Truck Of The Day: February 17, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from Firehawk73's collection and is Jada's 1947 Ford COE.

Cab-over, also known as COE (Cab Over Engine), cab forward, or forward control, is a body style of truck or van that has a vertical front or "flat face", with the cab of the truck sitting above the front axle. This truck configuration is currently common among European and Japanese truck manufacturers, because the laws governing overall vehicle lengths are strict and the body style allows longer trailers or a longer cargo area for the same overall length.

Although popular among United States heavy truckers and trucking companies during the 1970s because of strict length laws in many states, when those length laws were repealed, most heavy-truck makers moved to other body styles. It is, however, still very popular in the light- and medium-duty truck segment, with models such as the Isuzu NPR series or the Mitsubishi Fuso FE and FK/FM series.

Most Japanese minivans like the Suzuki Carry, Toyota Hiace and Mitsubishi Delica also use this body layout. It was also used for the (rear engined) Volkswagen Type 2 van, and in military vehicles such as the Land Rover 101 Forward Control and the Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Cab over engine

The Sternberg company of Wisconsin produced cab-over trucks as early as 1907, though by 1914 only their seven-ton model was a cab-over. They reintroduced the cab-over layout in 1933 with their "Camel Back" model, which allowed the cab to be tilted to access the engine.

The introduction of the first modern cab-over layout in the U.S. is credited to industrial designer Viktor Schreckengost, who with engineer Ray Spiller designed a cab-over truck for the White Motor Company in 1932.

The laws of the time limited truck length to 42 feet (12.8 m) on highways. Sitting the cab over the engine saved several feet of cab length, which was added to the trailer capacity. Schreckengost patented the design in 1934.

White-Freightliner introduced its first tilting cab-over design in 1958, which allowed the entire cab to tilt forward for access to the engine.