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VOL III
CONTENTS 6
Editorial
8 Bill Richardson Transport World
eaturing 20 trucks from New Zealand’s F greatest truck collection
34 Vic Draper – classic collector
Our Leyland cover truck
40 A memorable Mack
R model restoration
48 Taylor Bros Transport Ltd Tauranga’s Taylor Bros celebrate 50 years of service
52 A touch of class – The Sheldrake Kenworth
Graham Sheldrake’s W924AR Kenworth
56 Rescuing #34
Restoring DT King’s very first Nissan
62 High, wide and handsome
A rebuilt GMC Top Kick
68 The trucks of Total Transport
One of the most innovative carriers at the turn of the century
72 Project 315
Spike Amer and friends rebuild a Mitsubishi
4 Classic Trucks Volume 3
8 75 Canterbury classic
A reborn Isuzu SPZ580
76 Webb’s black beauties
Richard Webb’s classics
82 Carl’s classic K
A classic Kenworth K124
86 Menefy’s Macks
Bryan Menefy now has five of the six trucks on his bucket list
92 Mick Whiteside – For the love of Leyland
The return of two rare Leylands
96 The White 300 in New Zealand
Gavin Abbot explains the rare and unique White’s place in history
98 George Scott – mover of men and machines
118 Classic truck models
122 Heritage, heroes and the hound
The story of George Scott and Waikato Heavy Haulage Ltd
108 Classic Volvo
A retired trucker’s model pastime
Evel Knievel’s historic Mack
A pictorial history of Volvo trucks
118
40
Classic Trucks Volume 3 5
Editorial Welcome to Classic New Zealand Trucking Volume III.
I
t’s been quite a gap since Volume II was published in 2013, but the new owners of New Zealand Trucking magazine (there are three of us) decided it was an opportunity to demonstrate our support for the classic truck movement. Our decision wasn’t entirely altruistic; meeting legends and writing about classics is great. I really enjoyed meeting Alex Groos and writing about his Mack. Likewise, Dave McCoid has been raving on about Evel Knievel’s Mack since the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he entered the legend’s private domain in his truck. And Faye Lougher had the time of her life getting stories from the likes of Richard Webb, Bryan Menefy and Vic Draper. The definition of classic trucks that we use remains the same; basically all trucks are classic, but old age and a significant history enhance their position on the classic leader board. This allows a wide range of trucks to meet the criteria and we have models from the 1920s through to the 1980s featured here. In conjunction with Bill Richardson Transport World we bring you a feature on their newly opened to the public ‘museum’, although museum is a word they avoid using when referring to the amazing facility. We’ve selected 20 of their trucks and one of New Zealand’s premier truck historians, Hamish Petrie, has written a short piece about each one. We haven’t forgotten the pioneers who created New Zealand’s rich road transport heritage; DT King, Taylor Bros, and Total Transport are included here. We’ve reprinted a condensed version of the late Guy Spurr’s story about Waikato Heavy Haulage and its founder, George Scott. The original version was about twice this length and can be found in the October and November issues of New Zealand Trucking from 2007 for those who want the full monty. Is the world of classic trucks changing? I believe it is. Interestingly, Kenworth, which is probably still the premier classic collectible, is a little less dominant, Mack is popular, along with most of the British brands, but what
I like to see is the popularity of what were in their day ordinary trucks – Bedfords and all the Japanese makes are seen more often. I’m also buoyed by the interest of young people in the classic truck movement. Alex Groos’ Mack is an excellent example of what a young person is capable of. Although it’s not surprising – when I was a mechanic I worked for the late John Groos, Alex’s grandfather, and with his father Rod (a perfectionist) at Redvale Lime Quarry in Dairy Flat – Alex’s personal heritage was the perfect background for a budding truck restorer. I hope you enjoy this classic read as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together. Let me know what you think of it. All the best John Murphy Classic Trucking editor
Classic New Zealand Trucking is a special publication by New Zealand Trucking magazine. Editor Advertising Manager Art director Design Printing Publisher Postal Address Email
John Murphy Matt Smith John Berkley Twist Design PMP Long Haul Publications PO Box 35 Thames 3500 john@nztrucking.co.nz
6 Classic Trucks Volume 3
All material in New Zealand Classic Trucking is copyright and may not be reproduced or reprinted without the prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed in New Zealand Classic Trucking are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by, the publishers. First published December 2012.
LOOKS CHANGE Mack stays Mack
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1948
1996
www.mtd.co.nz
2014
0800 683 683
8 Classic Trucks Volume 3
Bill Richardson Transport World By John Murphy
Although Bill Richardson probably didn’t realise it at the time, Bill Richardson Transport World began in 1967, when he bought a dilapidated 1933 Model D1 International his grandfather had once owned for £5 ($10). Throughout his lifetime the founder of HW Richardson Group (HWR) continued to add to his truck collection and, his interest in all things transport, meant he collected some interesting pieces including petrol bowsers.
W
hen Bill died unexpectedly in 2005 his family; widow Shona, daughter Jocelyn ‘Joc’ O’Donnell and her husband Scott O’Donnell, stepped in as Directors of the HW Richardson (HWR) business with Scott moving into the role as managing director. Under their guidance and chairman Rex Williams, the business continued to flourish. During the eight years from 2005 to 2013 it grew from supporting around 700 employees to almost 2000. At the time of his death, Bill’s collection consisted of around 150 trucks, 100 petrol bowsers and a lot of transport-related memorabilia. Ian Ridd was the curator and the collection was housed in adjourning buildings within a block of land that also housed the HWR headquarters in Invercargill. The collection grew too, but more organically as interested parties contributed items and Ian also found and sourced pieces. The collection was open to the public, but by appointment only and around 6000 guests per annum visited. During Bill’s time the truck collection was already considered to be of an international standard and it attracted many visitors from overseas. However, the decision in 2013 to purchase Jim Cooper’s Australian
collection of Henry Ford Letter Cars and early Ford V8s lifted the collection to an even higher standard and was a major motivating factor in the decision to open permanently. The Jim Cooper collection is internationally recognised as containing some excellent specimens from before Henry Ford’s iconic Model T right up to 1950s American pick-ups. The decision to open to the public permanently and, to redevelop the existing space, started gaining serious traction in 2013. A new extension was designed, constructed and built from 2013 – 2015. As the family was fiercely loyal to Invercargill the collection had to remain in the southern city. They also wanted to broaden the appeal and not just attract visitors who were solely interested in trucks. Joc had an idea of what she wanted and worked with a team to design a new frontage to the existing buildings. Designed and built in a deliberate art deco style, Joc wanted to be sympathetic to the local housing style. The result is an outstanding looking building, which houses a number of exhibits, has administrative facilities, a café, library, conference facilities and training rooms. The redeveloped space opened to public in November 2015, proudly bearing the signage ‘Bill Richardson Transport World’. In its first year of Classic Trucks Volume 3 9
Transport World now has around 270 trucks, 50 cars, 200 bowsers. Included within these are around 70 vehicles that are unrestored.
operating over 40,000 guests have passed through its doors and over 300 events have been held from both a local and national market. As well as Fords, four VW Kombis are displayed daily with more coming soon. The iconic model is a favourite of Joc’s but is also universally popular. A collection of Citroens are also displayed as Joc’s late brother Harold and son Harrison are Citroen fans. The collection also houses an extensive tractor and heavy machinery collection. Guests will also find an area set aside for a display of HMV products ranging from the famous old gramophones to more recent household appliances. The HMV display is a slightly unusual choice for a transport museum but Joc says “it was Dad’s favourite logo and I used to send him home HMV pieces from the Alfies Antique Market when I lived
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in London”. Elaborately styled fuel bowsers are also displayed throughout the venue and there are numerous eyecatching bits and pieces everywhere. Bill Richardson Transport World is a collection that has taken years to come together but Joc says, “Dad had one rule. That is that we owned everything in it [Bill Richardson Transport World]”. She says they stick to that rule with rare exceptions that mostly relate to the FibreOctave Wearable Arts exhibits. As well as the wearable arts exhibits there is a Lego room where visitors can construct Lego models. A 1950s/1960s row of small town shops add appeal, especially to younger visitors or those less interested in trucks. Transport World now has around 270 trucks, 50 cars, 200 bowsers. Included within these are around 70 vehicles that are unrestored. Joc says they have to be disciplined about
what is accepted and displayed now. Bill Richardson Transport World has been growing so fast and has already become too big for the space on the block. However, Joc and her family are passionate about this collection and believe it is good for the South Island and a great way to give back to the local community. Joc says Transport World will continue to evolve; she wants to see more interactive exhibits and have staff interacting with visitors and storytelling. Other wheeled attractions continue to be developed. The family recently acquired a collection of more than 300 motorcycles which have been moved into an historic, specially refurbished building in the centre of Invercargill. This new attraction is called Classic Motorcycle Mecca and opened in November 2016.
Looking after the truck collection
G
raeme Williams is the curator at Transport World. A curator is defined as a keeper or custodian of a museum or other collection. At Transport World the word museum is avoided – the people here see it as a live and vivid collection of trucks and other collectibles and the word museum doesn’t convey that vision. Graeme is primarily involved in looking after the trucks and is assisted by a handful of fulltime workers and an enthusiastic group of volunteers, many who have been with Transport World for a long time. Employees of HW Richardson also help out, especially when there is a big project on and trucks need moving.
Full-time staff Graeme Williams Malcolm Hodgkinson Howard Kingsford-Smith Tom Parkes A llan Davis (works off site, on pumps) Curtis Williams
Volunteers Norman Beer Dave Stenton Ivan McIntosh Ellice Smith Bob Stevenson Dennis Casey Ian Ridd Schoolboys Jamie Smith and Isaac Gibb help out by cleaning the trucks after school.
Curator Graeme Williams
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raeme is a mechanic by trade and worked in the Southroad workshops when HW Richardson bought the business in the early 1990s. He and Bill Richardson struck up a friendship when the workshop was working on Bill’s vintage trucks and Graeme became a regular helper and source of advice when it came to rebuilding trucks. Ian Ridd was the curator when Bill passed away and the Richardson family asked Graeme if he was interested in taking on the role when Ian retired. Graeme was interested, but jokes that it took Ian another eight years to retire. Graeme took up the reigns in 2013. Graeme is the ideal man for the role and is dedicated to the trucks. He does a walk around most days checking for anything out of place. When the writer joined him on a trip around the collection, Graeme had to disappear under a truck to find out where a water leak was coming from; this is typical of his behaviour. “We can’t lose sight of where we came from” says Graeme. “That’s my fundamental philosophy.” He bases his work priorities around the truck collection on the understanding that the more important jobs are the ones that will best convey an understanding of where we come from. Classic Trucks Volume 3 11
Bill Richardson
I That Bill’s companies were remarkably free from industrial strife is a tribute to his relationship with his employees.
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t’s hard to find anyone with a bad thing to say about Bill Richardson. He was obviously a strong businessman and his book Wheel & Deals tells the story of a hardworking man who set high goals and inevitably achieved them. But it also indicates he was fair in his dealings, a trait confirmed by everyone who knew him. Bill officially started his first transport business when he bought the South Invercargill Transport Company at the age of twenty but growing up he had been immersed in his father’s businesses and had obviously learned important lessons from both his father’s involvement in transport and his expertise in business. Bill’s passion for the transport industry was overwhelming and his knowledge of trucks was vast. It seems he could tell a good story, and was a great communicator who related well to people. He could talk with authority
about individual trucks and large transport operators. An understanding of Bill’s business model can be read in a statement at Transport World, it reads; “Bill had an empathy for his workers from an early age. He had fond memories of his apprenticeship in joinery where he learned that a relaxed atmosphere does not always lead to inefficiency. Bill would always ride along with the drivers whenever he had a chance. That Bill’s companies were remarkably free from industrial strife is a tribute to his relationship with his employees.” As mentioned above, he loved to ride in trucks and it’s reputed that he would often flag down an HWR truck and leave his pick-up parked on the side of the road while he took a ride with the driver. Joc O’Donnell says of her father, “He made things happen, and people had faith in him.”
A passionate build
B
ill Richardson Transport World’s directors didn’t just decide what they wanted others to do and write out orders, many in the wider HWR workforce helped out and got their hands dirty in the construction process. Joc O’Donnell points out again that the Richardson family is also passionate about Transport World and has been immersed in it from its beginning. Her teenage children are equally at home amongst the collection and there is a video from the early 2000s of Bill riding a grocery delivery bicycle inside the building with his grandson, Harrison, sitting in the basket. The table-tops in the café were made from the dance floor of an Invercargill building that was demolished and Harrison spent his school holidays
sanding down old school chairs for use in the café. Joc has a natural nose for finding things she wants (maybe inherited from her father). She says, “I like things to be quirky and interesting.” Rest assured, things like door handles aren’t off-the-shelf mass-produced plastic items from a hardware chain – she finds old tools, truck parts, household items, and any range of other things to create everything from washroom fittings to lampshades. And she has a talented team of experts who can make her concept drawings into practical items. She wants to revive old memories and says, “I want people to think when they open a door – oh, that’s off a (whatever) when they recall what they come across.”
Classic Trucks Volume 3 13
1927
The following short histories of selected trucks from Bill Richardson Transport World were researched and written by Canterbury truck historian Hamish Petrie. Photography by Ken Bell, John Murphy and courtesy of Transport World 14 Classic Trucks Volume 3
White model 51-R The history of the White Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio dates back to 1900 when the first White motor vehicle, which was steam powered, was built.
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hite built steam powered cars and trucks until about 1910 when their first gasoline powered vehicles were built. The White Motor Company was incorporated in 1916 and the last White passenger cars were manufactured in 1918. From then on White was exclusively a truck and bus manufacturer. White would go on to be an extremely successful truck manufacturer and White trucks were always synonymous with quality. Bill Richardson Transport World’s 1927 White model 51-R is powered by a 4-cylinder side valve White model GRB engine. It was supplied by Gormack and Pettigrew of Gore, who sold White trucks and buses in the 1920s. The truck worked as a gravel truck for the Southland County Council, which operated several Whites in the 1920s and 1930s. The tipping deck is raised and lowered by a shaft-driven Van Dorn mechanical hoist made by the Van Dorn Iron Works Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Like the established US heavy-duty truck builders Mack
and Autocar, White made most of the components used in its trucks (engines, gearboxes, axles, etc) in-house, as opposed to West Coast manufacturers such as Fageol, Moreland, Peterbilt and Kenworth who bought in components to use in the assembly of their trucks. Although White trucks were popular in New Zealand, sales were pretty regional up to World War II and the early post-war years. The largest dealer was North Island stock and station agency, Newton King and Company, who sold quite a few Whites in the Taranaki, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty and Waikato areas. There weren’t that many sold in the South Island until the late 1950s when nationwide dealer CablePrice Corporation acquired the White agency and sold the WC2264 and the later Reo cabbed 2064 models. After CablePrice there was a gap of several years before Domtrac (Dominion Motors Tractor and Industrial) sold the conventional 4500, Road Boss, cab over Road Commander and low cab Expeditor trucks from the mid to late 1970s.
