A Father-Son Journey into a Hot Rod Tow Truck

By George L. Nitti In the small borough of Tremont, Pennsylvania, located in the coal region of Schuylkill County, Rodney Updegrave Jr. and his father, Rodney Sr., have shared a passion building hot rods together. Their most recent project was transforming a 1978 Chevrolet tow truck into a hot rod cruiser that is a blend of nostalgia, workmanship, and their incredible bond. 

Rodney Jr., who will soon turn 50, describes his 80 year old father as his best friend. “We share the same passions and spend nearly every day together,” he said. “Everyone in town knows us as the hot rod guys.” 

Rodney Sr. opened an auto body shop in 1963 at just 18 years old. Known as Rod’s Auto Body, it became a staple of their small town and included a 74’ Chevy tow truck with a Holmes body that Rod Sr’s father operated.  

“My dad’s best memories of my grandfather were from the days when he was pulling cars out of ditches in the middle of the night,” Rodney Jr. explained. “Building this truck was about bringing those memories back for him.” 

Although Rod Sr. transitioned out of the business in the early 1980s, the love of working with cars never left him, which he passed on to his son, who recalls a pivotal moment in 1995 when he told his father, “I want to build a hot rod.”  

Since then, they have spent every winter building cars together, completing 13 projects over three decades. Their latest one, the ‘78 Chevy tow truck, is particularly special. “I asked my dad, ‘Do you have one more in you?’ and he said, ‘I do.’ So, I said, ‘Let’s build a tow truck.’” 

Finding and Completing the Restoration 

They discovered the tow truck, a 1978 Chevy with a Nomar Wrecker body, in a Marketplace Ad in 2022, and traveled to a small car lot in North Bergen, New Jersey to pick it up. Rodney Jr. shared, “The truck had only 39,000 miles on it, but it wasn’t in great shape. It had severely rusted floors and rockers, with extensive bodywork needed. But the frame was solid, which provided a good foundation for restoration.” 

The wrecker was originally built at Nussbaum’s in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. Equipped with a single winch and adjustable boom, which can extend manually up to 24 inches, it also had a PTO system but was replaced with a 12,000-lb electric winch for better efficiency. 

Once started, their tow truck restoration project took two years to complete, as they worked every weekend from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., even on holidays. They transformed the tow truck into a one-of-a-kind hot rod.   

“We don’t do things the original way,” Rodney Jr. explained. “We LS-swapped the motor, bagged the truck, and added a C-notch to the frame. Everything you see on that truck—interior, bodywork, fabrication—we did it all ourselves, except for the lettering on the doors.” 

“Bagging the truck,” he explained, “involved replacing the original suspension with air bags. I can drive it at a normal height, but when I pull into a gas station or car show, I hit a button, and the truck drops to the ground.” 

From its souped-up engine, its candy-apple Victorian red paint, custom chrome details, vintage-inspired pinstriping, and sleek lines giving it a hot rod personality, this unit was a labor of love! Add in the polished hydraulic boom, towing equipment and pristine interior that boasts leather seats, a retro steering wheel, and a dash lined with polished gauges, the result is a unique hybrid: a tow truck that’s perfect for the hot rod show circuit. 

Today, they use it for local cruises and car shows, putting around 1,000 miles on it each year.  “It’s not a workhorse,” Rodney Jr. said with a laugh. “People ask if we’re going to tow cars with it. Of course not, although the winch still works. It’s a cool cruiser. That’s what it’s all about.”