Christmas Truck to Brighten the Night Again at Engels

Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 17, 2020

Note: At The Beachcomber, we are delighted to share this Christmas letter, with great news. Even in 2020, holiday lights will still shine in a warm, retro way at Engels Repair and Towing, on Maury Island. Last week, we reported a case of COVID-19 in the Engels’ workplace, but now, happily, everyone at the station is well, back to work and ready to celebrate the season. Be sure to drive by this iconic island location for an island tradition that can’t be dimmed even in this hard year.

It’s time for the Christmas Tow Truck to reappear.

The truck has been seen by so many islanders that it is now a tradition.

About 15 years ago, it occurred to us it would be fun to outline this classic workhorse with Christmas lights. The truck is a 1942 Chevrolet (one and one-half ton AX4) and was originally a World War II Army vehicle. It was first brought to Vashon by Art Schmidt, the founder of Vashon Sand & Gravel, to be the company’s first dump truck.

Subsequently, it was sold to John Engels so that John could install a tow truck boom and winches.

The ‘42 and its big brother, a 1942 GMB World War II “deuce-and-a-half” (six by six 10-wheeler), which also was at one time a Christmas tow truck, did many difficult tows that other trucks at the time couldn’t do — one at the bottom of Puget Sound at the North End ferry dock ramp, and another, a year later, off the dock of the South End ferry, not to mention the muddy island beach driveways and snowy roads in winter.

Now, in later years, the trucks no longer tow cars or trucks but carry a most important precious cargo — Santa Claus, his reindeer and sleigh full of presents.

Please come to see it after dark when the lights really make Nils’ (the shop’s artist) work really sparkle. Thank you!

— Lou, Connie and Paul Engels