Tilt repowered the Diamond T with faster 6-cylinder engines and used chrome on the headlights, parking lights and running boards to create a more attractive package than the competition, reportedly saying, “A truck doesn’t have to be homely,” adding “but it can feel like home.” He lived up to the latter half of that statement with the addition of an integrated sleeping cabin in the 1930s—something welcomed by long-distance truckers. In later years, electric clocks, jeweled cigaret te lighters, streamlined fenders and more furthered the high-quality styling and looks of Diamond T trucks, with the “Nations Freight Car” slogan, as Tilt had marketed it, later becoming “The handsomest truck in America.” Tilt continued to build on his reputation and success in the 1940s, producing more than 50,000 heavy-duty military vehicles to aid the Allied forces during World War II and advancing truck design even further through the addition of the fin and tube radiator, a seven-bearing, 6-cylinder engine, 4-wheel hydraulic brakes, enclosed deluxe cabs and hydraulic shock absorbers, all of which would become standard equipment on heavy-duty trucks. And while Tilt retired in 1946, shif ting management to his younger brother Ned, Diamond T continued to grow, focusing on the larger end of the market as it carried into the 1950s. In 1958, Diamond T was purchased by White Motor Corporation—which had purchased the REO Motor Car Company a year earlier—and production was moved to Lansing, Michigan, where it shared a production line with REO and White truck models. About eight years later, the last true Diamond T truck rolled off the production line, marking the end of a full run of approximately 250,000 Diamond T trucks built since 1911. Still, the Diamond T lineage carried on, merging with REO in 1967 to form Diamond Reo. Ownership of Diamond Reo Trucks changed hands a couple of times throughout the years that followed, at one point being forced into bankruptcy before its purchase by Loyal Osterlund and partner Ray Houseal in about 1976. By 1985, the pair had revived the line at its Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, plant, producing around 150 trucks annually under the name Diamond Vehicle Solutions LLC up until 1995. In the early 2000s, the company marketed the T-Line series, which were manufactured until 2010, though this would ultimately mark the end of the line, as the company later dropped the Diamond moniker, taking on the name T-Line Trucks & Chassis instead. With its long and illustrious history, it’s no surprise that Diamond T memorabilia has found its place among the hearts of Road Art enthusiasts, and for those with an affinity for the truck company built up 88 // MECUM.COM