It reached 114 mph at the drag strip.
These milk trucks aren’t common anymore. Nowadays, milk trucks are rare. People can now buy milk from the grocery store and keep it fresh in a refrigerator. This appliance was not available in the early 20th Century. Many of the milk trucks that trudged along American streets were built by Divco, Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company. One of these milk trucks still exists in Illinois. However, it now delivers ETs rather than milk jugs.
The drag strip is a new home for this Divco milk truck. Nick, the owner of this Divco milk truck, estimates that it is their sixth project together. The milk truck is retro-looking, but Nick kept the exterior unchanged since he purchased it. It sits on a custom chassis from a 1995 Chevrolet pickup. The body is the only original part.
The truck’s old 107-horsepower (78 kilowatts) engine is gone. It is now a 496-cubic inch Chevy Big Block V8. It has a pair turbochargers and produces 815 horsepower (600 kW). This is a lot of power to drive on streets lined with houses dropping milk.
Nick drove the milk truck to drag strip where it reached speeds of 114 miles an hour (183 km per hour). He was concerned that the windshield on the front might have broken during the run. Triple-digit speeds were not the goal of milk trucks.
You can see the extensive renovations inside the milk truck. The Divco has hardwood floors from a house remodel. Two seats from a Dodge Caravan are up in the front. Nick added a sound system to the rear, with a subwoofer and music controls.
Nick said that he has other plans for the milktruck and hopes to get it back on track soon. Although he doesn’t specify exactly what he would like to see, we don’t think the 815-hp milktruck will be any slower.
