Craig had planned on keeping the old truck, but he got tired of polishing it and needed the space in the shop, so he decided to sell the Eagle. Enter the next player in this trilogy – Don Fisher. Don is the owner of Donald C. Fisher Construction, Inc. out of Hyde Park, UT. Don is a general contractor, and his company builds commercial and residential properties. Don, who has four work trucks of his own that he uses to haul his own equipment, thought about buying the truck from his friend Craig, but he really didn’t have the space for it. He did, however, know someone that would be the perfect person to take care of this special vehicle – our next player, Wes Johnson (62) of North Salt Lake City, UT. Don and Wes have been friends for over 30 years, and Wes is well-known for his amazing collection of cars, so Don put Craig and Wes together, and Wes became the next owner of the International in 2014. Wes started calling the truck “Purple Haze” even though it still says “Big Bear” on the exhaust heat shields. Not knowing how to drive a truck and not having a CDL, Craig gave Wes a quick lesson on how to drive the truck, equipped with a 10-4 Magazine / September 2025 13 10-speed, and then Wes drove it home. Snaking through a notorious stretch of highway known as Sardine Canyon, Wes said he grinded more gears that day on the short trip home than he has his entire life. And once he got back to his place, he parked it amongst the rest of his stellar collection of cars (and a few trucks), where it sat for almost ten years, hidden away, more or less, from the trucking public. A very interesting character in his own right, Wes Johnson has a good story, too. His parents, Carol and Bill, opened a Dodge dealership in Bountiful, UT in 1958, adding a Toyota franchise a few years later in 1965 (one of the first ones outside of the west coast), with help from Carol’s father, Roy Menlove. Together, along with Wes later on, they built a family business that became one of Utah’s most successful auto dealerships, Menlove Dodge Toyota, with the slogan, “The last of the little guys” – which is still used today in the current operation called Menlove FreshStart, which sells and finances quality used cars to people with no credit or bad credit (the Dodge franchise was sold in 2007 and then the Toyota franchise and facility was sold in 2011). Creating a character named Hank as a sales and marketing gimmick some 25 years ago, Wes puts on a “surfer dude” wig and “Billy Bob” teeth and goes into his Hank character. He started doing this at the Toyota dealership during sales meetings, and the joke just kind of stuck. Today, Hank’s Garage, as Wes calls it, has become a high-end, one-of-a-kind event venue in North Salt Lake that utilizes his extensive car collection as a backdrop. This 20,000-square-foot space blends vintage automotive charm with modern sophistication, making it the perfect setting for weddings, corporate events, private parties, and more. Surrounded by over 60 classic and muscle cars, Hank’s Garage offers a stunning location that creates an instant impression that elevates any event. Even if you’re not a car enthusiast, you’ll love this place (check it out at www.hanksgaragevenue.com). And this is where “Purple Haze” now calls home! The incredible collection of cars at Hank’s garage, which is located in a quiet industrial park unbeknown to most who drive by it, includes about 75 cars, with a focus on Plymouth, Dodge and Chrysler muscle cars from the 60s, 70s and beyond. But with Challengers, Chargers, Vipers, Cougars, Cudas, Coronets, Impalas, Camaros, Bel Airs, Corvettes, Mustangs, Road Runners and more, the diverse collection has something for everyone and includes custom and original muscle cars, classics, limited editions, restomods, and a few modern hot rods, as well. On the wall it says, “He who dies with the most toys friends wins!” Which brings us to one of our last players in this story: Wes’ friend Mike Burdick. Mike Burdick (57) of Draper, UT has been friends with Wes for decades – he even worked
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