1930 Relay
The Relay in a predicament that even its special axle design couldn’t get it out of.
Relay S11-B The main selling point of the Relay truck was its unique ‘Relay Drive’ rear axle. The Relay axle was an internal gear drive hub reduction axle with a major difference.
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hile the internal gear drive axle produced by International Harvester, the Torbensen Gear and Axle Company, the Clark Equipment Company, the Russel Motor Axle Company and others, where the drive pinion was fixed in place was quite widely used on early US trucks, the Relay axle differed in that the pinion gear was able to move around one-sixth of the circumference of the ring gear in the hub when the truck encountered an obstruction in the road. Relay advertised that its axle design used the dead weight of the chassis and load to propel the truck forward through mud, sand, ruts and other obstructions as the travelling pinion gear climbs to a position of greater leverage on the ring gear.
The Relay axle was invented by farmer Perry Newkirk, who along with others formed the Kirkwen Multiple Axle Company to build the axles. The axle was first fitted to other brands of truck and rigorously tested before the Commerce Motor Truck Company of Ypsilanti, Michigan was purchased early in 1927. The first trucks to use the Relay axle were known as Commerce-Relays and from 1928 as Relay. In 1927 the Service Motor Truck Company of Wabash, Indiana and the Garford Motor Truck Company of Lima, Ohio were also purchased. Relay Motors Corporation was the holding company that controlled the Commerce, Garford, Service and Relay brands. All four brands eventually shared a nearly identical appearance, although only Relay trucks featured
1930 the Relay axle with the others having bevel gear or worm drive rear axles. A couple of years before the Wall Street financial crash of 1929 wasn’t a favourable time to start a major truck manufacturing operation and the depression years weren’t kind to Relay Motors, with the company bankrupted in 1932. Commerce Motors of Taranaki Street, Wellington sold Relay trucks as well as Commerce, Federal and Commer in the 1920s and 1930s. This truck has a 6-cylinder side valve Buda HS6 engine of 241 cubic inches and was sold new to an owner near Dannevirke. After being traded in 1934 it passed to G Miles and Sons. Sawmillers of Ashley, Clinton who owned it right up until Bill Richardson purchased it in 1993.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 15
Transport World also has this GMC CCKW former tow truck on display.
GMC CCKW 352 Designated by the US military as 2½ ton 6x6 tactical trucks, the GMC CCKWs, along with the other American 2½ ton 6x6s, the International M5-6/M5-H6 and Studebaker US6 were probably the most widely used general service trucks of the Allied armies in World War II.
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ver 560,000 CCKW 6x6s were built between 1941–45 in two series, the short 145” wheelbase CCKW352 and the longer 164” wheelbase CCKW353. They were powered by a 270CID, 91.5hp, overhead valve 6-cylinder GMC petrol engine with a 5-speed gearbox and 2-speed transfer case. The only difference between trucks was the use of either Timken split case or GM banjo type differentials. There was also a 6x4 CCW353 164” wheelbase model without a driving front axle rated from 2½ ton cross country to 5 ton on good roads. GT Gillies of Oamaru purchased more than 1200 ex-US Marine Corps GMC trucks from the War Assets Realisation Board in 1946 and over the next 20 years or so sold these
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tough go-anywhere trucks to logging contractors, sawmillers, lime spreading contractors, rural carriers, heavy haulage, house moving contractors, well drillers, etc. In the early post-war years when new trucks, especially tandem drives were very scarce, Gillies GMCs were just what operators wanted and the purchase of these trucks was the foundation of the Gillies family fortune. This truck is fitted with a Hay Park bulk-spreading bin. The Hay Park spreaders were developed by lime spreading contractor, AW Hay of Oamaru and Park Brothers motor engineers of Goodwood, near Palmerston and were built by South Otago Engineers of Balclutha.
1941 GMC MODEL DESIGNATION In 1939 GMC started using a model coding system that would continue for more than a decade. The first letter denoted the year of design or introduction starting at A for 1939, therefore C=1941 The second letter refers to whether a truck is a conventional or bonneted design. C=conventional and F=cabover The third letter K=driving front axle The fourth letter W=tandem drive
1942
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he early EH models were powered by the 6-cylinder side valve Mack BG engine of 310 cubic inches which was developed into the similar EN310 engine that powers this truck. A larger EN354 engine was available in later models. In 1935 Mack had entered into an agreement with the Reo Motor Car Company to sell Reo trucks through some Mack sales branches. In 1936 the arrangement with Reo went further and resulted in Mack selling a separate line of Mack Junior trucks which were rebranded Reo trucks built at the Reo
Mack EH The Mack EH was built from 1936 until 1950 and was the first of the stylish E series trucks.
factory in Lansing, Michigan. The Mack Juniors slotted into the Mack line below the EH model and were sold from 1936 up to 1938. After 1938 Mack replaced the Mack Junior line-up with its own lighter duty Continental powered E series-ED, DE, EE, EF and EG models. Rounding out the E series were larger EJ, EM, EQ and ER models. Generally speaking, the ED to EG models had 6-cylinder side valve Continental engines, while the EH and all larger models had Mack engines. From 1950 the E series trucks were superseded by the similar looking A series trucks (the A series
continued to use the old E series cab that dated from 1936) and were built until 1953 when they were replaced by the all‑new B models. This truck had been owned by the US Army and in 1946 was sold to the NZ Army who passed it on to NZ Railways Road Services in 1947 for use as a freight truck. From the late 1930s there were a few E series Mack trucks and buses sold new in New Zealand through Reo truck dealers. These trucks were imported righthand drive in chassis and cowl form minus cab. As was usually the case back then, local bodybuilders built suitable wooden-framed cabs for the trucks. Although the bodybuilders did their best, often the results of their efforts were pretty basic with not terribly stylish cabs compared with the all steel US built factory cabs. This truck being built left hand drive for the home market has the smart factory cab and looks much better than the local offerings. Classic Trucks Volume 3 17
1947
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Ford Thornton EF26F
In the 1930s Ray Thornton of the Thornton Tandem Company developed the tandem bogie drive rear end of the same name to convert cheaper, light‑duty single drive trucks to 6x4s. As well as Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge also offered new trucks with Thornton conversions.
The Thornton drive fitted to Eaton 1350 2-speed axles.
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hornton designed the 2-speed transfer box with the self-locking differential and in 1939 they began marketing the NoSpin limited slip differential which later became the popular Detroit Locker. Drive from the truck’s gearbox went to the Thornton 2-speed transfer box mounted between the front and rear axles of the tandem set and from the transfer box short shafts drove the second and third axles. The rearmost axle was in the normal position, but the forward axle of the bogie was inverted with the diff head facing backwards. A feature of all Thornton bogies were the upper and lower spring sets. There were three models of Ford Thornton sold in New Zealand between 1947 and 1951, the 1947 Jailbar models like this truck, the 1948–1950 Bonus Built trucks and the 1951 models. The Jailbar trucks were built from 1942–47 when they were replaced by the all-new Bonus Built F series trucks built from 1948–1950. The 1951–52 Ford F series trucks were a restyle of the Bonus Built. Ford Thorntons could be fitted with standard Ford single-speed diffs or 2-speed vacuum shift Eaton 1350 diffs. The Ford diffs were rated for 26,000lbs and the Eatons for 29,000lbs. When an Eaton 1350 was fitted a possible 16 gears could be found, with the 4-speed gearbox, 2-speed Thornton transfer box and the ability to split every gear. This truck began life with a Waikato logging contractor and in later years it worked around the Putaruru area with a drilling rig on its back. In 1992 the late Ivan Martin of Fernhill, Hastings bought it and restored it over six years. Bill Richardson bought it from Ivan’s widow in 2002 and has replicated a truck once owned by the Fortification Timber Company which was a forerunner of the Niagara Sawmilling Company. Classic Trucks Volume 3 19
International LF195 In the early 1950s International Harvester already had a very proud history of tandem drive 6-wheelers in New Zealand, going back to the mid-1930s.
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he grandaddy of all International 6x4s that came to this country was the C40F model, built from 1935-1936. The D246F model that followed was a heavier truck and was powered by an IH FBB298 engine which was a smaller and earlier version of the renowned Red Diamond petrol engines that were used right up until the 1970s. D models were built from 1937 to 1940. Owing to the intervention of World War II, the next 6x4s sold here were the KB6F model, a similar size truck to the original C40F and the big KB8F, although it is thought only two KB8Fs came here (both new to the Europa Oil Company). The KB series was current from 1947-49. In 1949-1950 International’s all new L Line trucks with the stylish ComfoVision cab were introduced. L Line
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tandems sold here were the KB6F model’s successor, the LF174, the LF195 and at least one big LF212. In 1953 the R Line replaced the L Line and the LF 195’s successor, the RF195 and its diesel counterpart, the RDF195 were sold in New Zealand until the late 1960s. Engine options for the LF195 model were either the RD406 (RD designated Red Diamond) at 154hp or the bigger RD450 at 162hp. The transmission was a 5-speed main gearbox with a 3-speed auxiliary box offering underdrive, direct and overdrive splits. The tandem was rated at 28,000lbs and rode on Hendrickson RT type walking beam suspension with vacuum boosted hydraulic brakes and a vacuum operated power divider. As well as being fitted to most of International’s conventional trucks for many years, the Comfo-Vision cab was also used by other US and Canadian
1952 truck makers such as Diamond T, Hendrickson, FWD, Oshkosh, Cline, Duplex and Sicard during the 1950s and 1960s. The first owners of the LF195 were Rollinson’s Motors who were rural carriers at Albury in South Canterbury until they sold out to Mount Cook Freightlines in the early 1970s. The Southland County Council were the next owners of the big tractor unit and they used it to tow a low bed transporter. Later it was sold to Ashby Brothers, earthmoving and ready-mix concrete contractors in Christchurch who also used it on transporter duties. Sometime during its working life it acquired an IH V8 petrol motor, either a V345 or V392, but Bill Richardson had it fitted with the correct Red Diamond 6-cylinder engine again and it was put back in the Southland County’s yellow and black livery.
1953 Trojan 15 A diagram of the Trojan 2-stroke engine.
The post-war 15cwt Trojan van and light truck was a decidedly strange little vehicle.
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hile there was nothing odd about the 3-speed gearbox with synchromesh on second and top gears or the semi-floating spiral bevel rear axle, semi-elliptic springs or hydraulic brakes, the 2-stroke petrol engine was definitely a bit different. There was also a diesel option in the form of the 3-cylinder Perkins P3V which was probably better known as a tractor engine. The engine was Trojan’s own 2-stroke. It actually featured six pistons in a vertical V configuration; four working pistons in two paired cylinders on one side of the V, and two charging pistons instead of a supercharger to aid exhaust gas scavenging on the other side. The 1186cc engine was rated at 24hp at 2000rpm. Trojan’s origins go back to before World War I, when engineer Leslie
Hounsfield designed a very simple and cheap car with some very odd features. The prototype Trojan was built in 1913, but the war intervened and plans had to be put on hold. The Trojan company, which was based in Croydon, England, was formed in 1914 and built tools and gauges for the duration of the war. The original Trojan engine was a 2-stroke petrol engine of similar design to the Trojan 15’s engine. The company claimed the valve-less engine that produced 11hp at 1200rpm only had seven moving parts; four pistons, two connecting rods and a crankshaft. It was a mid-engine vehicle with the engine mounted horizontally under where the passenger would normally sit. Power, if you could call it that, was delivered through a 2-speed epicyclic gearbox and reduction gear via chain drive to the rear axle that had no differential. As Trojan was such a small company it lacked the capacity to manufacture
vehicles on a large scale and in 1922 an agreement was signed with Leyland Motors to manufacture Trojans under license at their Kingston upon Thames factory. Trojan’s manufacturing arrangement with Leyland lasted for nearly seven years until 1928 during which time 11,000 Trojan cars and 6,700 vans were built. Trojan production shifted to Purley Way in Croydon after the arrangement with Leyland finished, although Leyland still supplied some parts used in manufacture until the early 1930s. During World War II Trojan made bomb racks and parachute containers. After the war, van and light truck production resumed in the shape of the Trojan 15. The Dunedin-based agricultural machinery manufacturers, Reid and Gray had the Trojan 15 agency in Otago and Southland.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 21
Albion Claymore FT27AEN Albion Motors of Scotstoun, Glasgow, was founded in 1899 and was a well-respected independent truck manufacturer until 1951, when it became part of Leyland Motors.
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he earliest FT series lorries, the FT3 6-cylinder side valve petrol models, dated from 1939. In 1937 Albion began using a new model designation system based on the first and last letters of the alphabet, consequently there were AZ, BY, CX, DW and EV models. FU would have been the next
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in line but it was considered that it could be misconstrued as rude, so FT was used instead. FT series trucks usually had model names beginning with the letter C, Clansman, Chieftain, Clydesdale and Claymore, although there were also the Reiver 6-wheeler and Victor bus chassis. The FT27/FT27A Claymore was
built from 1954–57 and was the smallest diesel powered FT series truck. It was powered by the EN218 4-cylinder engine a small version of the 6-cylinder Leyland O.350 engine as fitted to the Comet 90. From 1958 the FT series Claymores were replaced by the set back front axle CL3/CL5 Claymore models with a horizontal
1955
Bedford SLCG 4-cylinder EN250 diesel engine mounted behind the cab. During the 1950s the Autolifts and Engineering Company of Blackburn, Lancashire, made steel truck cabs as well as tipping bodies and hoists. The Autolifts cab was fitted to FT series Albion trucks like this one and some Atkinson models. These cabs could be identified by a large letter A pressed into the inside door panels. New to Geraldine, South Canterbury, transport operator AD (Durham) Cormack, the truck later passed to a farmer in the Geraldine area. It was bought by former Invercargill-based NZMC (New Zealand Motor Corporation or Motorcorp) truck salesman, Murray Drake. As well as selling several new Leyland Group trucks to Bill Richardson, Murray was a very good friend to Bill. Murray began to restore the truck, but unfortunately he suffered a fatal heart attack before it was finished. Bill had the restoration finished for Murray’s wife, Velda, who later gave the truck to Bill.
