Butcher Truck C-Cab, a Spectacular Survivor! — and it’s for sale

About 3 years ago I did this post on the Bob Reed Country Butcher Shop C-Cab built by Dan Woods because it was for sale.

Country Butcher Shop Dan Woods Truck

I’m reposting with some more photos of this cool C-Cab because it evidently didn’t sell back in 2018.

Country Butcher Shop Dan Woods Truck

And I recently saw that it had been offered for sale again on eBay with a starting bid of $44,995.

Country Butcher Shop Dan Woods Truck

Back in 2018, the Butcher Truck was offered for sale for $65,000.

Country Butcher Shop Dan Woods Truck

And recently there were no bids on eBay at the $44,995 starting bid so someone could have saved $20k from the price less than 36 months ago!

Country Butcher Shop Dan Woods Truck

Personally, as a piece of true 1970s street rod nostalgia I think that this is quite an awesome deal today.

Country Butcher Shop Dan Woods Truck

Because not only is this a rod built by one of the T-Bucket era’s finest craftsmen, Dan Woods, but it also has woodwork by Roger Jongerius of J&J Chassis fame.

Roger Jongerius of J&J Chassis

I truly hope that someone today takes advantage of this great deal and buys it because I’m a huge fan of the Butcher Truck C-Cab built by Dan Woods. 48 years ago, Bob Reed’s Country Butcher Shop C-Cab was a spectacular study in contrasts. With a custom built interpretation of a boxy 1909 Ford Model T light delivery car mounted on the street rod equivalent of a sophisticated Formula One race car chassis, the Butcher Truck was true cover car material.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C Cab Street Rodder Bob Reed

Dan Woods Butcher Truck Hot Rod August 1973

Butcher Truck Bob Reed Dan Woods C-Cab Truckin September 1976

What’s cool is that it’s still around, well-preserved and (last I checked) for sale. But first, how did such a unique T-based hot rod come to be created? It’s an interesting story of C-Cab street rod evolution that started back in 1963 when a teenager became inspired to build a rod that was truly different.

Dan Woods Milk Truck C-Cab

When Dan Woods built the Milk Truck C-cab show rod while still in high school in 1964, he exercised some chassis creativity that had not been seen before. The chromed single Corvair coil sprung front axle was a real show stopper.

Dan Woods Milk Truck C-Cab Show Car

But so was the entire vehicle, which accounted for its unprecedented sweepstakes win in its premier at the Tridents’ Show in Los Angeles.

Dan Woods Jake Jacobs Ed Roth Druid Princess show car
Dan Woods and Jim Jacobs with Ed Roth and the early stage Druid Princess.

Ed Roth was so impressed seeing Dan’s Milk Truck creation that in 1965 he hired him along with his friend Jim “Jake” Jacobs to help build his radical Druid Princess show car.

Ed Roth Druid Princess Dan Woods Jim Jake Jacobs

Dan’s coil spring suspension expertise was put to use both front and rear on the Druid Princess to great effect. As for Jake Jacobs, he moved on after his Roth stint to several endeavors in the street rod world, a stint at Rod & Custom magazine and the founding of Pete & Jake’s hot rod parts.

Dan Woods C-Cab body

After Dan left Roth’s he started working at J&J Chassis and enrolled in college. Shown in the above photo with Mark Morton, later of Hop Up magazine fame.

C-Cab body Dan Woods

One of Dan’s college design projects took form as the mold for a stylized C-Cab body.

C-Cab body by Dan Woods

Several distinctly different C-Cabs were built by Dan and others who purchased the bodies from Dan’s mold.

Dan Woods Ice Truck Ed Newton drawing

And before answering his country’s call to serve in Vietnam Dan had taken note of the advanced suspension geometry used by famous American Formula One racer and designer, Dan Gurney. Together with Roth alum, Ed Newton, Dan envisioned the C-Cab hot rod of the future.

