In 1972, Freightliner panicked and built the "War Eagle" prototype. Management thought it was so hideous they ordered it chopped up with a saw immediately.

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wdb07@reddit

looks like a beamng drive t-series got a severely botched nosejob

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I like it. Brutalist front end, cute little cab. Not sure when it would be useful exactly, but truck stuff isn’t a special interest of mine. Any scenario where you need to haul a heavy load but don’t expect the crew to live in the cabin I’d guess. Maybe unloading military supplies or hauling massive artillery? That would make sense given the name.

They probably should have given it a chance. Or at least made one with a sleeper cab and let a few freelance truckers trial them on their regular jobs (testing practically unpaid, but fuel and servicing/repairs for free as long as the drivers were making detailed reports and any late or failed deliveries due to issues with the truck covered.)

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wolfpack_57@reddit

Logging is pretty short-haul

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HamsterOnLegs@reddit

I should have thought of that. Good call.

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TheMetalWolf@reddit

It seems very soviet. Or at the very least militaristic, which is fitting for being called War Eagle. With that shape, I can see it being easily armored. Some of the Chernobyl trucks look pretty similar but instead of armor plating, they used lead for obvious reasons.

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HamsterOnLegs@reddit

Exactly. You get it. It’s for transporting something heavy in less than a day.. so, supplies for to or from airdrop before being unloaded to smaller supply vehicles; short haul nuclear material; getting big guns a short way from their “home” to where they’ll be shooting from. Extremely cold war.

The US doesn’t really think of short-but-heavy haul trucks though. It’s either long haul, or short and smaller and/or armoured.

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TheMetalWolf@reddit

Yeah, that's why I was thinking more soviet. The soviets would think up the craziest shit to fill a need. It's pretty impressive and fascinating. Their specialty versions of existing vehicles can get really fucking insane.

Like these Chernobyl monsters. The KrAZ Liquidator. Single seat cab version of an existing truck specifically geared toward protecting the driver from radiation.

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Fiempre_sin_tabla@reddit

Freightliner "panicked"...? About what?

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cloudubious@reddit

They didnt, op is karma farming.

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Bredda_Gravalicious@reddit

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Prudent_Situation_29@reddit

Only americans would name something war eagle. What a ridiculous culture.

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YalsonKSA@reddit

Why did they name it the War Eagle? Who were they fighting?

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oldsmoBuick67@reddit

Peterbilt must have made a concept and called it Crimson Tide I guess.

“War Eagle” is used by Auburn University fans / alumni as a cheer or greeting. The phrase supposedly came from an early football game where a confederate veteran showed up with an old War Eagle that suddenly took flight during the game and circled the field. Auburn goes on to win the game.

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AppendixN@reddit

Panicked why?

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_badwithcomputer@reddit

Almost all of my searching about this truck just turns up a bunch of different social media posts. And OP seems to just post random truck carma posts. I don't think your question will ever get a satisfactory answer TBH.

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64557175@reddit

Our current culture is defined by intentional empty emotional language. As if "made ya look!" was a society.

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mk4_wagon@reddit

Freightliner management SLAMMED this radical truck concept!

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JCDU@reddit

My current bugbear is anyone making any criticism of a politician has apparently DESTROYED and DEVASTATED them, like a fly hitting my windsheild has DESTROYED my car...

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mk4_wagon@reddit

FATALITY

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CallOfCorgithulhu@reddit

Making people look is exactly what people like OP want. If you notice, many of their posts link to their Youtube channel. So the formula seems to be: Post with zesty title > reply to a comment with "hey I made a video on this!" and link > repeat.

Their posts are basically just self-promoting their Youtube channel.

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Barblesnott_Jr@reddit

Couldn't say it better, it kills me when trying to find the truth sometomes

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throat_acne@reddit

Gotta talk to Rocky Blakewood for an answer 😆

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Farfignugen42@reddit

I'm not sure what there was to panic about in 1972.

Freightliner was partnered with the White Motor Company for a while, but that ended in 1974. Daimler Benz didn't buy Freightliner until 1981.

Their cab over design meant they could maximize cargo and still fall within legal limits for total truck length until that was deregulated, but that didn't happen until 1980.

The only thing that might have been close enough to 1972 and cause a panic I can think of is the fuel crisis, but A) I don't know how much lead time there was on that panic, and B) is this design any more fuel efficient? I don't think we have any data on that.