From the 1950s up to the early 1970s there wouldn’t have been too many rural carriers in New Zealand who didn’t operate at least one S model Bedford or its 4x4 derivative, the RL
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hen the S model was introduced in 1951 it was touted as the ‘Big Bedford’ in advertising. By today’s standard an S Bedford definitely isn’t a big truck, but for Bedford at that time it was, as it was their first seven tonner, at a time when their largest model was the five ton O model. Disregarding the wartime QL 4x4, it was Bedford’s first civilian forward control truck too. The 300 cubic inch seven main bearing 110hp 6-cylinder petrol engine, 4-speed synchromesh gearbox and a choice of either single-speed Bedford diff or Eaton 16500 vacuum shift 2-speed, made the S model a very capable truck, although they were known to get very hot in the cab on a warm day. At the time of its introduction, Kiwi Bedford dealers’ main competition would have come from a couple of other English seven tonners, the full forward control petrol Commer R7 and the semi-forward control diesel Leyland Comet 75, both of which had been built from 1948. The Commer and the Leyland were good trucks, but the Bedford was the best value, with the Comet especially, being quite a bit more expensive. It would be several years later in 1957–58 that Ford, Dodge and BMC brought out their forward control seven tonners; the Thames Trader, Dodge LAD cab 300 series and Austin/Morris 701, by which time the 7–8 ton market was getting pretty crowded. From 1954 the 108hp Perkins R6 diesel became an option for the standard petrol engine and resulted in sales of quite a few Perkins powered S models. However serious reliability issues with the R6 motor soured the reputation of these trucks. This situation was remedied from 1957 when the dependable 105hp Leyland 350 engine became available in diesel models. The S model went through a few facelifts during its production run and was built through to 1959–60 when it was replaced by the KF seven ton and KG 7½ ton models in Bedford’s most successful truck series of all time, the TK series. Bill Richardson acquired this truck in 1992 and had it restored to replicate a truck operated by AA (Archie) Heenan, a carrier at Woodlands near Invercargill. Classic Trucks Volume 3 23
Mack B653LT When Mack introduced their new B models in 1953 it wasn’t the first time they had built B series trucks.
1955
In 1995 Bill Richardson travelled to the United States and while visiting Mack’s home town, Allentown, Pennsylvania, he purchased this truck and had it shipped back home.
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he earlier B series had been built in several different models from 1927 until the late 1930s. At that time the small to medium weight B series was replaced by the E series trucks with the heavier models replaced by Mack’s L series trucks. From 1953 the A series that had replaced the E series in 1950 was replaced by the light to medium weight B models and the heavier L series trucks were superseded by the larger B models. The B models built from 1953 were all-new trucks, with new cabs and front sheet metal. The diesel models were mostly powered by the new Thermodyne direct injection diesel engines. Mack’s first diesel engines debuted in 1938 and were known as Mack-Lanova engines. The Lanova combustion chamber was an indirect
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injection, air cell design invented by German engineer, Dr Franz Lang in the early 1930s. B models were available from the small B20 series through to the very large B80 series. Petrol engined trucks were powered by Mack Magnadyne side valve and Thermodyne overhead valve engines. Diesels generally had Thermodyne direct injection engines (although there were some models that still used the old Mack-Lanova indirect injection engines), plus Cummins diesels in some of the larger trucks. In 1995 Bill Richardson travelled to the United States and while visiting Mack’s home town, Allentown, Pennsylvania, he purchased this truck and had it shipped back home. Although the B model was never sold in New Zealand, they became something of a legend in Australia,
due to their toughness and reliability. Currently there are five B models owned by collectors in this country, two that came in from the USA and three from Australia. This truck has the turbocharged Mack Thermodyne ENDT673 diesel rated at 205hp that debuted in 1955 it was Mack’s first turbo engine (the END673 normally aspirated engine was 170hp), and a 10-speed Duplex gearbox, which is normally a twin stick, but this truck has Mack’s single lever Unishift air shift splitter. Another interesting feature is the concave rear cab panel that allowed close coupling of semi-trailers. The B653 model (the suffix number 3 indicates a turbocharged engine) was a very rare model with only 93 trucks built between 1955 and 1958.
International ASC162 In 1949–1950 International Harvester introduced their new L Line trucks with all-new Comfo-Vision cab and new Silver Diamond overhead valve engines in the light to medium-duty trucks, replacing the old side valve Green Diamond engines.
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ncluded in the L series line up were forward control LC series trucks, which used a high mounted version of the conventional Comfo-Vision cab with a short snout. Although probably not a true cabover engine design, more a semi-forward control layout, the LC trucks offered a much shorter BBC (bumper to back of cab measurement) than conventional models. In the late 1940s through to the mid-1950s, Ford, Chevrolet/GMC, Dodge, Diamond
T and Mack offered similar semiforward control models. Prior to the International Harvester Company of Australia opening its new truck factory at Dandenong in Victoria in 1952, L and AL series trucks and the earlier D, K and KB series had been assembled at the company’s South Melbourne headquarters. The Australian government of the day encouraged as much local content in the assembly/manufacturing process as was possible by imposing
high tariffs on imported trucks and components. In order to increase Australian content, rather than fit the imported Comfo-Vision cab, IHC of Australia fitted a modified version of the locally produced Dodge ‘Pilot House’ cab to the L and AL series trucks. The Pilot House cab had been introduced with the new Dodge B1 series trucks in 1948 and cab pressings were manufactured by Chrysler Australia at their plant at Keswick, South Australia. In 1953 L and AL Line trucks were replaced by the R and AR Line and in 1955 the first Australian semi-forward control trucks were introduced, the ARC160 series. In 1956 the S Line trucks replaced the light and medium duty R Line in the US and the Australian AS series replaced the AR series trucks. Silver Diamond engines were available in two sizes, designated SD220 and SD240. By 1957 these engines had been modified with redesigned cylinder heads fitted with tilted valves to provide improved breathing, more power and better economy; the upgraded engines were known as Black Diamond engines. At the same time, a longer stroke version displacing 264 cubic inches, the A (Australian) BD264 was introduced. This truck was new in 1957 to carriers, CH Hyslop and Sons from Outram and after being traded in to International Harvester in Dunedin in 1962 it spent the rest of its working life in the Ashburton district until Bill Richardson bought it in 1991. It has the ABD264 engine, 4-speed synchromesh gearbox and 2-speed electric shift Eaton 1360 rear axle. There weren’t that many ARC160 and ASC160 series trucks sold in New Zealand and while they offered a long wheelbase and a long deck it would appear the standard front axles were too light for the extra weight they were expected to carry. The ASC series trucks were ultimately superseded by the much heavier ‘piano’ or ‘butterbox’ cab AACO 170 and 180 series trucks in 1961. Classic Trucks Volume 3 25
1959 The twin-steer, single-drive Leyland Steer is what British truck people refer to as a ‘Chinese Six’.
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Leyland Steer 16.S/3E
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am unsure how this term originated, but it may be because anything that didn’t conform to established practice was likened to a Chinese way of doing things and the twin-steer 6x2 was so different from what was considered a normal 6-wheeler at the time. Because the tare of a Chinese Six lorry was quite a bit less than a conventional 6-wheeler and thus allowed a heavier payload, the configuration became popular in the UK from the mid–1930s. As well as Leyland, Chinese Six 6x2s were built by AEC, Atkinson, Foden, ERF, Maudslay and Albion. The first Leyland Steer, the TEC series was introduced in 1937. It was based on the TSC series forward control Leyland Beaver 4-wheeler and was available with either a petrol or diesel 6-cylinder Leyland engine. The diesel option was the reliable and smooth running overhead camshaft T series 8.6 litre engine rated at 93hp or 106hp. Production of the TEC series Steer ended during World War II.
In 1947 the second series Steer, the 15.S/1 model based on the post-war 12.B series Beaver was introduced. The old 8.6 litre diesel was gone, replaced by the new pushrod O.600 motor rated at 125hp. From 1955–59 the ‘mouth organ grille’ 16.S/3 series was built with either O.600 or the larger 150hp O.680 motor. Leyland didn’t make a ‘Power Plus’ series, L.A.D. cab Steer, but in 1966 the Steer made a short-lived return as part of the new ‘Freightline’ range with the ‘Ergomatic’ tilt cab. This truck was purchased new in 1959 by the well-known refrigerated produce carrier, Roadair (Hawkes Bay) Ltd of Havelock North, owned by the Nimon family. It has the O.680 motor, 5-speed gearbox with 2-speed splitter controlled by a separate lever, full air S-cam brakes and would have originally had a Leyland worm drive axle, although it is now fitted with an AEC double helical double reduction axle from a Mandator. It spent all its working life with Roadair until it passed to Bill Richardson along with a 1957 Leyland Hippo 20.H model in 1996.
Commer CADY 715
1963
Commer introduced their seven ton forward control R7 truck range in 1948. The R7 was powered by a 109hp 290 cubic inch six-cylinder overhead valve ‘sloper’ petrol engine mounted under the cab. From 1954 the R7 became the C7 model. Also released in 1954 was Commer’s revolutionary TS3 3-cylinder opposed piston 2-stroke diesel engine rated at 105hp. Trucks fitted with the TS3 engine were CD7 models.
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he TS3 was a compact, economical and torquey engine with a distinctive exhaust note. They were quite a cold running motor and were often fitted with radiator blinds to increase water temperature and could be notorious fire starters as the exhaust system would get coked up if they were idled around on light work. When the truck was put into some hard work carbon in the mufflers was blown out in a shower of sparks that could set fire to roadside vegetation during a dry summer. Usually the driver was further up the road before the fire got going and was therefore oblivious to the problems the truck had caused. When the first TS3 powered trucks were sold in New Zealand in 1955–56, they were fitted with the standard English spec oil bath air cleaners mounted under the cab alongside the engine beside the left-hand front
wheel. This setup was fine for tar seal running but was totally inadequate for the dusty gravel roads common in New Zealand and Australia. Consequently as 2-strokes need a lot of air the air cleaners couldn’t cope and engines got dusted. The remedy was to fit twin AC oil bath air cleaners with high mounted pre-cleaners on the rear corners of the cab. The R7 and subsequent C7, CD7 and CX7 series trucks were all fitted with the BLSP (British Light Steel Pressings, a Rootes Group subsidiary) cab. In 1962 Commer brought out their new CA series seven ton trucks fitted with a larger cab manufactured by Joseph Sankey and Sons in Birmingham. Engine choices for CA models were the old sloper petrol at 111hp in CAH models and the TS3 3D199 diesel, still at 105hp in CAD models. From 1963 the CBE series offered eight tonners on 10 stud wheels with the 117hp 3DA199 diesel engine.
New as a concrete mixer truck to Palmers Concrete in Dunedin, this truck was Palmer’s first diesel Commer after operating several petrol R7 and C7 models through the 1950s. It later passed to civil engineering contractors Johnstone and Thornton where it carried a piling rig and then to McNeil Drilling around 1992. Bill Richardson acquired it in 1993.
The model codes for CA-series and CB-series Commers built between | 1963–65 can be deciphered as follows: Series (first two letters) Engine (third letter) D 105hp 3D199 TS3 diesel engine H 111hp sloper petrol E 117hp 3DA199 TS3 diesel
Classic Trucks Volume 3 27
1967
The Nissan spreading lime in 1970.
In 1955 the UD Nissan Uniflow Diesel range of 2-stroke diesel engines was released by Minsei Diesel Industries (as the company was then known, before becoming Nissan Diesel Motor Industries in 1960).
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UD Nissan 6TW12 ‘Jumbo’
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he UD diesels were built in 3, 4, 5, 6-cylinder and V8 configurations. Although similar in design to a Detroit Diesel 71 series engine, they were slightly larger at about 75 cubic inches per cylinder and had a Japanese-built Bosch type inline fuel injection pump, and the 6-cylinder engines used two Roots blowers. The history of UD Trucks in New Zealand can be traced back to 1965 when Alan Melhop of Invercargill engineering and motor vehicle dealership, HE Melhop Ltd, first saw Nissan Diesel trucks when he travelled to Japan to attend the Tokyo Motor Show. Melhops had been successful Leyland Motors dealers from the early post-war years and they set up Nissan Motor Distributors (NZ), with the first UD Nissan trucks sold here in 1967. Melhops sold their last Leyland trucks in 1969. This truck was new to Mossburn Transport as a bulk spreader in 1967. It was later painted in Northern Southland Transport Holdings colours and was converted to a tractor unit. In 1976 it was sold to MW Hodges, a rural carrier at Maitland, near Gore where it was eventually converted to a 6-wheeler tipper.
In the late 1980s it was restored by Austin King of Kaukapakapa, north of Auckland, for display at the Transport ’89 show. Nissan Diesel NZ then owned it for a few years before donating it to Bill Richardson in 1993. It has a 236hp UD62 6-cylinder 2-stroke diesel of 452 cubic inches with a 5-speed main gearbox and 2-speed transfer box and what looks very much like a beefed-up World War II era GMC CCW/CCKW twin driveshaft setup where one shaft drove the forward diff and the second shaft drove the rear diff. Many 2-stroke UDs were repowered with Detroit 6V53/6.71/6V71, Scania DS8/DS11, or 4-stroke UD PD6/ PD6T/PE6 engines. If a 6x4 model was fitted with a different gearbox the transfer box had to remain unless the rear axles were changed as the twin shafts drove out of the back of it. The early model Jumbos, like this truck were replaced by the 6TW13 model Jumbo, which was still a 2-stroke, but with the later cab. From about 1973 the 6TW13 model was replaced by the TW50 model with 4-stroke V8 RD8 motor of 279hp, which was in turn, replaced by the TW51and TWA52 models with upto 300hp.
The Crusader carting a bridge beam when it was originally in Southern Transport livery.
Leyland Crusader F41 The Scammell Crusader was originally conceived as a modern high horsepower intercontinental tractor unit to take advantage of the long distance haulage work across Europe as far as the Middle East that was beginning to become available to British hauliers.
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he prototype Crusader was shown for the first time at the 1968 Earls Court Commercial Motor Show. Although it appeared to be a modern design, it had a fixed non-tilting steel cab, which was a bit behind the times even then. It did have a hinged radiator though, to allow access to the engine. The same basic Motor Panels cab structure was also used by ERF, Foden, Guy, Seddon and Dutch FTF trucks. Scammell Lorries of Tolpits Lane, Watford, Hertfordshire was an old established truck and trailer builder having built its first articulated lorry and semi-trailer in 1920. In 1955 Scammell was bought by Leyland Motors and by 1968 when the prototype Crusader debuted it was
part of the ill-fated British Leyland Motor Corporation. Although there were 6-cylinder Rolls-Royce Eagle powered single drive Crusaders built for the home market, all Crusaders sold here were 6x4 or 8x4 and had Detroit Diesel V8 engines, either the 8V71N60 at 290hp or 8V71N65 at 318hp. There were two specifications offered, the F41 type, like this truck, which incidentally is badged as a Leyland as were all the early Crusaders in New Zealand, or the heavier F42 type. F41s had an Albion Reiver type hub reduction rear end, while F42s had the heavier Maudslay type hub reduction rear end. This truck, which has the 290hp Detroit 8V71N60 engine, overdriven Fuller Roadranger RTO915 15-speed gearbox and F41 bogie on twin spring suspension, joined the Southern
1971 Transport fleet in 1971. At first it carted stock and general freight with an A-train setup, but then went onto log cartage. It was by far the biggest and most expensive truck Bill Richardson had purchased up to that time, but the extra expense paid off as this was the first truck he had owned that covered 200,000 miles without overhaul. After it was traded in 1977 it passed to this country’s largest operator of Leyland/Scammell Crusaders, Stan Williamson of Te Puke, who ran log haulage businesses Stan Williamson Transport, Oregon Hauling Company and Forest Freighters. Other owners were Armstrong Quarry at Katikati, McConnell Dowell and market gardener RC Young at Waimauku. Bill acquired it in 1993 and by 1995 it had been restored back to original. Classic Trucks Volume 3 29
1974 Mack R685RS This truck was the very first of several hundred new Mack trucks bought by Bill Richardson and one of the first five R models in the South Island, all of which had Mack’s Maxidyne 237 engines. Other buyers of R models in 1974 were Transport Nelson with one (the first R model in the South Island) and North Otago Road Metal Company of Oamaru who bought their first three that year.
