‘The Hog’ appearing at Slice of Shoreview classic car show – Burnett County Sentinel
The classic car and motorcycle show and parade is back at the Slice of Shoreview this weekend, from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 25. The events will feature “The Hog,” a 1938 classic SWAT truck.
Car Show Committee Chair organizers Dan and Mary Rustad are once again heading the operation and partnering with the nonprofit Cops n’ Rodders Car Club.
“The car show started out with approximately 25 cars years ago, and in 2019, we had 160 cars in the show,” Mary said. “As the car show has grown to become such a large event at the Slice of Shoreview, we could not have done it alone without the help and support from the Cops n’ Rodders Car Club, who came on board a few years ago.” Mary added that the president of Cops ‘n Rodders, Dave Kuehl, does a lot of work for the club, including the restoration of a 1938 SWAT truck — otherwise known as the Hog.
Michael F. Sweeney (1858-1937) was an officer with the St. Paul Police from 1892 until 1913, when he retired to go into private business. He founded the Sweeney Detective Bureau Inc. and helped design a completely steel-protected armored car, the first true commercial armored car in the country, according to Kuehl.
Almost four decades later, another Sweeney armored car was donated to the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO). On Feb. 28, 2018, RCSO donated the tactical vehicle to the Cops n’ Rodders Classic Car Club, a division of the nonprofit St. Paul Police K-9 Foundation.
According to Keuhl, the first public showing of the truck in years took place March 23-25, 2018, at the 51st annual O’Reilly Auto Parts World of Wheels AutoRama at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Hog won first place in its class. “Cops n’ Rodders has been fundraising and restoring this armored truck, rich in history, to make it streetworthy,” Kuehl noted. “After a long COVID year sabbatical, the club resumed working on it in April, and by June it was ready to turn the key to start it for the first time in years, and the club is happy to report — it runs!”