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manolgaaming2002@reddit

My understanding is that they thought the cab over variant was not enough so they reused the cab for a hood truck

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Contundo@reddit

Prototype so that could be reworked

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Farfignugen42@reddit

The cab over design was a major design feature prior to 1980 for them. Up to that point there were strict limits on the overall length of the truck. The cab over the engine let them maximize cargo space within that limit. That had been a feature since the beginning of the company in the1930s.

That limit was relaxed in 1980, but that's eight years later than this prototype.

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Immediate_Regular@reddit

There was a spooky skeleton in the office and they couldn't find it. Obviously.

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airfryerfuntime@reddit

OP is just a moron. They didn't 'panic', but it was rushed, which is why it turned out so ugly. When the trucking industry was deregulated, everyone immediately made a mad rush to abandon cabovers and go back to conventional designs, which caused manufacturers to rush into releasing new models.

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RuinFabulous3077@reddit

Might have a lot to do with ... "management" and likely lots of drugs.

I'm sure there were sketches made of the finished design, but they didn't bother to look at them? ... Fishy story by OP.

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Torgosrightknee@reddit

I am also curious about this. Is this 1973 energy crisis related?

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Select-Belt-ou812@reddit

yes! came here to say exactly this!

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las_galletas@reddit

Looks nice and clean imo

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9061yellowriver@reddit

Freightliner predicted big grills AND 21st century Accuride wheels.

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mk4_wagon@reddit

You could pretty easily translate this theme into a current truck. Keep the giant grill and hide the headlights, Hyundai Santa Cruz style. That forward raked handle would be some kind of vent or intake and probably carry down into the steps. And the day cab stays because it's not for long haul trucking.

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DMala@reddit

It was basically a huge middle finger in the face of aerodynamics.

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TheMetalWolf@reddit

Who needs aerodynamics when you can pound air resistance into submission with raw power?!

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ShalomRPh@reddit

"Aerodynamics are for people who don't know how to build engines" - Enzo Ferrari (allegedly)

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TheMetalWolf@reddit

Dude had an ego. I wouldn't doubt it.

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IRingTwyce@reddit

Yeah, I'm giving this one a down vote for the intentional engagement karma farming title.

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ThePurplePixy@reddit

What was wrong with these people? This thing looks astonishingly awesome

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Aubeng@reddit

I approve of the name.

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Sovereign1@reddit

I dig it, very brutalist and minimal. Looks like a rolling brick.

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MasterofPeridots@reddit

This must be the inspiration for BMWs.

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captaincootercock@reddit

reminds me of Edison motors electric truck. badass

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MasterofPeridots@reddit

I don't see it. Those look more like classic Macks to me. The grille is a little overdone here.

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CommercialCook4427@reddit

If it existed then it should have been in Terminator. Love this design

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Marshall_Lawson@reddit

doesn't even look that bad compared to modern pickup trucks

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jarrodxc70@reddit

Oops! All grill.

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ZaxZone@reddit

Dang I love it!!

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KingHauler@reddit

Hideous? I think it's great looking.

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aipac125@reddit

The "what kids" steamroller.

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impoppinfresh@reddit

It looks like it’s straight out of “Cars” 🤣

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Yeetstation4@reddit

Would work with a different bumper and grill

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francis2559@reddit

Seems cheap to make. No visual features to speak of. Unremarkable.

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I_amnotanonion@reddit

That’s quite a schnoz on that thing

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StrategyMore5356@reddit (OP)

Back in the early 70s, truck drivers were getting sick of cabovers (sitting right on top of a deafening engine and feeling every bump). They wanted conventional long-hood trucks, and Freightliner had absolutely nothing to compete with Kenworth or Peterbilt.

To save time and money, an engineer named Rocky Blakewood literally took the cab and doors from their flat-nose 61-series, slid it way back on the frame, and slapped that massive, boxy hood on the front.

Legend has it that when the big bosses finally saw it, they were absolutely horrified. They ordered the team to drag it behind the shed and scrap it immediately so nobody would see it. But without this "ugly duckling," the legendary Freightliner FLC 120 might never have been born a few years later.

I just put together a short video digging deep into the forgotten history of this weird prototype. If you guys like obscure automotive history, you can check out the full story here: https://youtu.be/H_9E9V39zWk?si=6m_HVWb-ZGh6iDB9