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on Carpenter of Palmerston North Motors (later Motor Truck Distributors) began importing, assembling and selling Mack trucks in 1972. The first Macks he sold were fibreglass cab FR models from 1972. About 13 or 14 fibreglass cab R models were produced in 1973–74 using CKD kits supplied by Mack Trucks Australia from their factory at Rocklea in Queensland. The fibreglass cabs were manufactured by Melbourne firm, Reinforced Plastics. In January 1974 a disastrous flood caused havoc at Mack’s Australian factory, with the result that the delivery of CKD kits to the New Zealand assembly operation was seriously held up. From then on the kits were sourced from Mack’s headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania and consequently there were no more fibreglass cab R models, although they must have built up a supply of ‘plastic’ FR cabs as these trucks were available for a bit longer. These early steel cab R models are known as ‘tin dash’ trucks, before Mack redesigned the cab with a wraparound dash in 1975 and also extended
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the cab by three inches to give the driver more legroom. Bill Richardson purchased three ‘tin dash’ R models including this truck which was No 44 in the Southern Transport fleet at Invercargill and spent all its working life there, mostly carting logs in the early days, before being tidied up for the museum. The second one was a 237hp single drive R685RT which had been a Motor Trucks’ demonstrator and became Nbo 9 at Southern in 1975. This truck was operated as a 4x2 for a while before returning to Palmerston North to have a tandem rear end fitted and was sold on to British Pavements (Canterbury) in Islington, Christchurch in 1980. The other ‘tin dash’ began life as No 24 at Southern in 1976, a 285hp intercooled R686RS model that also spent time with GE Tregenza at Timaru. One of Mack’s legendary 237hp turbocharged Maxidyne ENDT675 engines resides under the fibreglass tilt bonnet. The Maxidyne concept of high torque and fairly constant horsepower from 1200 to 2100rpm was announced in 1966. The ENDT675 engine had a high torque rating of 906lb/ft at 1200rpm; by comparison a naturally
aspirated Cummins NH250, although having a higher horsepower rating and being a much bigger engine at 855 cubic inches as opposed to Mack’s 672 cubic inches produced 685lb/ft. at 1550rpm. Concurrent with the introduction of the first Maxidyne engine, Mack brought out their Maxitorque triple countershaft 5, 6, 10 and 12-speed transmissions. The Maxitorque was an extremely tough transmission, but Mack trucks fitted with just a 5 or 6-speed gearbox certainly didn’t appeal to every driver who had previously driven trucks with multi-speed transmissions. The transmission is a twin-stick 6-speed Maxitorque TRXL107 and the tandem is a 44,000lb rated SWS571C on heavy-duty camel back suspension. The second lever was meant to be used to split first gear only to give a lo-lo starting gear, so to all intents and purposes it is a 5-speed box.
1977 The Oshkosh Motor Truck Manufacturing Company of Oshkosh, Wisconsin was founded in 1917 by William Besserdich and Bernhard Mosling as the Wisconsin Duplex Auto Company. Besserdich had previously been involved with the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD) of Clintonville, Wisconsin.
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shkosh, like FWD and the Colorado-based Coleman Motor Company, soon gained a reputation as a builder of tough go-anywhere allwheel drive trucks. Although Oshkosh had traditionally manufactured heavy-duty all-wheel drive trucks
Oshkosh E-1238 for the municipal and construction markets, by the 1970s they had diversified into building highway trucks as well. The E series was a cabover, set back front axle highway truck with a tough, but basic steel cab manufactured by Truck Cab Manufacturers of Cincinnati, Ohio. Although not widely known outside of North America, by the late 1960s Oshkosh trucks had a foothold in the Australian and South African markets where their toughness and Caterpillar engines soon found favour. Most Oshkosh trucks sold in Australia were the conventional R series. In the mid-1970s, Ron Carpenter of Motor Truck Distributors, the Palmerston North based Mack importer and assembler heard of 20 right-hand drive Oshkosh trucks that were available. He purchased what probably would have been New Zealand’s first and pretty much only Oshkosh trucks, apart from a few secondhand ex-military trucks. The 20 trucks consisted of 18 E
Oshkosh soon gained a reputation as a builder of tough go-anywhere all-wheel drive trucks. series cabovers and two F series conventional models. The two F series were fitted with 318hp Detroit Diesel 8V71N65 engines, while the rest had Caterpillar power. The E series were 4x2 E-1223 and 6x4 E-1238 models. The numbers refer to front and rear axle ratings; the 1223 had 12,000lb front axles and 23,000lb rear axles. The 1238 had the same front axle and a 38,000lb tandem rear axle. All 20 trucks were purchased by the nationwide Freightways Group. This truck started life with Dale’s Freightways in Auckland and has been put back in the livery of its original owner. It has a 270hp twin overhead camshaft, pre-combustion chamber, turbocharged and aftercooled Caterpillar 1674 engine. The transmission is a 13-speed Fuller Roadranger, the front axle is a Rockwell with wedge brakes and the tandem is a Rockwell SQHD with S-cam brakes on Hendrickson RT type walking beam suspension.
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ERF B series 38C4-350 Even though the first ERF lorry left the factory in Sandbach, Cheshire in 1933, it would be nearly another 20 years before the first of this brand reached our shores. Incidentally, the letters ERF are the initials of the company’s founder, Edwin Richard Foden.
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n the early 1950s, F (Fred) Butler Ltd of Hamilton imported about six Gardner powered ERF trucks. They were mostly V series models with Jennings Coachbuilt (wooden framed) cabs, although at least one had a Willenhall steel cab. In 1954 Fred Butler sold his business to CablePrice Corporation, which soon dropped the ERF franchise in favour of Mercedes-Benz and White. In 1967 ERF made a return to New Zealand when Alex Black of Dunedin-based Cossens and Black approached Peter Foden, regarding representation in this country. Alex Black was a shareholder in the main Otago Austin dealer, Austin Motors (Otago) in Dunedin and he wanted to offer a heavier truck than the largest
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Austin model, the 8-ton FJK160. Cossens and Black also opened branches in Auckland and Rotorua. They sold the Motor Panels steel cab MV series with Cummins C160 and NHK220 engines, David Brown gearboxes and Eaton 18802 2-speed axles in the smaller single drive trucks and Fuller Roadranger boxes and Centrax (UK licence built Rockwell tandems) in the bigger ones. In 1970 the agency passed to Industrial Steel and Plant which also held the Cummins diesel, Chamberlain tractor and Wabco earthmoving equipment franchises. Around this time the MV series was replaced by the MW series with similar Motor Panels steel cab and Cummins engine options. From the mid-1970s the fibreglass cab A series became available and in the
1981 later 1970s the B series with fibreglass tilt cab superseded both the A and MW series trucks in New Zealand, neither of which had a tilting cab. Drivetrain options were mostly Cummins 14-litre engines, although there were a few trucks with Gardner 6LX/150 and 6LXB/180 power, and Kirkstall hub reduction single and bogie drive axles as an alternative to Eaton and Rockwell axles. The ‘Deer Hunter’ really needs no introduction as its history has been widely documented. The Cummins NTE350 powered B series was new to Ryal Bush Transport in 1981 as a specialised deer cartage unit and covered 380,000 kilometres in its first year. It stayed with its original owner until 2007 when it was donated to the Richardson collection.
TSL Foden sister TSL Foden from museum. The one in the museum isn’t actually this truck although it was a sister truck to it and was bought new by Freight Haulage in the same batch.
Foden S108 The 1970s were tough years for the old established English truck maker Foden, with financial crises in 1974–75 and 1979–80.
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ven though they won a big contract with the Ministry of Defence in May 1980, it wasn’t enough to save the firm and in July 1980 the receivers were called in. In September that year it was announced that Paccar (the makers of Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks) had bought the Sandbach, Cheshire-based company from the receivers. Under Paccar ownership the company was reformed as the Sandbach Engineering Company. Some of Paccar’s influences at Foden were the adoption of lightweight aluminium components and universal driveline components including Caterpillar, Cummins, Gardner and Rolls Royce engines. Foden had traditionally built its own gearboxes, worm drive rear axles and even engines back in the 2-stroke days. In New Zealand Foden had been represented since 1953 by Fodenway
Motors of Auckland which was founded by expatriate Englishman, Len Buckby. From the mid-1950s Fodenway Motors along with two subagents sold quite a few Foden trucks. In 1967 Fodenway Motors was bought by Fodens Ltd and became a factory branch of the English company although Len Buckby, along with his sons, Ted and John continued to manage the New Zealand operation. In the late 1970s Ted and John Buckby established Specialist Transport Equipment (STE) to import and market transport accessories and following the collapse of the parent company in 1980, STE purchased the assets and agency of Fodens’ local operation. STE later evolved into South Pacific Trucks and from 1994 Southpac Trucks. This Foden was purchased by Southland Freight Haulage in 1985 and worked on stock and general rural
1985 cartage from their West Otago depot in Heriot before becoming part of the Transpac fleet in 1986. After the demise of Transpac it was operated by West Otago Transport which had bought the remnants of Transpac’s Heriot operation from the receivers. It has a 350hp Caterpillar 3406B engine producing 1320lbs/ft of torque, a 9-speed cable shift Fuller Roadranger RT14609A gearbox and a 44,000lb Rockwell SSHD rear end on Foden’s own FF20 rubber block suspension. From 1983–84 the fibreglass cab S10 series Foden trucks sold extremely well here with kiwi operators liking the dependable American running gear, especially the Caterpillar 3406B engine. The FF20 rubber block suspension wasn’t to everybody’s taste; while stable, it was inclined to be too rigid for off-road use as it didn’t allow enough axle articulation and consequently traction suffered. Classic Trucks Volume 3 33
Vic Draper
– classic collector and restorer By Faye Lougher
A passion for anything that turns on and makes a noise is what keeps a smile on Wellington earthmoving contractor Vic Draper’s face.
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he Draper name has been involved in contracting and earthmoving since the early 1930s when Vic’s grandfather (also called Vic) established V. A. Draper & Co. Ltd. “To start with he had an old Chevy truck and spread metal on the country roads in Wairarapa, loading it by hand, using a shovel. He built V. A. Draper into quite a big company, but retired in 1958 to go farming in Martinborough,” said Vic. The company continued to grow in the 1960s and 1970s under the control of Vic’s father, Tom. The company dug the holes for Wellington’s BNZ building, the Reserve Bank
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of New Zealand, the Beehive, and did a lot of roading work in the region, including the Ngauranga to Aotea Quay motorway, Shell Gully (Wellington urban motorway) and Melling through to Haywards. V. A. Draper & Co was also involved in the early stages of the Whitby subdivisions and the reclamation work for the harbour. Vic can remember at the age of about 10 being with his father and watching one of their TK Bedford’s ceremoniously tipping the first load off the wharf to start the reclamation project in the 1960s. “We also worked on the second stage of the reclamation during the mid-1970s, the land where the container terminal is now located. We carted loads from our quarry in Glover Street and during that contract we had eight artics carting into there, an International Paystar, three International 2150s, three Fiat 697s and a Hino HH.” Vic did his time as a diesel mechanic at Gough, Gough and Hamer during this period, completing his apprenticeship in three years. After he did his time he went and worked for V. A. Draper & Co for a while, then
Vic Draper’s beautifully restored 1962 Leyland Octopus and 1964 Leyland Hippo. P HOTO: FAYE LOU GHER
Vic Draper, owner of Drapers Earthmoving Ltd. P H O TO : FAYE LOU GHER
John McMorrow for about 18 months before returning to V. A. Draper & Co. “While doing my time with Gough, Gough and Hamer things were very buoyant. I worked on a lot of gear in that time, including a few Cat-powered road trucks. I also spent a bit of time working for them down in Twizel as a mechanic, on the power scheme. There were some fairly interesting times down there and it was a great experience.” Vic says there was a lot of work around until a change
of government saw a downturn in the economy about 1976–77. One of the last jobs V. A. Draper & Co did before closing down was work on the construction of the Wainuiomata Hill and Vic was asked by his father to run the project. “I spent three years running that job from start to finish, which was quite a big job at the time. We did the lot, the earthmoving, roading, the drainage, and even installed temporary road bridges so that we could cart the dirt under, leaving the traffic to flow unimpeded.” When V. A. Draper & Co was wound up most of the equipment had been sold off but Vic managed to buy a few items of earthmoving equipment and established Drapers Earthmoving Ltd. Vic says over the years his company’s main work has been on subdivisions throughout the Wellington region. “We have worked right throughout the Wellington region, one of the main areas being Churton Park. Having started there in the early 1980s we are still working there today. “Another one of our main jobs we have at the moment is the Aotea subdivision at Porirua. We started there in 2003 and we’ve still got another two or three years to run, earthworks-wise.” From its small start, Drapers Earthmoving now runs in
Classic Trucks Volume 3 35
excess of 20 large earthmoving machines, all Caterpillar, but quite a diverse range. “We run a D9T, D8N, D7F, two D6Rs bulldozers, two Caterpillar 627 scrapers, two Caterpillar 637 scrapers, four 320 excavators, three Caterpillar dump trucks, three Caterpillar compactors – 814, 815 and 825 – and two Caterpillar No. 16 motor graders.” Vic says one of the most important things to him is the history of the two companies. “I was brought up with trucks, earthmoving equipment, roading and construction; the whole damn lot. Whilst working for V. A. Draper & Co I spent time driving earthmoving equipment and trucks. At one stage while we were doing the reclaim I was driving our Leyland Hippo on heavy haulage during the day and then relief drove the late shift on the reclaim. Although I got into earthmoving, trucks have always been a passion and business-wise I could have gone either way.” Vic has spent many years restoring classic earthmoving equipment and trucks, including a 1964 Leyland Hippo like the one his father owned. “In the early days of my business, I didn’t have a lot to do with the trucks but I’ve always liked them. I was driving the Leyland Hippo at the age of 20 with V. A. Draper & Co and the desire to own one never left me. Our Leyland Hippo was sold in 1978, but I enjoyed driving it and the passion to own one only got stronger as the years went by; in the end I just had to have one.” Vic can remember seeing Hippos on the road when he was a child but says now there are only five in New Zealand and only two are on the road. “I wanted our old one so started looking around but couldn’t find it. I ended up buying a number of different trucks in various states of disrepair and building one to replicate ours. You can’t find a good truck these days, they have all rusted away.” When Vic started buying bits for the now-beautifully restored Hippo, he bought several trucks as donors and says if he hadn’t, they wouldn’t be around today.
