[mustntmumble]

Here is another article about the painted trucks.

https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200502/masterpieces.to...

I was trying to find out why people started building wooden crowns on top of the Bedford trucks in the first place, but no luck... Did the crowns come first, and then get painted, or did the art come first, and then people added the crowns in order to create more surface area for the art?

[bombcar]

I would suspect the crowns were originally to hold more of a load - especially if it is something bulky but relatively light.

[italiancheese]

True. I know they can bear enough weight for a couple of adults, at least.

I remember my father telling the story of how he drove one of these trucks across the country in his early twenties, hauling sugarcane. He would sleep on the crown at night.

[082349872349872]

It might be worthwhile seeing what was in use before trucks; to me it looks like the crowns might be making the trucks resemble prior animal-drawn wagons...