Dan Woods Ice Truck C-Cab

After return from his tour of duty, Dan set about finishing the Ice Truck, a low-slung performance chassis street rod like had never been seen before. Which brings us up to the subject at hand, the Bob Reed Butcher Truck C-Cab.

Ford Model T Light Delivery Car Butcher Truck

Being the proprietor of a successful butcher shop in Downey, California as well as a street rod enthusiast, Bob Reed had Dan call upon a variety of talented builders for a truly unique vehicle that would not only draw attention to the business, but would also be practical enough to make deliveries if necessary, just as Henry Ford had envisioned for his Model T Light Delivery car.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

The 1909 Ford C-Cab body was fabricated by Roger Jongerius of J&J Chassis in Cerritos, California.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

Fowler Cabinet Works was called upon to do much of the extensive interior wood paneling.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

The red oak interior firewall, however, was fabricated by Bob Trout. The updated T-traditional diamond tuft upholstery is the work of Don’s Trim Shop.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

For dependable delivery power Dan chose an almost stock Ford 302 engine which was accented with Cobra valve covers and oil pan, mated to a Ford C-4 automatic transmission.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

A Jim Babb brass radiator was chosen to keep things cool and the engine was wrapped with a hood by T Hood Works, who also fabricated the fenders. To cover the 302 engine, the radiator and hood were both widened a subtle two inches.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

The beautiful brass era-correct headlights were from E&J Mfg. Co., and were one of the staples supplied to T builders by Dan through his Contemporary Carriage Works.

Contemporary Carriage Works ad Dan Woods

Now it’s time to get to the really good stuff: the suspension. I wish I had more suspension-only photos, but perhaps the best illustration to start is one that ran in the Street Rodder magazine May, 1973 feature on the Butcher Truck.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

This was a truly spectacular 6-page feature on the Butcher Truck and it uniquely included a two-page spread of wonderfully detailed illustrations showing not only how the body came together but also the sophisticated suspension designed by Dan Woods. The very talented illustrator was Frank Dazey and after studying his illustration style I feel confident saying he was also the person who illustrated the detailed California Custom Roadsters T-Bucket Chassis Plans.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

Let’s start at the rear and work forward. Dan installed a chromed Jaguar XKE independent rear suspension for comfort as well as looks. The Boranni wire wheels on both the rear and front were in keeping with the nostalgic look of the Butcher truck.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

And the looks were further enhanced with a quickchange cover for the Spicer differential, plus an elegantly designed step plate for entering the rear of the C-Cab.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

Of course, one of the features of the Jag IRS is the inboard disc brakes for reduced unsprung weight. Koni coil/over adjustable shocks replaced the original Jag units.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

The under-chassis chrome, which includes the driveshaft, is complemented by a porcelainized exhaust system.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

This under-construction chassis shot will give you an idea of what a work of art it is.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

An interesting fact is that the C-Cab body goes quite well with a non-kicked frame that from a distance may not look too different from an original Model T frame. But as one gets closer that’s when the engineering details become apparent.

Contemporary Carriage Works 1974 Mico Supermaster Cylinder

It’s worth noting the 4 wheel disc brakes were actuated by a Mico brake master cylinder, perhaps originally developed for use on forklifts. Dan was singularly responsible for popularizing these as the Supermaster Cylinder in the 70’s because their unique design provided some 2-1/2 times the pressure of previously used automotive master cylinders.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed front suspension

Looking forward you’ll see Dan Woods’ original design for a state of the art independent front suspension. It begins with spindles machined from stainless steel bar stock. The unequal length A-arms were fabricated by Dan from 4130 chrome moly tubing and feature adjustable eccentrics on both the top and bottom to permit adjustment of the spindle inclination.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed front suspension

Steering was accomplished with a unique arrangement of a 1972 Volvo box (and it should be noted these under-chassis photos are of the Butcher Truck in it’s current state, some 45 years later) .

