Page 29 - Issue 49

From a young age Merlon rom a young age Merlon
F
Johnson had a very curious ery curious ery curious
Johnson had a v
Johnson had a v
and mechanical mind. He came
and mechanical mind. He came
fr
from a family that didn’t have om a family that didn’t have
much, which f
much, which forced him into orced him into
being creative and utilizing
anything he could get his
hands on, often rat rodding ften rat rodding
hands on, o
things together. Over the
years, Merlon has built and
owned well over 100 cars,
however, none quite have the
story the 1941 G506 Military
Truck does.
Merlon remembers the cold
January day he found the truck
in his hometown of Lake Havasu,
Arizona. He stumbled upon the
truck while surfi ng eBay when it
had a current bid of $200.00 on
it. He decided he’d place a bid of
$205.00 and went on with his day.
A few days later he was notifi ed
that he had won an auction and
needed to pay for his item. That
item was an awesome 1941 truck
and he bought it for $203.00.
Merlon and a friend began the long
haul (1200 Miles) to Dalles, Oregon
where the truck was located. The
trip was not an easy one due to
terrible weather conditions on his
way up to get the truck, and on his
way back home. In fact, by the time
they returned home to Havasu he
was so tired of looking at the truck
he decided to put it in storage.
Not long after the purchase of
the 1941 G506 Merlon attended a
car show, The Rockabilly Reunion.
It was there that he found just
the inspiration he needed for
the Military Truck. What was this
inspiration? Well, it happened
to be the Diamond T Truck that
Welderup built. Steve Darnell had
brought a couple of his shop’s rat
rods down to the show. Merlon was
impressed with the way Steve and
his shop were incorporating diesel

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