A Speed Wagon's Second Chance
For six years, the image haunted me -- a spectacular REO Speed Wagon, owned by Wayne McGee in Hillsborough, that lived in his lean-to shed. After so much time, I could no longer stand it and, one Friday afternoon, called him up. After chatting about my 47 Chevy he had helped me with, we finally got to the heart of the call. I asked him how much he wanted for the REO. Without haggling, I agreed to pay him his price and arranged to it pick up.
As I sat in the truck seat, before leaving that day, I looked over at my friend and said, “I need to do something spectacular with this truck.” And I did.
The vision seemed to take a long time to percolate. I asked friends about restoring the truck, tried to get bids on repainting it, and joined the national REO Speed Wagon group to learn as much as I could. Two years later, it was still sitting unpolished, now just in a different shed.
I had nearly given up on inspiration when a trip to the beach with old friend Weaver and the amazing Bar-B-Q team of John Haney and Phil Wingo (Pork Mafia) culminated with a late-night drinking session and debate around the fire pit. Somehow the conversation turned to the REO, and Weaver suggested putting a fire box on the back of it and using it for a smoke wagon.
Sometimes a problem waits for the right person to solve it, and the right person was John Haney, creator of Alveron BBQ. After many months of convincing, he acquiesced to design and build what is now the REO Smoke Wagon.
The day for unveiling had arrived, and fortuitously, it coincided with the celebration of our new farm silo mural. It was exciting to share the smoker with my family and friends. John arrived with the smoker box on a trailer and spent the rest of the day welding it to the frame of the truck and making final adjustments. Around sundown, we leaned back, drank a toast to the REO Smoke Wagon, and smoked our first meat.
The man for the moment, John Haney, had created and built one of the most impressive show cookers of its type. When you see it rolling down the streets of Chapel Hill, or winning at BBQ contests, tip your hat to one of the most beautiful smokers of its kind in the country. Thanks John!
