Sadly, this guy chose to ignore repeated telegrams that asked "Is your car over 10 years old and out of warranty?"

The obvious and complete disregard for a driver's safety, along with the safety of anyone or anything near this motorized deathtrap, is staggering. When tempted to curse the heavy hand of nanny government, please, contemplate which came first — decades of deathtraps like this and rapidly growing death statistics, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other such organizations.

I was thinking, that's not the same Alco, is it? I had no idea they made trucks. (Have to be careful googling, to avoid the railroad meaning of "truck".)

It was indeed that Alco, but so obscure that Tad Burness did not have any information on their motor trucks in 1978.

Poor thing. But they weren't that much better looking when whole

"Alco", a trade name for the American Locomotive Company, was, of course, best known for the very thing the name suggests; the venture into road transport was short lived (aesthetically speaking, no loss, it seems)

It seems the driver sat perched over the fuel tank. Based on the fire damage showing in that area one can only guess the driver had a funny feeling it was time to abandon his post.