Who were the Tricky Truckers, and what made them so tricky?

The Tricky Truckers were a van and truck club from New Jersey. To understand what a van club is we have to go all the way back to Wisconsin in 1973, but we don't have time for that! To make a long story short, vanners are guys who have vans and like to party. These guys fall into two categories: motorheads and party animals.

Tricky Truckers, like other NJ clubs, welcomed trucks into their ranks. Most of the vanning world shunned anything but a true van, and often debated whether certain models of van were actually good enough to be called "Vans" and be allowed into their ranks!

Back in 1977 a guy called Sava and a guy called John went to a truck-in (Vans only, but they're called Truck-ins... go figure!). They decided to go as Jawa Truckers, as they liked the little guys from Star Wars. Later, Zeus' brother (Posidon?) started a group with a friend or two called High Life Vans. Jawa and High Life merged and became Tricky Truckers.

Bored yet?

This group became really tricky when they held their "Take The Long Way Home" Road Rallys. What separated Tricky's rallys from others were really tricky questions and a huge party at the end. The post-road rally party was often bigger than most other's clubs who threw parties without road rallys. Loud music, food, beer, naked women, and trophies. Who could ask for anything more?

10 years of the Road Rally and burn-out accompanied by run-ins with the police left little enthusiasm for rally #11. For a 10th Anniversary Tricky was going to throw a party at the new Fallout Truck-in in Flemington (which replaced the legendary Truckin' Into Summer). With a large smoking cooling tower and a 5-gallon jug of Anti-Freeze (the drink...vodka, melon liqueuer, orange juice and grain alcohol for more punch!) Tricky's "Meltdown Party" became the hit of the weekend.

Where to go but up? Tricky Truckers hosted their first Meltdown Truck-In the following Spring in Montague, NJ. A year later they brought Meltdown 2 to New Gretna, NJ, then hosted the next five years in East Stroudsburg, PA. Click here for details.

In 1997 the club decided to take a year off . In 1998 they quit the New Jersey Van Council and all but disbanded.

A few of the old club members are trying to keep the spirit of the club alive, and the big tarp they used to use can be seen occasionally at events.