A used and abused, retired oilfield workhorse that was rescued and restored to it’s original glory after finding a home in Seminole, left town Friday morning to begin a new life indoors representing its contribution to oilfield history.

Mike Dundee, former owner and President of Dundee Oil and Supply Inc., explains that he found the 1947 Model 509 Diamond T roustabout truck “in a yard full of junk” north of Cleveland, Oklahoma. He had it for several years before moving it to the Dundee Oil and Supply yard in Seminole in 1998.

Pictures of the truck from that time show it was still a rusted over, dented up eyesore, one of its rotting rubber tires completely flat.

One day while they were looking over the junk yard refugee, Dundee asked employee Freddie White what he thought about redoing it.

“Typical Freddie, he replied, ‘well, maybe we could do that,’” Dundee says with a laugh before stressing White did over 90 percent of the restoration work.

Over the next year White worked on the project off and on, transforming the piece of junk into a showroom quality masterpiece. Dundee explains that White took it completely apart, down to the frame, and the engine was totally dismantled.

“If it had a bolt, it was unbolted, I mean he took it totally apart,” Dundee stresses. “He has a knack for doing this kind of stuff,” he continued, adding that he’s worked at Dundee Oil for approximately 45 years.

“All of this is original parts, except for the rubber products, the paint and the glass, and the wood bed,” Dundee proudly states. One exception is the hood ornament, which Dundee says it cost him $1,200 to replace.

“They’re hard to find,” he understates.

One of the many impressive details is the original front grill that was re-chromed. Other body parts were soda blasted before being repainted by Bryan Hause. The wood was replaced on the floor of the flat bed with gin poles that was manufactured by Tulsa Body Works.

All of the hard work resulted in an outstanding example of the high quality the Diamond T Motor Car Company, which was founded in 1905, was known for, especially their trucks during WW II.

The Diamond T Company merged with the Reo Motor Company in 1967, becoming Diamond Reo Trucks, Inc.

Dundee recalls that his truck was previously pictured in The Seminole Producer in 2003, when it made a stop at the Bus Stop Café on its way to participate in the Gusher Day Parade. He turns to a picture he saved in his scrapbook, which says that the truck was being driven by Freddie White with Alvin Dundee riding as the passenger.

Dundee has sold the business, and the truck was left sitting under a cover, so he decided to find it a new home. That’s how it came to be that Friday morning the truck was loaded onto a trailer by James White, Facilities Manager for the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas. Dundee had great praise for the restored truck’s new home. Freddie White got to fire up the motor one last time as it was being loaded on the trailer. It sounded like a brand-new engine.

James White explains that the museum is about the entire petroleum industry, not just Oklahoma. The TripAdvisor website explains that the museum was founded in 1975 and tells the story of petroleum and the rugged lives of men and women who sought a better life.

What started as a community dream has, over time, become the nation’s largest museum dedicated to the petroleum industry and its pioneers. The Petroleum Museum has welcomed over one million visitors worldwide. It shares the petroleum and energy story and its impact on our daily lives through educational programs, interactive exhibits, an archives center and its Petroleum Hall of Fame. The museum offers over 40,000 square feet of interactive education and entertainment for adventurers of all ages. The mission of the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum is to share the petroleum and energy story and its impact on our lives.

Although it was understandably not easy to give up such a wonderful, historic truck after all of the hard work that went into restoring it, knowing that it will be seen and admired by visitors from around the world will hopefully be some consolation.

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