1964/65 Hess Tanker Truck – Common Version Description

This truck is an 18-wheel fuel oil tanker in the traditional Hess dark green with white and yellow accents. It has a water tank you can fill with working hose and nozzle, plus working headlights and taillights. The truck is wrapped in tissue paper and comes with a red funnel with the Hess logo on it that sits in a cardboard holder. There is also a battery instruction card that is included with the toy. The Hess logo is on the side and rear of the trailer, as well as on the tractor doors.  This tanker can actually be filled with water and then drained from the top hose. The box is a 2 piece style featuring the scene of a refinery and service station. The box top is done in the Hess colors of green, white & yellow. The bottom part of the box is green in color. The same truck was issued in 1965.

There are 2 Variations of this Truck

• Sold in 1964 for $1.39 retail. The first variation of this truck which was released on November 15th is the most common version which has the cab molded in green and the fenders are painted yellow (see pic below).
• Sold in 1964 for $1.39 retail. The second version of this truck and more difficult to find has the molded yellow cab this time and the green is painted. this was also released on November 15th (see pic below).

 

1964 Hess Tanker Truck  (pre-release version) Extremely Rare!!

•  Sold in 1964 for $1.29 retail. This version was a Pre-release – test pilot launch of the 1964 Tanker during the summer months. The cab of the truck was molded in yellow and had green painted over the yellow cab area (see pic below).

 

Extremely Rare Pictures of the 1964 Hess Tanker (pre-release) in Rare Shipper Box

Some of the pre-release differences are:

• Light green cab and tanker accents. Yellow cab mold with painted green cab.
• Different filler cap that is flat top as opposed to crowned used on newer models.
• The tank to cab hose is smooth and thin rather than ribbed.
• The logo’s are slightly larger and are a sticker rather than the waterslide decals used on later models.
• One screw near the rear wheels on the bottom of the tanker instead of three. 

 

1964 Hess Over Billups Tanker.

• Sold in 1964 for $1.39 retail. The early version of this truck, Hess took the Billups Tanker and placed the Hess logo over the Billups Logo. The Hess over Billups had a couple of differences from the later versions. First, the side decals only say Gasoline on them. Second, the bottom half of the box was black in color. Third, the battery instruction card was printed on both sides and last notice the “B” on the front grill. This is the most rare of the three versions of the 1964 Hess B-Mack Tankers (see pic).