This 1954 REO was purchased in 1956 by Buster (Frank Redfield). They were living in Atlanta at the time, but his father was back on the wheat farm in Opheim, Montana and gettin' on in years.  This wheat farm is one of the original 'homestead' grants from back at the turn of the century, and has been in the family all these years.  So, Buster had to head home to take over operation of the farm... and this old truck was loaded with all their personal possessions and headed back home!

What's a REO??  Well, here's a good starting point (REO Club or America), but basically REO stands for Ransom Eli Olds.  He founded the REO Motor Company back in 1904 after selling his Automobile manufacturing business to General Motors (they promptly named this new addition the Oldsmobile Division).  REO trucks were especially made famous through the 20's with the ever powerful REO Speedwagon... which, ironically IS where the R.E.O. Speedwagon rock band gets their name, and many of their songs!!

Anyway, when  Buster's REO arrived back at the farm in Montana, it was quickly turned into a wheat hauling machine and was used in that capacity (and several others) until the early 70's.  At that time, Buster expanded his farming operation into the crop dusting arena, and he used the REO to haul water from the well down to the hanger.  The first photo shows one the last tanks that was on the truck.

In August of 2003, we had the old truck shipped here to Arizona to begin it's restoration. It'll remain in the family, that is sure, but now it'll just be making Home Depot runs and various car/truck show appearances and even a few local parades.

You can click each image below to view the various stages of this project.