Bigger might be better, but good things also come in small packages. After all, Dr. Evil didn't clone a larger version of himself, did he? And remember those enormous cell phones in A Night at the Roxbury? You wouldn't be caught dead lugging around those chunks. So, following that same logic, wouldn't it be cool to own a diesel big rig that could fit in the family garage?
Stop rubbing your eyes. The screaming-yellow semi shown here wasn't left in the dryer too long. It's a 1980s-style 359 Peterbilt body fitted on a '93 3/4-ton Dodge Ram pickup. The vehicle's original owner (who prefers to remain anonymous) wasn't able to drive a standard-sized 18-wheeler, but when he realized that he could have a truck that looks like a big rig, yet was small enough to fit in his home garage, he just had to have one.
The Mini Pete's co-owner, Johnny VonSlochteren, acquired the truck through a surprising sequence of events, while making some exten ive modifications of his own along the way. When asked what motivated Johnny to take on the project, the answer was simple: "Just plain craziness!"
We'll let Johnny relate his story in his own words, because we just couldn't make this stuff up.
TWO OWNERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE
"About four years ago, me and my brother-in-law were outside messing with the cars in the front yard," Johnny recalled. "He asked me if I saw that truck that just drove by, and I said, 'No.' He said it was a yellow semitruck but smaller. I said, 'Yeah, I've seen that before. It's a Kenworth with a sleeper, painted yellow on a 1-ton frame.'"