circle, how cool was back then when Coke then picked up Max as a spokes, er, head? “Coke. Ca-ca-ca-ca-catch the wave!” [Female Voice] Relax You’re quite safe here [Max Headroom] Am I dreaming? No Where am I? in bed. Well, what am I doing? Oh, tal-tal-tal-talking to myself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6epzmRZk6UU https://www.amazon.com/Truck-Book-Harry-McNaught/dp/0394837037/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=5268c3bb-7c3e-4cc3-a644-3578378b6b34 https://youtu.be/g0Q5JFHrGNk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvHtKcS1POk
