1934 Texaco Doodlebug Tanker.

In the early 1930s, Texaco hired two industrial designers, Norman Bel Geddes and Walter Dorwin Teague, to give Texaco a clean brand image. Together, they came up with Texaco’s famous red T-star and the block-letter logo. They also styled the attendants’ white uniforms and the architecture and color schemes of the stations themselves.

Big Oil at that time was battling Big Coal. Coal and oil trucks were usually filthy, covered with dust, grime and residue. Big Oil, including Texaco, wanted to put forth a cleaner, more progressive image than Big Coal. So the first step was to have Bel Geddes and Teague design a series of sanitary, streamlined, eye-catching tank trucks.

The Texaco Doodlebug was an important design for several reasons. Basically, it erased all traces of 1930s car and truck architecture. There were no fenders, no hood, no runningboards and no flat, upright windshield.

The passenger cabin got blended into the overall design, and the Doodlebug’s simple breadloaf shape was all of a piece. Except for the applied headlights, the Doodlebug could have been designed today.

The Doodlebug driver sat far ahead of the front-axle centerline, meaning he must have had a rough, choppy ride. Drivetrain stood at the rear. The trucks used 6-cylinder engine. Air pressure actuated the clutch and 4-speed gearbox, using the same pneumatic system as the brakes.

Because the driver couldn’t hear the engine, Heil mounted a microphone in the engine compartment and a speaker in the cab so he could tell when to shift.

And notice the details. The truck used curved side glass and a compound-curved windshield. This last feature didn’t see mass production until Chrysler reintroduced it with the 1957 Imperial. The “through” body sides wouldn’t see production until the 1946. And the eyebrows over the full wheel cutouts had to wait until Oldsmobile made them a focal point on the 1966 Toronado.

The Doodlebug’s overall height was what surprised most people. The truck stood a mere 1.82m tall, only 10cm more than a 1933 Ford. No one built trucks that low back then, and many of today’s SUVs stand taller.

Most records regarding the Doodlebugs seems to have been lost. Neither Heil nor Texaco could tell me how many Doodlebugs were built or where they saw service.