The Octopus looks like it has just driven off the showroom floor. PHOT O: FAY E L OUGHE R.
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From top: The restored dash of the Hippo. The restored dash of the Octopus is almost identical to the Hippo. The interior of the Octopus. P HOTOS: FAYE LOU GHER .
The cab of the Octopus isn’t large, but it also received the Draper attention to detail.
Above: The 1962 Leyland Octopus sitting at Bluff, October 2016. Photo supplied.
“The Hippo contains bits from at least half a dozen trucks. I started from the ground up, with two chassis rails sitting on 44-gallon drums. Every nut and bolt I built; it was a passion to build it and it took four years. I did all the mechanics and put it together and I had a panelbeater friend who spent six months – three days a week – doing the panel work.” Vic says Bob Thomson from Seaview has painted the cab on the restored Hippo and had also painted some of V. A. Draper & Co’s trucks when new. As spare parts for old trucks are not exactly thick on the ground, Vic says a lot of the pieces had to be handmade. “Morris Metal Products made the bumpers. I ended up getting my workers to make the mirror brackets and a few other bits and pieces; it took a lot of effort and a lot of money. We couldn’t get the name badges for it so I borrowed one and had it cast and chromed.” The hood lining was in a bad state so after he fixed it Vic blew a mould of it which he then covered. Steve Knight from Dashboard Restorations refurbished the
Classic Trucks Volume 3 37
1958 Ruston Bucyrus 10RB. New to V. A. Draper & Co. Ltd, and sold in 1978. This shot of it on the Leyland Hippo transporter was taken on its way to the Wairarapa Machinery Show. PH OT O S UPPL IE D
dashboard and engine cover and also made the door linings. “He did a lot of work for us and did a lovely job.” The Hippo has a 690 turbocharged (a Leyland 680 that is turbocharged, called a 690 to differentiate it) motor and a standard 6-speed with a hi/lo ratio. Built as a tractor unit, the Hippo has a 6x4 single-steer tandem drive. “I overhauled the engine, the gearbox and the diffs myself.” The Hippo was completed in 2006 and in 2007 Vic took it on the South Island Classic Truck Tour. “I was a bit apprehensive about going on the South Island tour but that’s one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. You get to meet interesting people, go to a lot of places you might not normally go to, and along the way you get to play with your toys. It’s not about showing off, it’s just about enjoying them.” Since doing the first South Island run, Vic and wife Sandra, along with Ray and Fiona Reid, have been the organisers for the North Island run which is held every four years, with the South Island runs in between. Vic admits his passion for the old Leylands didn’t stop with the Hippo and he says he went a “little crazy”, going on to buy a 1967 Beaver that started its life towing a tanker for Lion Breweries in Wellington. “Then it went to Collins Towing in Titahi Bay (Wellington) and then to Scotts Towing in Christchurch. They had it as their frontline tow truck and I bought it off them minus the towing gear and have since fitted a flat deck.” The Beaver has a standard 680 motor and a close ratio 6-speed gearbox with a hi/lo auxiliary. It is a 6x2 singlesteer single drive with a lazy axle. Among the trucks Vic bought when building the Hippo was an Octopus that had been owned by Provincial Heaton’s and ran from Tauranga to Auckland return daily, towing a trailer. Vic says Mickey Whiteside also owned it at one point. “I was inspired to build that one as well. I probably should have stopped at one but I got carried away and I was too far along to stop. The Octopus has taken 10 years to build and now it is finished it is the only LAD cab Octopus on the road in New Zealand.”
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Vic says the Octopus started off the same as the Hippo, just two chassis rails. “It’s been a labour of love. The gearbox, diff and engine were overhauled and the cab done. A lot of work has been done and the bumper was handmade too.” Heatons had fitted the Octopus with a 690T engine and a close ratio 6-speed box with hi/lo auxiliary in it. “The 6.06 ratios were fine back in the days but I put the 4-speed auxiliary in the Octopus to give it longer legs. It’s half flat deck with a turntable on the back and is a twinsteer tandem drive.” The Octopus was completed in time for Vic to put in some miles on the South Island Classic Truck Tour in October. He took the long way home via the West Coast. As well as the Leylands, Vic also has a classic KM Bedford that V. A. Draper & Co had bought new in 1969. “I found it on Trade Me. The rego was still live but it was in a state. It is not as tidy as Richard Webb’s and it has got the original Bedford 466 motor, not a Detroit, but being one of our older trucks, I had to buy it. When we owned it, it was in a 6x2 configuration with a 10-yard tipping bin on it. The bin and the lazy axle had been removed at one stage so I shortened the wheelbase and put a turntable on it. It’s not original but is now set up as one of our other KMs was, but for all that, it was one of our trucks.”
1967 Caterpillar 630B motorscraper. New to Stephensons, it is one of two that came to New Zealand. The other has been restored by Kevin Capell of Lake Hawea. P HOTO SU P P LI ED
1967 Leyland Beaver sitting in snow at Mt Ruapehu. PHOT O S UPPL IE D
Fitting the cab to the 1962 Leyland Octopus. P HOTO SU P P LI ED
Family history means a lot to Vic and he is now restoring a 1947 Ford Jailbar tipper that his grandfather bought new. “When my grandfather retired [from contracting] he went farming in Martinborough with my uncle. He took the Ford over there as a farm truck and I remember driving it around the farm when I was a child. When he died in 1974 they didn’t use it and it sat in a shed for more than 30 years.” The remainder of Drapers’ fleet are working trucks, including a 1989 RB Mack tipper, a FS Hino tipper, a 2000 Mack CH, and a 1991 Mack Super Liner 500hp V8 with an 18-speed. “We don’t use the Super Liner a lot, just occasionally when we shift a bit of our gear, but I like it, it’s an awesome truck.” Vic says the older trucks are a big part of his life. “I’m a real petrolhead; I’ve always been into V8s. If you can turn the key and it makes a noise and produces some power, I love it. As much as I enjoyed getting the Super Liner, I enjoy the older stuff more. It doesn’t matter how old it is, I really appreciate some of the older stuff you don’t see any more. I like trucks, I like seeing them out there on the road. The other thing is it gets you into the classic truck scene and I really enjoy that.”
Left: 1952 Caterpillar D8 2U restored by Drapers. Below: 1955 Euclid 16TDT. New to Feast and McJorrow and waiting its turn to be restored P HOTO SU P P LIED
Classic Trucks Volume 3 39
A memorable Mack By John Murphy
When Alex Groos was young, his father, Rod Groos, worked at Redvale Lime quarry in Dairy Flat, north of Auckland. The quarry’s pride was an R model Mack and Alex remembers his father taking him for rides in the truck. The memorable experience was the catalyst for Alex’s desire to restore an R model.
N
ow 28 years old, Alex has spent most of his life in the Bay of Plenty after his family moved there in 2003. He’s a mechanic, working at Hewletts Road Machinery in Mt Maunganui. After restoring an early Willy’s Jeep with his father (also a mechanic and an experienced vehicle restorer), he looked around for a Mack to rebuild. The ex-Redvale Mack was available, but his friend Pete Miller found an ex-Higgins tractor unit for sale at MTD in Auckland. The 1985 truck had only had a single owner during its working life and had towed a number of trailers, including bitumen tankers and tipulators. It didn’t have a CoF, but was in solid condition, and was especially sound mechanically. Alex says it had had one repaint, but was tired, just like you’d expect a 25-year-old truck to be. He bought it from Mack salesman, Murray Officer, for $6000 in 2011. Alex and Pete drove it from Auckland to Tauranga. They were impressed with it and Pete says, “It doesn’t drive that much differently now”. Alex decided to restore it to look like something direct from the 1980s. He didn’t want to make changes or additions such as alloy wheels, that weren’t common features back in that period. At the time Alex was an apprentice mechanic with Clothier Earthmovers; they allowed him to put the truck in their workshop and he got stuck in. His first tasks were to
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Although the engine didn’t require any significant work, it was cleaned up and given a new coat of paint.
Alex and the Mack shortly after he bought it.
The dash looks like new; some original Mack woodgrain material was sourced from the USA.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 41
Alex wanted the truck to keep its 1980s roots; no extra chrome was added.
fix all the mechanical issues, which were minor items such as wheel bearings, a broken spring, some pins and bushes, oil cooler and brake repairs. The next step was a strip-down; the springs and axles were left in the chassis, which was in first-class condition, but everything else was stripped out and the chassis then sandblasted. Alex painted the chassis himself. The engine and gearbox were also repainted before being refitted. The air and electrical looms were refitted and then the truck had to be moved because Clothier’s closed down. From the day he started stripping the truck until it was towed out of the workshop was only three months, but in that time he spent 400 hours working on it. The Mack was taken out to Alex’s parents’ farm and stored in the hayshed while Alex built a shed – big enough to house the truck – on the farm. The engine and gearbox were installed and the chassis completed, but the cab and bonnet were sitting on the frame, as yet untouched.
Once he built the shed, a wood-framed roof spanning containers, work on the restoration could resume. The next task was working on the cab; it was mounted on a frame with wheels underneath before being completely stripped to the last nut and bolt and sandblasted. There was hardly any rust, just minor rust in the heater vent, which was repaired. A weak spot in the R model cab is under the windscreen and a crack there was repaired. Alex says there were numerous small dents to repair, and he got stuck in and did the entire panel work, including the rust and crack repairs, himself. While many parts, such as window operating mechanisms and door fittings, are available from the US, Alex says most of the parts were either expensive or poor quality aftermarket components. He chose to make and rebuild the majority of the fittings himself. The fibreglass bonnet needed a lot of work. There is timber inside the fibreglass to help support the hinges
An impressive start Years before Alex bought his Mack, the air start had been disconnected and an electric starter motor fitted. The subtle electric motor didn’t match the memories he had of the screaming air start in the Mack he used to ride in with his father, Rod. Alex didn’t just refit an air start tank and motor to the truck, he took some of the baffling out of the muffler on the starter to accentuate the noise. People standing close to the starting Mack jump out of their skins the way they did when they first heard a Mack air starter, even if they’re now partially deaf.
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Paintwork
The Mack’s orange and bronze colour combination was a choice on Ford Ranchero pickup trucks in the 1970s. Alex and Pete looked at lots of photos of Macks from the 1980s to decide what to colour orange and what to paint in bronze. The final colour delineation was based on owner-driver colour schemes from the period. The chassis and tanks were painted by Alex, who also applied the undercoats to the cab, bonnet and other bodywork, using Altex products. The DeBeer metallic topcoat on the bodywork had to be perfect and Alex had his painter friend and workmate at Hewletts Road Machinery, Eric Lulu, carry out the work. Although Alex does point out that he got a shock when he first saw the colour in the spray booth – under the fluorescent lamps it looked a completely different shade from that seen under natural lighting. The finish is superb, with seven litres of clear coat adding the gloss and protection the excellent panelwork deserves. Plenty of intricate scroll work emphasises the truck’s period theme and it’s all hand-painted too. The scrolls and signwriting were done by Ken Baird. Ken does Ian Spedding’s trucks and Pete (who used to drive for Ian) was well aware of the master craftsman’s skills with the brush.
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The completed and assembled cab is reunited with the chassis.
Right: The doors were removed and painted separately from the cab. Far right: The paintwork around the engine and running gear is superb.
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The artillery hubs and wheels are
Alex made his own die for stamping
painted in the style of the 1980s.
the bulldog into the upholstery.
and that needed replacing. When stones were thrown up with enough force by the tyres, they had hit the inside of the mudguards and caused the fibreglass to flex, cracking the gelcoat on the external surface. Alex carried out all the repairs himself, after getting some advice from a boat builder friend. When completed, the cab, along with the bonnet, was repainted. The metallic topcoat and clear coat were applied by Alex’s workmate, Eric Lulu, the painter at Hewletts Road Machinery. The bronze paint was applied with the cab stripped and the doors left off. The doors were then temporarily fitted and the masking applied to ensure the lines marking the colour changes were in the right places. The doors were then removed and the painting completed. The extra work has resulted in a beautiful job, with colour changes that look complete instead of the half-finished look that is usually noticeable when doors are opened to reveal only the base colour around the frames. Parts from five different cabs were used to restore the interior. Alex points out that the same fittings were damaged or worn out on almost all the cabs he found, but eventually he got enough stuff to make a mint interior. Finding enough suitable parts and rebuilding the dash gauges to the immaculate standard he wanted was a painstaking job. The original dash covering was available from the US; the woodgrain finish has a texture to it that’s noticeable and the new surface instantly recalls memories
from the 1980s, for those who were around when the trucks were new. Interior signage, in the form of stickers, such as the ones on the dash and heater, were reconstructed and applied to the restored and painted components. The seats were reupholstered and Alex made a die, which was used to stamp the Mack bulldog logo into the upholstery on the back of the seats and the door panels. The steering column and glass were fitted to the cab and the wiring completed while it was still off the chassis. Alex even installed the cab’s exterior fittings, such as the air cleaners, mirrors and roof lamps, and fully completed the cab before lifting it onto the chassis. Fixing the cab to the chassis was actually a relatively simple job, bolting it to the new rubber cab mounts and connecting the steering, heater hoses and plugging the wiring connections together. Fitting the bonnet proved straightforward too. Once the cab was on he focused on the components mounted to the chassis. A crushed fuel tank was replaced and Alex’s skills are clearly demonstrated in the handmade rear light bar, exhaust stack, chassis covers and bespoke rear guards. There’s obviously a lot of work gone into the design and construction of those fittings and they match the period perfectly, although it could be argued that they’re more neatly finished than anything that came out of workshops in those days. Alex didn’t want a lot of chrome and alloy; for one thing, it was a lot less common in the Mack’s day, although
Classic bull bar The big steel bull bar dominates the Mack. It’s a style that’s not around now that maximum legal length is used almost solely for load space and clean, unobscured grilles or small alloy bars are the style, but photos from the 1980s reveal that the big, practical fitting was reasonably popular. When Alex bought the Mack it had an original bumper, which had seen better days. While he was looking around for a suitable bumper, Pete Miller came across a classic bull bar and although this Mack had never been adorned with one, Alex decided, “That was exactly what I needed”. The big steel item was an ideal match to recreate the 1980s’ truck style he wanted.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 45
The iconic Mack look and feel is emphasised, even from the rear view.
alloy disc wheels were available. He says, “I didn’t want anything to polish. I wanted to be able to jump in and go for a ride.” The grille was a mission. Alex sourced several grilles, but they were all damaged and rusted. He repaired and welded in replacement sections until he made up a decent one and had it chromed. Before he even fitted the grille, the chrome started peeling off. The electroplaters rechromed it, but Alex is still disappointed with the result. A pair of classic 1980s Lucas spot lamps mounted on the bull bar add a nice touch that is unlikely to be duplicated because of the rarity of the extras. Once the truck was running, Alex realised it needed a new radiator; it was the only significant expense he had not allowed for in the rebuild. Passing a CoF with the by now impressive truck was no problem, and in February 2016, Alex and Pete drove it north to Auckland and Ian Spedding’s yard for signwriting. Pete Miller had driven trucks for Ian and knew his signwriter, Ken Baird. Ken is skilled with a brush and hand-painted all the signwriting, pinstriping and scroll work. Alex gave him a free rein, knowing the master signwriter would create the image Alex wanted the truck to portray. He is not disappointed; it’s a beautiful piece of work that matches the truck’s period perfectly. The restoration took a total of about 3500 hours, which is probably testament to Alex’s mechanical skills and management ability, because it’s likely that it would have taken much longer to achieve this level of perfection for most truck restorers. Since it’s been on the road Alex has taken it on several runs. It’s a truck that inspires nostalgia and brings back long-forgotten memories.
