Dean Hobbensiefken built the Hendrickson Paymaster to be an aerodynamic, easy to work on, easy to drive, and inexpensive to maintain truck. Power came from a Detroit 6-71 or an optional Cummins VT-903 diesels. Other than its unique cockpit (which looks like the precursor to the Tesla truck’s exterior design) the Hendrickson Paymaster had advanced features such as the power module which sits behind the cab, can be swapped out in around two hours. There are no fuses, it has circuit breakers that are pop-up manual – they sit on the dash.
“The Paymaster was a truck ahead of its time. Major truck manufacturers told Dean his design would be impossible to build, so he did it himself. After building the first two, Dean granted a license agreement to Hendrickson International of Chicago, Illinois, who produced ten Paymasters in the 1970s.” – – tenfourmagazine.com
The rest of the package had self adjusting, anti-skid brakes (without cams, slack adjusters or bushings) and clutch. There were no “V” belts either. Only 14 Hendrickson Paymasters were built with a few of them built by hand by Hobbensiefken.
Nobody knows how many Hendrickson Paymasters still survive, but we found one at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum a few years ago. It’s an amazing place that’s right next to the “Worlds Largest Truck Stop.”
