Ford MTO-71 Orrville Postal Truck

This 1/2 ton truck had a very short wheelbase (99") Ford chassis, 102 net horsepower straight 6 engine, automatic transmission, and cockpit instruments, but the body was made by Specialty Metal Products of Orrville, OH. The rear door was by Todco. It also had right hand steering, with a big mail tray on the left side. Some vehicles have a metal nameplate identifying them as a Ford G100. This vehicle was the progenitor of today's modern postal route delivery vehicles. There are several examples in civilian service as ice cream trucks.

Like most USPS surplus vehicles, mine was very well worn. It wasn't aerodynamic with a precisely vertical front windshield and high-ratio rear-end differential. It got 12 mpg in town or on the highway. It was handy for hauling the dog and stuff around. Chester the wonder dog (pictured alongside) would sit in the large left hand side mail tray and freak out drivers who thought that he was driving.

The musical artists HeartsRevolution covered their MTO-71 ice cream truck in a million Swarovski crystals! Considered by Rolling Stone to be the best band vehicle at SXSW 2014,

Another very nice MTO-71 ice cream truck with "woody" treatment seen on the streets of Monterey, CA in 2014.

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