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Thanks
Alex Groos.
Alex points out that a number of people helped him complete the Mack, and he particularly wants to thank: • Dad (Rod Groos) for his wise advice and always being there to help when I was under the thumb, and for his shed. • Pete Miller for his constant support and always being available to help with those two-person jobs. • Hewletts Road Machinery for the use of their facilities. • Eric Lulu for painting. • Ken Baird for the signwriting. • Ian Handley of First Avenue Auto Trim for the upholstery. • And mum (Sue Groos) for not killing me when I oversprayed her entire vegetable garden orange.
Taylor Bros Transport Ltd celebrate 50 years Taylor Bros Transport Ltd started in Katikati in 1965. It’s now based in Tauranga, although they still operate their Katikati yard. Founder Kevin Taylor purchased his first truck in June 1965; several months later his twin brother Garry Taylor joined him and KM & GM Taylor trading as Taylor Bros was formed. Andrew Taylor, the son of Garry, is now the managing director, but Garry and his wife Evelyn, along with Andrew’s wife Lee-Ann, are all involved as directors. Presentation supplied by Debbie Hobart, Taylor Bros Transport office manager. Debbie started with Taylor Bros in 1985. A young Andrew Taylor (left) learning the ropes from the ground up with Garry Taylor.
An impressive line-up of Taylor Bros Mitsubishis outside the Katikati Dairy Factory in 1983. This photo featured in Transport News at the time.
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Kevin and Garry Taylor, outside the Katikati office in 1993.
This Mitsubishi 6-wheeler joined the fleet in 1982.
An early truck photo from Taylor Bros archives, their 1973 Commer.
The mid-1980s saw a resurgence from Leyland and this Constructor joined the fleet in 1985. A Leyland Mastiff was purchased at the same time and the two trucks sat on Garry’s front lawn for eight months before going into service. Above: Judge Trucks supplied another new Dodge in 1980. Note the upmarket mirrors, neat pinstriping and scrollwork, which along with the two-tone wheels are classic 1980s. Below: Loading metal onto a TK Bedford at Metal Haulage quarry, for the Kaimai Rail Tunnel in the 1970s.
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Above: Taylor Bros new Mercedes-Benz 2233 featured in New Zealand Trucking in 1986, and is seen here with a 4-axle B-train and well-stacked load of posts. Below: A new Kew Dodge K2213T, complete with period scrollwork, a dropside tipper deck and 2-axle trailer, joined the fleet in 1978.
The Mack loading out kiwifruit in the late 1980s.
This is a Dodge Hi-Line from 1979, but the same model also carried the Commer name.
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Two 1985 R model Macks joined Taylor Bros when they were bought second-hand in 1987. This photo of the R model Mack tractor unit was taken in 1988.
1988 Ford
This UD Quon 9-axle high productivity unit
Louisville A-train,
with a walking floor joined the
driven by Mick
fleet in 2013.
Whiteside
Taylor Bros were early adopters of Japanese trucks; this impressive Fuso tractor unit and 2-axle semi was the first of many Japanese trucks.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 51
The Sheldrake Kenworth
By David Kinch Photos by David Kinch and as credited
Sometimes you don’t realise what you’ve got until it’s gone. But every once in a while things go full circle.
S
ometimes there are trucks on our roads that you never see for one reason or another. Living in the South Island, I hadn’t travelled across Cook Strait much at all until about 16 years ago, so my first glimpse of GJ Sheldrake’s 1984 W model Kenworth was in 2014 at the Kenworth 50th anniversary event held in Mt Maunganui, after the restoration of the truck had been completed. Wind back the clock a few years to 1984. Graham Sheldrake made the trip across the Tasman to Australia and purchased a 1984 W924AR Kenworth, which he named ‘A Touch of Class’. It was to be the flagship of his operation for some years to come. While in Australia Graham noticed that the Kenworth road train tractor units had vents on the top of the bonnet
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so the driver had easier access to the water and oil; after seeing this feature he ordered it for his new Kenworth. The Kenworth was fitted with a 3406B Cat engine, with a brakesaver, the first of its kind in the country. Once in Tokoroa the logging gear and trailer, built by Evans Engineering Co Ltd, was added. The Kenworth was put to work, mostly around Tahorakuri Forest in the central North Island, pulling doubles on the off-highway roads to the Kinleith Mill near Tokoroa, with most loads in the 100 tonne-plus range. When it wasn’t working off-highway, the truck would work around the central North Island carting back to Kinleith, or taking export logs to Mt Maunganui or sawmills in Rotorua. In 1988, four years into its working life, the truck and
The 1984 W924AR Kenworth is still
trailer rolled over while coming out of the bush. The damage from the incident required the left-hand side of the cab and bonnet to be repaired. While the truck was out of action it was painted in the new Sheldrake colours of white and blue. In April 1991 Graham sold the truck to Pacific Haulage Ltd of Gisborne, where it was painted in their company colours. It remained a longs unit, carting logs up and down the east coast to the Eastland Port and the JNL mill in Gisborne. Pacific Haulage company director Mike Treloar remembers the truck as “a good honest work horse – with the right colour engine”. In 2006 the truck was once again on the move when Pacific Haulage sold it to Graham Rust in Rotorua, who removed the bull bar and repainted the truck black with
PHO TO : ED MANS EL L
capable of earning a living.
Graham Sheldrake’s W924AR Kenworth in its original colours.
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1
2
3
4 1 After the accident in 1988 the truck was
3 The Kenworth in Graham Rust’s colours.
painted in GJ Sheldrake’s new colours.
PHOT O: E D MA NS E L L
4 The Kenworth in Vaughan Topless’
2 The Kenworth in Pacific Haulage colours.
PHOT OGRA PHE R UNKNOW N
P H O TO: NI GEL TU R NER
colours.
P H O TOGR AP HER U NK NOW N
white around the headlights, along with yellow and red flames on the bonnet and guards. The truck was used by a number of contractors throughout this period and wound up being offered for auction in 2011 at Turners in Mt Maunganui. Rotorua contractor Vaughan Topless just happened to discover the W924AR Kenworth sitting at the auctioneers and paid $12,250 for it. He managed to get the old girl started and drove it back to Rotorua where he set about sanding the bonnet and painting it black, with some subtle pin-stripes which set the truck off nicely. Vaughan then bought a 4-axle trailer from Rotorua Forest Haulage and put the Kenworth back to work, contracting to the Challenge Carrying Company/FDL, mainly working in Taupo and the Bay of Plenty. After the truck blew a couple of head gaskets Vaughan stripped the engine down, only to find it needed replacing. In 2013 he bought a replacement 3406B engine from Barry Satherley in Napier, keeping the original engine in case it was ever needed in the future. That same year a bull bar was purchased from Gordon Dahm in Tokoroa and fitted to give the truck back the tough appearance it had when it first hit the road in New Zealand.
54 Classic Trucks Volume 3
It was a well-known fact that by this stage Graham Sheldrake wanted to buy the Kenworth back, especially with Kenworth’s 50th Anniversary show being planned for September 2014. In 2013 Vaughan relinquished the Kenworth to Graham on the condition that it be restored to its former glory. Graham took the truck back to Tokoroa where the boys at SWAT Contracting stripped it right back, soda blasting the chassis, bonnet and cab, then reassembling everything. They rebuilt the dash and added a new cab guard. The Kenworth was then given a new paint job before the team at Unlimited Signs in Tokoroa added the signage, so the Kenworth W924AR would match Graham’s new Kenworth T659 when they debuted together at the anniversary. Graham’s son Matt now drives the Kenworth once or twice a week, taking it out into the bush for a load to keep the engine ticking. It’s pretty cool considering Matt used to ride shotgun in the truck as a three-year-old with his dad, or in the school holidays as he got older. This fact isn’t lost on Matt, who remembers those days fondly, and they’re both glad to have the Kenworth back home in GJ Sheldrake colours.
Mathew Sheldrake reunited with the Kenworth he travelled in as a child with his father, Graham at the wheel.
Truck Parts with Heritage Vincent Truck Parts –
your partner in trucking for over 60 years. 100% NZ owned, we supply quality aftermarket parts at realistic prices. If you are a fleet operator, service workshop or owner driver, call us for prompt, helpful service.
Maxipart Vincent (NZ) Ltd, 26 Alfred Street, Onehunga, Auckland Ph: 09 634 0648 www.maxipart.co.nz
• Transmission • Brakes
• Steering
• Driveshaft
• Suspension
• Exhaust
• Drive Axle
• Trailer Parts
65 Ash Road, Wiri, South Auckland Ph: 09 262 1101
Classic Trucks Volume 3 55
Rescuing #34 By Kere Menzies
B
DT King wanted to celebrate their 75th anniversary in style and what better way than to restore the original truck that started their long-standing relationship with Japanese truck manufacturer UD Trucks?
oth started around the same time in 1938 and both have grown to become very successful in their own fields. DT King and Co Ltd is a Southland-based transport company founded in 1938, the same year that Nihon Diesel Industries Ltd (UD Trucks/Nissan Diesel) produced their first Japanese-built engine. An interesting coincidence considering the long-standing history the two companies have together. DT King started with four trucks and a yard horse, and over the first few years of operation purchased five more trucks to help build the fleet. From the start the company has been rural based, starting off in the flax industry but quickly moving into
56  Classic Trucks  Volume 3
supporting the young timber and coal industry and then bringing in farm-related produce like fertiliser, fencing equipment and farm machinery. Much of its early cartage was in competition against the government-subsidised rail network, which allowed heavy transport operators only a 40-mile (64km) carting distance. Fines were heavy for those who got caught exceeding this distance, so much cartage was done under the cover of darkness. In spite of this heavy restriction, and the fact that winter in Southland has very long nights, DT King grew into a very busy company. Rural cartage basically means shifting anything asked of you from out in the countryside, and for Kings this meant hand-building their own stock crates for sheep and cattle,
Shell ran this CW20 for many years around Southland.
The only photo, unfortunately, of #34 prerestoration.
carrying milled timber for a fast-growing logging industry, and building trailers for the shifting of houses and large buildings. Trucks needed to be tough and much was asked of them. Barely useable gravel roads, paddocks that were wet and lumpy, and loads that were consistently heavier than trucks were designed for, were par for the rural carriers’ course. Tough work that called for very tough trucks. Early on for Kings, and the rest of New Zealand, it was English and American rigs, generally ex-war and already mostly worn out. But this story isn’t about trucks from the Mother Country, or bonneted American rigs, no, it’s about the honest working Japanese units first brought into New Zealand by Invercargill firm H E Melhop, Nissan Diesel.
Rust is the enemy of all restorations and #34 was in need of help. Kiwi ingenuity meant that impossible to find parts were reconstructed to look like new.
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Angus McIntyre was in charge of the restoration project. His style is certainly ‘old school’ as he refused to replace rusted and hard to find bits with ‘something similar’, instead rebuilding them to ensure originality.
H E Melhop’s first Nissan Diesel arrived in New Zealand in 1966 and Melhops were involved in selling and servicing Nissan Diesels from Invercargill to Blenheim, taking in Dunedin, Christchurch and Nelson on the way. Incidentally, Melhops were actually the first in New Zealand to import Japanese-assembled cars, bringing in the Datsun Bluebird in the late 1950s. DT King purchased H E Melhop in 1985 and renamed the company Commercial Vehicle Centre (CVC); they are still involved in the business. Purchasing Melhop wasn’t their first contact with the sturdy Japanese truck, however. In 1980 Kings purchased their first new Nissan Diesel CW20, naming her #34, and this purchase started a relationship with the brand that helped to build the largest UD Truck fleet in New Zealand, at one stage peaking close to 120 trucks. That number is
now, unfortunately, dropping due to the demise of the popular 8x4 CG model that had been so strong for Nissan Diesel for many years. Down south it’s a strange sight to see other brands in the King’s livery after literally decades of only running the UD brand as their mainstay road trucks. From their first CW20, Kings have owned hundreds of Nissan Diesels and it is these trucks that are credited with helping to break in the land around the deep south of New Zealand. Retired general manager, Paul Balneaves, who was this year inducted into the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame, still speaks highly of the Japanese workhorse and credits the performance and reliability as the main reason Kings were so successful. “Our work is predominantly off the tarseal, working on gravel roads, logging tracks and on
The Nissan Diesel CW20 Engine: Nissan PD6, 10,308cc inline 6-cylinder Power: 190hp, torque 490lb/ft Gearbox: Road Ranger RT613 Rear Axles: Rockwell GVM: 21,335kg GCM: 32,000kg As a truck salesman today, I often hear company owners telling me that their drivers have a lot of input into the vehicle they drive. With a shortage of drivers they feel that the better equipped their vehicles are, the higher quality drivers they can attract and keep. High horsepower, luxury cab and suspension straight out of the La-Z-Boy factory. Unfortunately technology and attitudes were a little different in 1980. Options for the CW20 were minimal; you could
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choose between a 10-speed or 13-speed gearbox, add an extra 130-litre fuel tank to the standard 200-litre tank, and the big innovation at the time – dealer-supplied quartz halogen headlamps. In spite of this the CW20 was a very successful model for Nissan Diesel in New Zealand and H E Melhop sold them all over the South Island. All the larger fleets in the deep south around the 1980s had a Nissan in them, usually a CW20 or a later model, doing an honest day’s work, and DT King was no different. Keep in mind that these companies had been built on hardworking British and American gear and for the Japanese-assembled trucks to gain a foothold and acceptance in a country known for pushing limits, they had to be tough, they had to perform and they had to have backup. The little Nissan Diesels had all this, and more.
