This is Sweetie.
Here’s Her Story.

Sweetie is the original nickname of our 1929 Ford AA truck, which has a history stretching back to the “Noble Experiment” of prohibition, when it was used to run bootleg spirits from stills hidden in canyons around Sweetwater, Arizona to Los Angeles.  

Sweetie rolled off the manufacturing line in Dearborn, Michigan in 1929, and was purchased by the notorious Los Angeles bootlegger Charlie Crawford, a racketeering and bookkeeping kingpin who turned to bootlegging during prohibition. Crawford was a major player in the infamous “City Hall Gang,” with direct ties to the Mayor’s office, and ran distribution channels of illegal booze from as far south as Mexico to as far north as Canada.  

“Sweetie” was prized for her lightness and speed over the dusty desert roads between Arizona and California, and was used to run a famous clear corn moonshine called Payson Dew and Sotol Agave Moonshine, similar to today’s Mezcal – both were made from illicit makeshift distilleries hidden in the canyons around Sweetwater, Arizona.

Crawford’s runners Christened this Ford AA “Sweetie” as an inside reference to Sweetwater, but also so they could talk about it openly without fear of informants, i.e. “I’m taking my Sweetie to California,” or “Gotta take my Sweetie back to Arizona.”  

Once inside the city after a successful run, Sweetie transported bootleg spirits all over downtown Los Angeles in the abandoned tunnels of the Pacific Electric Red Line Trolley––a secret underground world of bootleggers and gangsters, and by which patrons could visit brothels, bars, gambling parlors, and opium dens without ever setting foot on the sidewalk.

Los Angeles was the bootlegging hub of the West Coast, and there were twice as many speakeasies in Los Angeles during prohibition as there were bars before prohibition. If you were well-connected enough, you could get anything you wanted during the 13 years of prohibition.

Charlie Crawford was killed by rivals in 1931, and his underground empire unraveled. After Repeal Day––December 5th, 1933––Sweetie was sold at auction and ended up as a farm truck in Ventura County. Sweetie was discovered in an old barn during an estate sale, and has since been meticulously restored to be used for its original purpose of bringing libations to thirsty Angelenos.