This restoration was complete in 1998 in the HOVIC refinery garage on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands.
Leon Hess's 1936 Chevrolet fuel deliver truck he actually drove was restored from the ground up to completion in 1998. This famous truck was actually used to deliver fuel in those days operated by Hess Inc. So popular was this truck that a Hess toy truck was modeled after it in 1982 to celebrate it. The vehicle was used during the period between the 1930's and 1950's and was retired from service where it was stored in Perth Amboy, NJ at the State Street Garage. While this truck was restored at the Port Reading facility in the mid-1960's and later sent to HOVIC thereafter. For a period of time this truck sat on display outside of the Administration Building in St. Croix and was lucky to escape
hurricanes Hugo and Marilyn.
Although not impacted by the hurricanes it was by the weather which led to significant corrosion. HOVIC undertook the restoration project which included a team of skilled people with great dedication. This project was actually completed in one year which was amazing considering the scarcity of information on the truck, sourcing necessary parts. This effort relied on the use of vintage photographs which were provided by
Corporate Advertising provided to be invaluable and instrumental in the project.
The restoration project was overseen by Manager Don Gay and Operation Services Coordinator Steve Strahan with
Bill Tabbert the Auto Garage Supervisor for Anthony Crane did much of the restoration himself and supervised the actual repairs. Bill was aided by Anthony Crane mechanics as well as other local St. Croix personnel. Every aspect was paid to detail including the cab interior which was completely refurbished to the fuel dispensing and metering system was restored to working order. There were so many other wonderful people who assisted in this project to make it a success.
