Terry Hasler was just 15 years old when his father passed away and his beloved Dodge truck was sold.
But 40 years later, when Terry happened to spot a 1970 Dodge AT4-760 on Facebook, he knew instantly it was his dad’s.
“I was a teenager the last time I saw the truck, but I never forgot it,” he tells Deals on Wheels.
“I always wanted to know where it was and what happened to it.”
Terry’s dad Kevin Hasler died young – at the age of 48 – leaving Terry and his mother Bev to run the family fruit and veg shop in Gulgong, NSW.
“After dad died, I got my car licence and then my truck licence as early as I could, to help out,” he says.
“Unfortunately it got a bit expensive to run the truck, so it was traded in for a newer one.”
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The truck was traded into a yard and bought by a farmer near Molong, where it stayed for the next four decades.
“It was only 60 kilometres from where mum sold it, still registered and working on the farm,” he says.
Terry was in South Australia when he spotted the Dodge on Facebook, and wouldn’t be able to pick it up for two months – so he paid for it over the phone straight away, to make sure it wasn’t sold to someone else.
“The owner, Des, wanted me to have a look at it and make sure it was my dad’s truck before I paid for it.
“I said – no, no – I know it’s the truck.”
It was an emotional day when Terry finally made it to the farm to collect the truck.
“It brought back a lot of memories,” he adds.
And the experience of bringing home the truck got even more special when Terry cracked open the ashtray and found some of his dad’s Viscount cigarette butts inside.
“We couldn’t get the ashtray open – it took us about a month to do it,” he says.
“One day I got it open and saw these cigarette butts.
“I called Des and asked him if he smoked – he said he’d never smoked in his life, and he’d never even looked in the ashtray.
“So they were definitely my dad’s. They’re still in the ashtray, we’re never taking them out.”
After decades of hard work, the Dodge was a little worse for wear.
But Terry didn’t want to erase any memories of his dad – from the smells to the signs of wear on the seats – so he decided to only restore the outside of the truck.
“I sanded the cab and repainted it,” he says.
“It had the pinstriping and scrolling on it when we had it but Des had painted over it in the 40 years he had it.
“When I was sanding it, it started to come through, so I put that back on it.
“I also took the tray off and painted it, and put a new timber floor in.”
The Dodge has its original radio, which still works – and when Terry was sanding the toolbox he found another special relic from that time.
“All of a sudden this white writing started coming through, and it was our family name with the tare weight of the truck,” he says.
“Then I remembered when it was put on there, when I was probably 13 or 14.
“I decided to leave that as it was, it’s still there.”
Terry is delighted with how the truck came out.
“I didn’t think I could do as good as how it turned out, so I’m really happy,” he says.
“I’ve also got my father’s Vanguard ute and my mother’s old FC Falcon, and it’s made me want to restore them too.
“They’re my next project!”
Terry has already showed off the rig at the Gold Coast Truck Show, where he won the People’s Choice Award and Best Vintage Truck.
He also took it home to Gulgong for the Henry Lawson Festival in June.
“They have a big parade there every year with vintage cars and tractors and they take everything out of the museum – it’s just a huge weekend.
“One of the things I wanted to do when I restored the truck was to take it back to where we had the shop.
“A lot of people who lived there at the time remembered the truck, which was really good.”
Terry’s dad inspired him to pursue a career in trucking, and he now runs his own business, TKH Haulage.
Based in Wondai, he drives a 1995 Ford Louisville, carting everything from concrete to machinery.
“I like being out on the road and meeting different people – every day is different,” he says.
“I don’t bust myself doing it – I poke along and enjoy myself!”