Bruce Rowland and his son Jeffery ran #34 for many years with minimal repairs, replacing her with a 1992 CWA300. A head gasket and rear end rebuild was all he had to do on #34. Left: The cab was rebuilt from two cabs, as it had been very rusty. Hard to source bits were remanufactured and new upholstery added to finish the job.
The chassis was stripped back,
The grandson of DT King, John King, and his wife
sandblasted and painted.
Helen took #34 on the 2014 Northern Long Lap.
the pasture, and the trucks we bought needed to be able to last a considerable distance with a minimum of breakdowns; the Nissans fitted this job perfectly.”
buy and sell trucks around the local district in the 1980s and 1990s, and Bruce still remembers her turning up in the yard. He says his comment to Ken was “Man, this thing is rough”. However, after paying $6000 for the truck he couldn’t expect too much, and he says to be honest, it was typically Nissan Diesel to them, strong, reliable and faithful. He can’t remember when they bought her but he reckons they spent minimal dollars on her, a head gasket and rear suspension rebuild, and she was still in regular service when Ken Seyb, branch manager from CVC, turned up one day to purchase her. Ken had tracked down the old CW20 to Oamaru and was under instructions from DT King to return her home for restoration; they had a jubilee coming up. Bruce thinks Ken offered him a pretty good deal and he traded the CW20 in on something just as neat, $10,000 cash and a 1992 Nissan Diesel CWA300, which he still owns today. Mind you, he is ready to trade up again so best you ring him, Ken. Bruce’s last trip was a bit hairy, he was delivering #34 to
The boomerang truck
It’s fair to say that Kings are a bit of an historic outfit; 75 years of business is quite a feat in New Zealand. However, the second owners of truck #34 can beat that. Bruce Rowland’s father bought his farm in 1919 and it has been in the family ever since, as Bruce now runs it with his son Jeffery. Looking around the yards it is clear that the recent dairy boom hasn’t affected these boys too much. The old sheds are still there, the paddocks have real fences, not those three-wire electric jobbies, and the clutter around the yard comes from generations of good ole kiwi collecting; #34 would have fitted right in. Now Kings aren’t known for selling young trucks with low kilometres so it’s fair to say the truck had done quite a bit of work before Bruce got her. He purchased her through Ken Prairie (sadly now deceased), who used to
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Three generations of DT King UDs.
Invercargill to swap for his new rig when the CVIU pulled him in as a tail light was out. He tried to explain that it was on its way for full restoration but obviously the officer was bored because he went over the truck with a finetooth comb and still just found the tail light out. Quality trucks those Nissan Diesels! The rebuild project Around the Riverton district there are quite a few restored cars, mainly American or Australian in origin, and many of them restored by Angus McIntyre. Angus is a mechanic/engineer for DT King and was duly given the old truck for full restoration. This is not the first truck Kings have restored; an old K-series International already in pristine condition is stored in their sheds. To be fair #34 was still in original condition and whilst the rust had eaten away the light box on the roof, the air intake, the doors and some of the cab, most of the truck was there, ready to be restored. Ken Seyb had sourced another cab, a CK20 cab from Alexandra, and the original one was basically rebuilt using the two of them. Both roof-mounted light boxes were beyond repair so a replacement one was hand-built and a new air intake was found in Japan, but the price of $1800 was a little steep so Angus rebuilt that too. The deck is the original one; obviously they were built strong in those days, however the sides were replaced and with a sandblast and paint it has come up very tidy. Of course Nissan chassis’ are renowned for their strength so a sandblast and paint was all that was needed to tidy that up. The interior received a fair amount of work as the years had not been good to it; reupholstered seats, new roof linings and mattress, plus the dash was pulled apart
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and restored. Finding original cab fittings proved to be interesting. It was fortunate that Nissan Diesel had been strong in the region for so many years and bits and pieces kept turning up to help finish the job. One thing Angus couldn’t source was the front wheel rim-mounted ‘steps’; these were missing, so clambering into the cab was a bit of a mission. Yours truly was the UD Truck salesman at the time and had been talking with Angus as to where he might source those last few bits needed to complete the job. Being well trained in the Kiwi way of never throwing anything out I had a set from an old truck I had traded years ago and managed to pull them out of a pile of junk (collectible junk of course) in a shed out the back of CVC. All in all it was a four-year restoration time-wise and Angus estimates that it was about nine months of solid work. He did most of the work but credits Micheal Edmondson, who was working for Kings (now a mechanic for Milne Transport, Isla Bank), as also putting in a lot of quality time and good work. The restoration was completed in time for DT King Ltd’s 75th Jubilee and #34 held pride of place in the line-up that led guests into the celebrations. Quite a fitting restoration, representing the long partnership between DT King and the Nissan Diesel brand, made more interesting by the fact that the truck restored was actually the original Nissan purchased by them. Having hundreds of UD Trucks led Kings to be the largest UD Truck fleet in New Zealand and, through CVC, they also owned the largest of the Nissan Diesel franchises in New Zealand. A great effort all round.
Commercial Vehicle Centre
NELSON 5 Merton Place Sales - Service - Parts Ph 03 546 4605 24hr Callout
Proud to be supplying and servicing UD Trucks to the South Island for over 30 years CHRISTCHURCH 8 Waterloo Road Sales - Service - Parts Ph 03 349 0044 24hr Callout
DUNEDIN 12 Strathallan Street Sales - Service - Parts Ph 03 455 6449 24hr Callout
INVERCARGILL 120 Bill Richardson Drive Sales - Service - Parts Ph 03 215 8250 24hr Callout
CVC We know Trucks
- www.cvc.co.nz
High, wide and
handsome By Faye Lougher
If you were describing a GMC Top Kick to someone who’d never seen one, a pickup truck on steroids would be a good start.
A
lan Mayo arrived in Texas for a Ford Model T rally in 2008 with no plans to buy a truck, but hours later he owned a 1980 GMC Top Kick. “I found it by default at an auction,” says the Te Horo-based truck enthusiast. “I was in Amarillo and a friend took me to the auction, which was about 150 kilometres away in Clovis, New Mexico. The last thing in the auction was this truck.”
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Alan had always had a liking for GMCs and had been in the States when this model of Top Kick was first released. The truck in the auction had been sitting in a yard for about 15 years but appeared to be in good condition. “I saw the truck and I just liked it. GMC have always been a pretty wild bunch, they make pretty chunky pieces. The guy started it up and it ran, and the bidding started, but it was passed in at the auction because the seller
Above: Alan Mayo, owner and restorer of the GMC Top Kick. Below: The clean front end sports a massive grille.
A 500kg crane is used to lift Alan’s vintage and unusual machinery onto the deck. Note the V8 powered tractor.
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wanted a ridiculous price.” Kitted out as a roofing truck, the GMC had a box on the back that had been used to move materials to and from a roof safely and to provide a stable platform for workmen. It weighed about 5 tonne but Alan really only wanted the truck. “The hydraulics still worked and the platform could be raised higher than in the photos, and the back could be tipped to dump materials off the platform. It was worth more than what they wanted for the truck so I talked him into selling me the truck and said he could keep the box. As far as I know it’s still sitting in Texas.” Alan says he did consider bringing it back but couldn’t work out what he would use it for so decided to leave it behind. Another factor was he really wanted to put a flat deck on the truck, so the box had to go. “Once I bought it the next trick was to get it back to Texas. Bob Owen was a friend of mine so I went to Owen’s Salvage in Wellington, Texas.” The oil tank and frame were on top of the chassis so
it was all lifted off as a unit and just the truck body and frame shipped to New Zealand. “I got it here in New Zealand and took everything off the frame, then sandblasted it and set to from there up. I cut four feet off the frame and shortened the wheelbase by 12 inches. While the cab and engine were off, everything was cleaned up too. I stripped the cab down, took it right back. It was a big job getting the decals off the door.” Alan found the clutch was slipping, something he didn’t know when he bought it, so put in a new clutch and pressure plate. “A lot of things needed replacing – new fuel and air filters, vee belts, etc – so it was a full rebuild other than the engine, which was in good condition.” Back in 1978, Alan and Grady Thomson had set up Thomson Motor Industries in Paraparaumu, a business converting Chevy pickup trucks to right-hand drive, so Alan was well qualified to do the GMC conversion himself. Alan says he rebuilt the truck over a period of about two years, working on it whenever he had time.
The cab interior of the Top Kick
The pickup steering wheel and
is fairly plain, modelled on the
column belie the fact that the driver is
Silverado.
controlling a full size 6-wheeler.
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Whistlin’ Dixie Alan also owned Whistlin Dixie, the only Ford CL9000 in New Zealand. Just 9,000 miles old, it came out of New Jersey and was “the bee’s knees at the time” he says. Bought 20 August 1980 at a time when rail was looking at deregulation, Alan thought he might get into the trucking industry. “They had a bunch of them for sale and I could buy them okay because I had the contacts I did. It attracted every truckie and when we wanted to sell it we had a lot of interest. After I sold it I heard it was destroyed in an accident on the Desert Road.”
Top Kick history
The Kodiak and Top Kick were introduced in 1980 as stronger versions of GM’s existing medium-duty C-Series trucks. ‘Kodiak’ followed the pattern of ‘frontier beast’ names given to heavier trucks such as the Chevrolet Bison and Chevrolet Bruin, while ‘Top Kick’ came from military slang and tied in with GMC’s heavy truck names of General and Brigadier. First-generation models can be distinguished by a full-width grille with quad square headlights arranged horizontally in chrome bezels underneath with the GMC lettering or Chevy ‘bowtie’ above the grille.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 65
Alan says the engine was in good shape when he bought the truck.
Specs GVM: 12,500kg Engine: 3208 CAT Maximum power: 220hp Transmission: 13-speed Fuller Roadranger Rear axles: 38,000lb Diff ratio: 4:8:1 Front axles: Leaf spring Rear suspension: Hendrickson Brakes: Air Tyres: 22.5 Electrical system: AC DELCO Cab: Silverado trim, CD player
The wheels were mounted on an old bicycle wheel for painting.
The cab was stripped right back and repainted.
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The GMC was set up as a roofing truck and
The GMC when Alan first laid eyes on it
had a lifting/tipping platform on the back.
at an auction in Clovis, New Mexico.
“I pretty much did all the work myself. After I replaced each piece that needed it, I put it all back together again. I repainted the cab and frame – that was all done here.” Alan mounted an old bicycle wheel so he could put a wheel on top and turn it while he spray painted it. Next up were new tyres, and with 10 on the truck and two spares, they did not come cheap – about $1000 each. Alan was lucky enough to score the front wheels off a school bus in Wellington as the tyres on the bus were replaced when only half-worn. “I tried to find a holding rack that goes under the truck deck to take the spare tyres but I couldn’t find one big enough. I asked in the States why they didn’t make them and was told they don’t carry them because when anything happens to their tyres, they just get on the mobile phone and get someone to come and change it for them.” Arlan Engineering Ltd in Levin made the deck, and welded the framing for the truck. The deck features willow timber planks and has a Tadano 500kg-rated crane on the back that Alan uses to load his vintage equipment for shows. It also has a twin under-body hoist and 12,000lb winch, and ramps that can be tipped up a few degrees to allow things to be loaded on the deck. When the exterior was finished, Alan turned his attention to the cab. Despite the Top Kick’s overgrown
appearance, the doors are off a standard pickup truck and the cab is fairly understated. “The interior just had plain door handles and a floor mat, it was just the Silverado cab trim and the door trim was vinyl covered.” Alan had the 60/40 seat replaced with a bench seat which was covered in burgundy fabric to match the door trim by Mark Dunn at Kerry’s Upholstery in Levin. A hood lining was added too. The certification was done progressively so Alan knew each piece was okay before he started on the next job. When questioned about why he bought the Top Kick, Alan says he has always loved this truck. “It’s unusual; GMC have always been outside the square as far as looks are concerned, they are pretty wild. The Chevys were all named after bears, but the GMC were named after the military – hence the Top Kick. I just use it for carrying my junk [vintage machinery] around with, that way I can leave it at a show.” Alan has bought many trucks before and after the Top Kick but says he has no plans to sell it in the near future. “It’s not a money thing; people spend more in the boozer over a lifetime. I’ve had several offers since I completed it and what they offered was pretty good. Everybody seems to like it.”
The pickup cab, combined with artillery wheels and a massive grille combine to give the Top Kick with a truly unique appearance.
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The trucks of Total Transport By John Murphy
Total Transport Ltd was formed by Matt and Heather Purvis, and their partners Paddy and Irene Collins, in 1977. The Taupo-based company started as livestock, rural and general freight carriers, but over time they changed direction and started carrying sawn timber, bulk product, containers and logs.
A
lthough others took shareholdings in Total Transport from time to time, eventually Matt and Heather became the sole owners and were responsible for some of the company’s innovative moves, including introducing the modern owner-driver model and developing a central North Island transport hub. The business thrived and 50 to 60 trucks were operating under its control when it was sold to Provincial Freightlines in 2002. Linfox in turn bought Provincial in 2007 and they eventually dropped the name of Total Transport and closed the Taupo yard. Matt passed away in 2015, but he and Heather had collected stories and photographs which have recently been published in the book On Time – Every Time. Here we reproduce some of the photos from the book.
This FR Mack was owned and driven by An Argosy log deck unit, with the Linfox badges added after the Australian company took over Provincial Freightlines. PH OT O: E D MA NS E L L
Owner-driver Denis Cronin swapped his big rig to drive the mini Kenworth, leading the T904 in a Taupo Christmas parade. P H O TO : P U RV I S FA M I LY C O LLE C TI O N
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Bryan McRae, who was a shareholder in the company for a period in its early years. P HOTO: ED M ANSELL
Owner-driver Chris Walker operated this Volvo F16. Neatly tarped loads were a trademark of Total Transport drivers. P HOTO: ED M ANSELL
Freightliners were a popular make in the Total line-up. The late Gus Campbell drove this FLB; he drove for the company for many years. PH O T O : ED MAN SEL L
For years Total supported Taupo’s Round the Lake Cycle Challenge by carrying racks of bikes to and from transition points. Tony ‘Sparrow’ Burling was the owner-driver of this Foden loaded with cycles. P HOTO: P U RVI S FAM I LY C OLLEC TI ON
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Total’s flagship T904 was the first T904 in New Zealand. It was New Zealand Trucking magazine’s Top Truck in September 2000. PH OT O: DAV E M c COID
Owner-driver Rex Reeves operated this Ford and B-train. P HOT O: GRA NT GA DS BY
Above: Bryan Purvis owned the ERF ‘Problem Child’; it was driven by his son Joe and bore the number plate ‘JOSERF’. P HOTO: ED M ANSELL
Left: The first of two versatile log decks purchased about 1997. They carted logs from Hawke’s Bay to Kinleith and paper or particle board back to Hawke’s Bay. P HOTO: ED M ANSELL
The last new truck in Total Transport’s colours was a 2008 Freightliner Argosy set up as a logger. P HOTO: DEAN JAC K SON
This White was one of several trucks that were mostly used to bring local loads into the yard for processing, although it occasionally did longer trips from Taupo to Kinleith. PH OT O: E D MA NS E L L
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One of Total Transport’s initial trucks, a
One of two near-identical Kenworths with bi-fold tipper decks. The
Kenworth 270hp cabover bought secondhand; the
versatile system was popular for a time and was used to cart a
other truck was a secondhand cabover ERF.
number of loads, including sawn timber, fertiliser and sawdust.