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

The Butcher Truck’s pearl yellow paint was applied by Bill Desatoff, who also did the wiring of the C-cab. The pinstriping and gold leaf lettering were done by Tom Kelly.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

All by itself, the Butcher truck looks even better than can be imagined.

Dan Woods Butcher Truck C-Cab Bob Reed

Very appropriately, the Butcher Truck was featured in ads for Dan’s shop with his then partner, master aluminum fabricator Steve Davis.

Dan Woods Country Butcher Shop C-Cab Truck

Today, the Butcher Truck is for sale in running condition for what I believe is a real bargain price. Plus, I understand the seller might consider partial trade for a 1958-62 Corvette or 1960’s original muscle car. If seriously interested, contact Steve at 216-406-6301. He purchased the Butcher Truck some time ago from original owner Bob Reed. To me, it’s a steal for a legendary street rod that was created 48 years ago at a cost of $15,000 back then; the equivalent of $85K+ today, to say nothing of being a 3-time magazine feature cover car created by one of the most talented builders of the era. The Butcher Truck is a true street rod classic. And if you’d like to see more of that Dan Woods street rod and automotive magic you can follow @danwoods9 on Instagram.

John Morehead
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8 thoughts on “Butcher Truck C-Cab, a Spectacular Survivor! — and it’s for sale”

  1. Thanks John for your article on Bob Reed’s Butcher Truck and Dan Woods. Long before TV shows about building special interest cars came into being, thus elevating a few individuals to celebrity status, a whole sub-culture of talented car loving guys were building very creative and one off original design vehicles. The influence of Norm Grabowski’s T- bucket is arguably one of the most influential creations of early hot rods. Dan Woods creativity took T- bucket design to a whole other level. Dan’s C- cab designs were also very creative. Starting with the Milk Truck, a somewhat traditional look, to his completely original Ice Truck. All of these creations came out of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Long before computer controlled everything. The hobby has changed along with the rest of the world, but those of us who were lucky enough to have been there witnessed the beginning of creatively designed hot rods, street rods and one off hand built creations.

    Reply
  2. Is Dan Woods still alive? He built a Street Rod for by dad in 1976 called White Lightening.
    The motor was mine, a 426 Hemi(1969) built by Service Center in Compton. I have been trying to locate the car for several years with no luck. It was featured on the the cover of Street Rodder, February 1976, Volume 5, No. 2.
    If Dan Woods is still alive I would like to contact him as I am sure he would remember building it.

    Reply
    • Dan is a live & well living in NW Ca far away from LA’s asphalt jungle.
      Bob Reed is alive & well living a few miles south of Dan.

      Reply
      • Wow that’s good to hear I met Bob over 25years ago my dad used to the pest control service at the Bucher shop and at his house in la habra he was a very nice guy and had a really kool collection of cars

        Reply
  3. Hi John, fantastic article and the pictures of the Hi Roller are brilliant. Where did you get those? The advert picture looks like the unused body that was for sale on Craiglist. Regards Paul

    Reply
    • Thanks Paul. Always great to hear from such a big C-Cab fan. If by “Hi Roller” you’re referring to the C-Cab body Dan produced as a college design project, the one with Dan and Mark Morton is from the @danwoods9 Instagram, where you’ll find a few more as well. The body for sale is from the Gene Scott/PSI/Antique Auto Parts catalog. The Budweiser C-Cab was actually the first use of Dan’s body and it was done by Richard Graves, who replaced the body on a T-Bucket he built as a favor to Dan. As an aside, I believe that mold ended up at Fantasy Engineering and that’s where the much discussed in forums mold came from. All the best with your C-Cab project!
      John

      Reply
    • Thanks Duane. I really appreciate hearing from you because I really do want to make each article both meaningful and informative, with a little fun thrown in, for T-Bucket fans. I’ll keep doing ’em as long as the positive feedback continues.
      John

      Reply

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