the gravel is a bit deep, and the nose on that race car is a good plow

They stopped about here, as the plowing had put about a 1000 pounds of gravel on the front of the car, and the TWO trucks were done making forward progress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3FryN84iq8

S&K Towing in the process of shutting down its operations, because it got greedy, and violated the law preventing tow truck companies from selling or disposing of active duty military member's vehicles

According to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), tow companies are required to obtain a court order before selling or disposing of a vehicle owned by an SCRA-protected servicemember.

In May 2024, a Military Legal Assistance attorney contacted S&K Towing and explained that the company was violating the SCRA. In response, a manager at S&K Towing told the attorney, "We do this all the time."

Between August 2020 and April 2025, S&K Towing Inc illegally sold or disposed of nearly 150 vehicles, many of which were registered to Camp Pendleton addresses. In other cases, vehicles were auctioned even after they were told that the owner was in the military.

S&K Towing will pay $160,000 to servicemembers who were affected by the illegal towing and auctioning of their vehicles.

"This settlement sends a strong message that all towing companies must recognize servicemembers' rights and take the necessary steps to comply with the SCRA," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a news release.

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/orange-county-tow-company-settles-lawsuit-auctioning-camp-pendleton-vehicles/

a very impressive custom waterfall!

https://www.facebook.com/chase.akins/posts/pfbid02RKYf7TncnU2n76J1Vdf3TvPka9b4KW6uDdFA1RRdtLNK3i7SVgYyzLgXHQrZWW47l

sweet Lincoln towtruck!

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/341211-period-images-to-relieve-some-of-the-stress/page/58

I think this is the first time I've seen one of these towing dollys mounted on the back of the towing vehicle of some service station

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/341211-period-images-to-relieve-some-of-the-stress/page/583/

of course they do

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2312040725975970&set=gm.2304417393380757&idorvanity=706962166459629

https://hookersandblowbooks.com/

Sam Joe just told me about a Rájen, who found a filming location of Matchbox, and shared it on his blog Szirszarjaim

it's an iconic Matchbox , the Dodge Wrecker 

there are a couple more photos of the location, in Hungary near Budapest of course... it's a place famous for Hollywood movie making

https://szirszarjaim.blog.hu/2025/02/15/carspotting_349

there were only 5 illegal and predatory towing companies in Clackamas County Oregon... not that anyone in the county govt, with a job to keep that from happening, was alert enough to stop before it got out of hand. So, it got really out of hand

The operation resulted in three people being arrested for operating an illegal towing business, two tow trucks being towed, including one impounded, one driver being cited for not having a driver’s license, expired vehicle registration, and failing to register a vehicle, five illegal towing operations identified and referred for civil penalties/enforcement, and 19 commercial vehicle safety violations found during three inspections.

All of the businesses identified in the operation had already received formal warning letters from the State Board of Towing, advising them that they were out of compliance and subject to criminal prosecution.

https://www.kptv.com/2025/08/07/five-illegal-towing-operations-identified-3-arrested-happy-valley/

I love wreckers! Rob learned about this one in Arizona and got it nearly done in time for SEMA... I'm glad it got to SEMA event thought it's not completely done. The Dirty Hooker

The bed was rebuilt, then painted with the roof. The side patina was left original. 

I think Rob said the wrecker was used at at body shop for years, then ended up in a junk yard, used there to move cars around, then was parked. 

It was discovered recently, with a 396 engine! then brought back to life

Concept art! Love it! 

what it looked like when found.

It's his first time as a participant, but he's been to SEMA many years as an attendee

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001253988178

Philadelphia's Parking Authority "courtesy towing" is a corrupt racket, is 78 million dollars in arrears with the city

 

the FBI conducted a series of raids on Specialty Towing related to an ongoing federal investigation

In February, City Attorney David Chiu suspended Speciality Towing and two other companies from bidding on or receiving city contracts, accusing them of illegally towing cars from private lots.

The three companies — Auto Towing, Jose’s Towing, and Specialty Towing and Recovery — were all owned and operated by Abigail Fuentes and Jose Badillo.

On Thursday, United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey charged two people — one of them being Badillo, 31 — alleging insurance fraud and money laundering under his two companies: Jose’s Towing LLC and Auto Towing LLC.

https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/fbi-raids-san-francisco-towing-company/

an Autocar rig towing a B 25 in Goose Bay (It's been forever since I posted an Autocar)

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/random-cool-photo-thread.26448/page-35

an example of how crazy and desperate things are in San Francisco, a tow truck driver tried to snatch a car that was driving in traffic

A Corolla was idling at a stoplight, just out running errands, when this notorious tow truck company unit tried to snatch it, as they have been specializing in attacking Spanish and Cantonese people's vehicles then making it difficult for them to retrieve their vehicles and pressuring them for payments in cash.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/a-shady-tow-truck-tried-to-haul-away-a-moving-car-then-chased-after-it

I wonder, does Matt get stuck on purpose, just for video to post? Because he does not have a shovel, or anchor, or other useful thing to get himself or customers unstuck with

A North Carolina tow-truck operator must pay about $67,000 to settle claims that he repossessed and sold vehicles owned by Marines

Billy Joe Goines, owner of Goines Towing and Recovery outside Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., agreed to the reimbursement amount in a settlement, court documents filed Tuesday said.

He also will forgive storage fees charged to the eight Marines and take training on the legal rights of military personnel.

The federal government sued Goines and his company in March based on claims he had thwarted legal protections for deployed service members.

The case is the first brought by the U.S. against a towing company under a section of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act that requires them to submit an affidavit as to whether the owner of a repossessed vehicle is in the military, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Prior to asking for a court judgment to sell a vehicle, repo companies are supposed to check whether its owner is in the military.

Goines told the court that he and his employees couldn’t determine that, even when they had towed the vehicle from the parking lot of a barracks on the base.

https://www.stripes.com/branches/marine_corps/2023-12-27/gavel-marines-towing-12478549.html

the HBO drama, the Sopranos, had a lot of viewers getting an idea how the mafia could be running the trash disposal industry, and strip clubs. But would you guess the tow truck companies?

A Brooklyn tow company owner who raised big bucks for Mayor Eric Adams and faces bribery charges tied to his interactions with a former top mayoral aide has been enmeshed in scandals dating back 25 years — including one in which prosecutors alleged his company was controlled by the Genovese crime family.

Last month Michael Mazzio, 54, was indicted on charges of bribing Eric Ulrich, while Ulrich was a top aide to Adams. In exchange for cash and Mets tickets, prosecutors allege that Ulrich got Mazzio access to Adams’ chief advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, and snagged him a sit-down dinner with the mayor himself.

Before that, Mazzio and his company, Mike’s Heavy Duty Towing, had turned up in the middle of two scandals that highlight a longstanding effort by the towing industry to corrupt the system New York City uses to regulate who gets to tow disabled vehicles.

Mike’s Heavy Duty first emerged in a 1998 lawsuit alleging the city’s system for regulating which companies are permitted to tow vehicles off of city highways was corrupt. And Mazzio and his company were indicted in a 2018 case that included allegations of Mafia control of New York’s towing industry.

prosecutors say Mazzio was bribing Ulrich and communicating with Adams’ chief advisor, Lewis-Martin, in 2021 about reinstating his license, getting work towing vehicles stuck on highways during snow storms, and revoking the highway permit of a rival firm, Runway Towing.

Behind the scenes, this sometimes pugilistic industry has been plagued by mob infiltration. As the then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. put it in a 2018 case filed against Mazzio and 10 other tow companies and their affiliated auto body shops, “The New York City towing industry is influenced by organized crime.”

The city’s system for regulating the towing of vehicles within its borders has been tainted again and again with allegations of bribery, bid-rigging and general day-to-day corruption.

This is particularly true regarding the system managed by the NYPD to regulate which companies are granted permits to haul vehicles off highways, parkways, expressways, bridges and tunnels.

In 2017, the NYPD began suggesting that, in addition to the base fee they’re required to pay, applicants should also pay the department an unspecified “vendor proposed percentage” of the fees they collect for highway towing. One vendor who declined to make such a payment was rejected and alleged that the NYPD only awarded permits to tow companies that kicked in this extra lucre.

For the last two weeks the NYPD has refused to provide THE CITY with a list of the companies currently holding highway towing permits or to reveal how much they’ve collected in fees and “vendor proposed percentage” over the last two years. The city comptroller, who reviews and registers all contracts with city agencies, has no information about who is doing this work and how much the companies are paying the NYPD for these permits.

QED, the NYPD is on the take, paid by the mafia, and won't disclose who or how much.

That ought to be an invetigative drama Netflix series

https://www.thecity.nyc/transportation/2023/10/10/23910575/tow-truck-mob-city-hall-eric-adams-ulrich

What a beautiful beast, thank you Shas!

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/338576-beautiful-tow-truck-fire-emergency-conversions/#elControls_1980422_menu

that wasn't the 1st tow truck Bergeron's made, as this 1931 advertisement shows:

from a blog that was celebrating the old city directory (pre yellow pages?) advertising 

http://gremsdoolittlelibrary.blogspot.com/2012/06/city-directories-gem-for-researchers.html

1917 Series 4 Pierce-Arrow made into a tow truck, in San Francisco and Santa Cruz until 1944

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/338576-beautiful-tow-truck-fire-emergency-conversions#elControls_1981261_menu

I love to see a dealership showcase a bit of their history, especially their towtruck

if it were easy, anyone could do it - Matt's off road recovery gets it done in very difficult locations