PHOT O: E D MA NS E L L
P HOTO: ED M ANSELL
Total’s Isuzus earned their keep. In this line-up they’re joined by Chris Walker’s Mitsubishi on the far right. PURVIS FAMILY CO L L ECT IO N
One of several International T-Lines owned by Total over the years. Mark Sinton was the first driver of this truck. P HOTO: ED M ANSELL
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Project By Dave Kinch
While most kids brought up around trucks dream of driving a Kenworth or a Mack one day, for David ‘Spike’ Amer, there was only one truck that stuck in his mind.
S
pike’s dad was an owner-driver as far back as Spike can remember, firstly with an Austin contracted to Kwikasair and then a TK Bedford with Alltrans, before buying his first new truck, an Isuzu with TNT Alltrans (formerly Alltrans). Spike spent every school holiday and spare moment fighting with his brothers for the right to go with dad in the truck for the day. Sometimes his father
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315 would jack up a day in a big truck rather than his four-wheeler; this is how Spike got to go for a ride in a Mitsubishi 315 owned by Les Goodall, which was named ‘Pat’s Pride’ after his wife. Although reaching the door handle was still a challenge, Spike spent the day learning how to hook up, pull trailers and how twist locks worked, which he absolutely loved. Les Goodall bought the single-drive FP315JHR Mitsubishi to tow multiple pull trailers around town as this was the way containers were delivered back in the day, but not long after the truck went on the road operators started to use swinglifts to deliver containers, which meant the single-screw Mitsubishi was outdated. Within 12 months Les had the 315 booked in to have a tag axle fitted. When that was done, he had the truck back doing containers during the day and running up
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to Nelson at night to the new TNT depot that he had set up. Unfortunately, it was on one of these night runs that the truck was rolled and written off. However, being the 1980s, new trucks were costly, interest rates were high and waiting times were long so after a lengthy argument with the insurance company Les got paid out. He bought the wrecked truck back and got Truck Alignment Services to rebuild it using a new cab. Spike vividly remembers seeing the 315 at Truck Alignment Services. “My dad’s truck was getting some work done on it and the 315 was freshly painted in TNT Alltrans colours just before it went back on the road.” After TNT folded and went back to Australia, Les took the 315 and his other trucks to Nelson and renamed the branch Blueline Freighters, where he carried on trucking for a few years before eventually selling the entire business, including the trucks, to Mainfreight. Everything, that is, apart from the 315, which he brought back to Christchurch. The truck was eventually put up for sale through Southern International and snapped up by NZ Express contractor Colin Newburn and repainted in the familiar red and yellow colours. Colin sold up to Bill Thorpe, and by this time Spike had his licence and started driving a 315 for Mt Cook contractor Dave Newton. The two 315s often met as they worked around Christchurch. Keeping his eye on the original truck he grew up with, Spike would often dream of one day owning it. After Bill passed away the truck went back on the market and was purchased by Steelbro/Serviceworks as a yard hack, often used for taking trailers for CoFs. The 315, that was starting to look a little unloved, had always passed its own CoF. Then in 2014 Steelbro went into receivership and Turners Auctions were tasked with selling off the plant, which included the 315. Talking to Glenn from Turners, Spike told him of his connection with the truck so Glenn helped Spike out by telling him what the truck needed to get going and who to talk with to find out exactly what the truck was like condition-wise. Finally, Spike saw his chance to own his dream truck.
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He cashed in all his holiday pay and all of his savings and accessed some very generous crowd funding, to have enough to win the auction and make the 315 his, 30 years after his first ride in it. It was one of the happiest days of his life! Spike, who runs a couple of social media pages in his spare time, started a group called ‘Project 315’ to show off the progress of the truck as he and others worked on it. With three weeks in between jobs the rejuvenation of Project 315 started from the day Spike picked the truck up. Armed with a photo that his brother Mark ‘Magpie’ Amer took 30 years prior, Spike got stuck into the project and had all the paintwork sanded back in the first week. Spike then repainted the chassis in his driveway but, being the end of winter, he knew that repainting the cab would have to be done under cover. Gerard Daldry kindly offered to help Spike by lending him the use of his shed for the weekend, so come Friday night the truck was wheeled in and masked up ready for paint. In the following days Spike sprayed the undercoat, rubbed it back and then top-coated the cab. Happy with the result, the truck was wheeled back home for more work, including painting the wheels orange, which Spike matched with the paint sample that was still on the inside of the rim. By now the old Mitsubishi was looking pretty sharp and with regular Facebook updates, its following had grown and the countdown was on to get it finished. Help came from all over the country, with the finishing touches being supplied by CTS (the sister company to CTE who had done the 6x2 conversion), who helped with the chrome, Brian Williams supplied the front bumper, and Steve Foote from Foote Signs in Nelson made up the signage without even seeing the truck, using measurements Spike had supplied, once again using the 30-year-old photo as a guide. Spike would like to thank everyone who played a part in making his dream come true and says “I will be forever grateful for those who gave up their time, skills and money to help me create my dream and without those helpers, the truck would never have been completed”.
Canterbury
Classic By John Murphy
Specifications Isuzu SPZ 580 Engine: Isuzu E120, 240hp Gearbox: Roadranger 13-speed
Peter Turner of Christchurch started out on his own in 1982, and Peter Turner Contracting Ltd now operates seven tippers, five diggers and a couple of transporters.
P
eter bought his 1979 Isuzu SPZ 580 off a sheep drenching contractor shortly after the first of the Christchurch earthquakes, mainly because it had a water tank on the back and he wanted a suitable unit to adapt for water blasting liquefaction affected areas. Once the job was completed Peter was about to sell the truck, but after finding out its history he thought, “This thing’s got to be saved”. The Isuzu was originally a stock truck with Transport North Canterbury. It had a 2-deck sheep/single deck cattle crate and towed a 3-axle trailer. The flat deck was set up with drop-in bolsters and the truck even spent a bit of time logging. After a
short period with the ill-fated Transpac when they bought out Transport North Canterbury, the truck wound up with a Motueka-based owner-driver in TNL colours. Two or three owners later it ended up with the contractor Peter bought it from. Since Peter rebuilt it and returned it to Transport North Canterbury colours, he’s taken it on a Top of the South Island Tour, where “It never missed a beat”. At a display in Rangiora recently the truck’s original driver, Maurice McNally, was reunited with it. Peter has other projects on his plate now and has reluctantly decided to put the Isuzu on the market.
The Isuzu’s first driver, Maurice McNally, was reunited with the truck in Rangiora recently.
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strapline
Webb’s black beauties By Faye Lougher
A Levin water well driller with more than 40 years’ experience in the industry says he is proud his business has a reputation for being ‘the drillers to get to do the job’.
R
ichard Webb began his career working for his late father, Nevill, who established Nevill Webb Well Drilling in 1949. In the 1990s while working for his father, Richard also had a water cartage business and says that’s how he ended up with his first Bedford. [His water cartage business was later sold to JB Environmental.] After working for his father for many years, Richard deciding to go out on his own. “I established Richard Webb Ltd in 2003. I do water well drilling and a bit of maintenance work. Residential and lifestyle blocks, farms, irrigation – we do it all.” Richard’s daughter Amy works in the business as office manager, and she also works on the drilling rig. In addition to having a well-deserved reputation for doing a good job, Richard’s trucks also set him apart. He
76 New Zealand Trucking October 2016
Main photo, from left: Richard Webb’s 1974 KM Bedford, 1991 Kenworth T900 and 1976 KM Bedford outside his business in Levin. P HOTO: FAYE LOU GHER
Above: Richard Webb and his daughter, Amy. P HOTO: FAYE LOU GHER
Below: The 1991 Kenworth T900 at a drilling site at Opiki to pick up the T-Lift and site container. P HOTO: AM Y W EB B
New Zealand Trucking October 2016 77
Richard was very proud of his immaculately restored 1958 International W-450 diesel tractor – thought to be the only one in New Zealand. PH OT O: FAY E L OUGHE R
runs two KM Bedfords and a Kenworth T900. “That’s how I get identified, by my trucks. People say ‘are you the guy with the black Bedfords?’ ” Richard’s 1976 KM Bedford was first registered in August 1976 and owned by Bitumix Ltd in Ellerslie. Richard bought it in February 1992 and gave it a good tidy up before Richard Munford painted it. It has a 9-speed Road Ranger gearbox and was initially used for his water cartage business then to transport the first drilling machine, a Bucyrus-Erie 22W (which was mounted on an old International truck), on a low loader when he started his own well drilling business. The 1974 KM Bedford was first registered in January 1975 to Waitemata Electric Power Board, before being sold to Mike Lambert Logging in Tauranga. When Richard bought it in April 2006 the cab looked reasonable but when he took a closer look he found it was very rusty and had to have a lot of work done on it. The wiring and brakes were redone and Richard Barnes from Shannon did a lot of the panel work. The KM was painted by Bruce Stirling from Precision Panel and Paint, and Marty’s Panel and Paint did the chassis. To give the truck more traction on the kind of terrain he worked in, the chassis was lengthened and an extra axle added. It was fitted with a 13-speed Road Ranger gearbox and today it is mainly used to carry the two drilling rigs to work sites. It also has a deck that can be put on it. The truck has four twist-locks mounted to the chassis and both the drilling rigs have hydraulic rams at each corner. The rig is raised by the hydraulic rams, and the Bedford is then backed under the drilling rig, which is then lowered onto the truck chassis and secured by twistlocks. This process is usually reversed at a site, with the drilling machine being put in place and the truck taken away until the job is completed. “I’ve always had a passion for the Bedfords from when I was a young fella,” says Richard. “I liked the noise; they have Detroits in them. There were less than 100 genuine English-assembled Detroit KM’s built. There were a lot of made ones, but these two are genuine ones. I like the shape and the sound and they are very agile off road. They
78 New Zealand Trucking October 2016
can still compete with the best. They can overtake the best! I used to do the maintenance myself but now I don’t get the time any more.” Both Bedfords originally had 6V-71 engines in them but these were replaced with higher horsepower 6V-92 TAs. The engine Richard bought for the 4-wheeler came from Eagle Spares and it had originally been in a fire engine in America. He says the 4-wheeler has a very old 6V-92 green engine, and the 6-wheeler a later model silver 6V-92. “For the 6-wheeler I wrecked a Mack Valueliner to get the engine out of it. The whole truck was really tired but it had a healthy engine. I talked to the old mechanic who worked on it and he said it was a crate motor but they hadn’t replaced the radiator and the engine got fried, so he had rebuilt a brand new engine and replaced the radiator.” Richard also owns a 1991 Kenworth, the first T900 ever produced and the truck used in the sales brochure. Fitted with an aerodyne sleeper and having a 1600 litre fuel capacity, it travelled to New Zealand for promotional
The 1974 KM Bedford with Bucyrus-Erie 22W drilling rig and 1976 KM Bedford with water tanker. P HOTO: AM Y W EB B
Specs for the 1976 KM Bedford The 1991 Kenworth T900 leaving Koputaroa after helping prepare the track for the Johnny Old VMX. PHOT O: FAY E L OUGHE R
Year: 1976 Make: Bedford Model: KM6V71 Colour: Black Plate: ID6169 Engine No: 6VAE50069 Chassis: ERV9FDW457053 Vehicle Type: Goods Van/Truck/Utility Body Style: Other Truck Seats: 2 CC rating: 6981cc Gross Vehicle Mass: 14,225kg Tare: 5588kg Maximum Rated Towed Mass: 30,000kg braked trailer Axle Type: 2-axle Wheelbase: 3360mm Front Axle Group Rating: 6000kg Rear Axle Group Rating: 10,500kg GCW: 32,513kg GLW: 31,360kg
Specs for the 1974 KM Bedford
The 1976 KM Bedford near Arthurs Pass during one of the South Island classic truck tours. PHOT O: A MY W E BB
Year: 1974 Make: Bedford Model: KM6V71 Colour: Black Plate: HH9378 Engine No: 6VAE 50113 Chassis: ERV9FDW455195 Vehicle Type: Goods Van/Truck/Utility Body Style: Other Truck Seats: 2 CC rating: 6981cc Gross Vehicle Mass: 22,300kg Tare: 6890kg Axle Type: 2-axle converted to 3-axle Wheelbase: 3850mm Front Axle Group Rating: 8000kg Rear Axle Group Rating: 16,000kg
Specs for the 1991 Kenworth T900 Year: 1991 Make: Kenworth Model: T900 Colour: Black Body Style: Articulated Truck VIN: 6F5000000LA411900 Plate: FPE237 Engine No: 06R00240330 Vehicle Type: Goods Van/Truck/Utility Body Style: Articulated Truck Seats: 2 CC rating: 12,700cc Country of Origin: Australia Gross Vehicle Mass: 26,000kg Tare: 9160kg Axle Type: 3-axle tandem drive Wheelbase: 4850mm Front Axle Group Rating: 6000kg Rear Axle Group Rating: 20,000kg
New Zealand Trucking October 2016 79
The 1974 KM Bedford with Bucyrus-Erie 22W drilling rig – working on an artesian well in the Manawatu. P HOTO: AM Y W EB B
duties and was made to suit New Zealand rules and conditions of the time. During its trip from Australia to New Zealand Richard says the T900 was damaged in the container and needed repairing before it went on the road, so although it was the first one off the production line, it just missed being the first one registered. Afterwards the sleeper cab was removed along with two of the fuel tanks, and the wheelbase was shortened. It was first registered to Porter Haulage Ltd in Hamilton in May 1992 and kept for 15 years. In July 2007 it was sold to Forestry Roading Services Ltd in Milton, Otago but they only had it for a year. Richard bought it in September 2010. Although he has a soft spot for the Bedfords, Richard also loves his Kenworth, which is fitted with an 18-speed Road Ranger gearbox. While he did legitimately need a sixwheeler, he admits it’s a bit of a toy as well. “I got it to transport a 12-tonne digger but I also use it to transport pipes and other drilling equipment. The 1976 doesn’t get used much today, it now has a water tanker on the back. It was replaced by the Kenworth – I don’t need it but it’s part of the family.” In addition to the trucks Richard has two cable tool drilling rigs (a Bucyrus-Erie 22W, a good machine for identifying water bearing zones, and a refurbished Bucyrus-Erie 60L that can drill larger diameter bores for irrigation and public supplies) and a tractor crane and excavator.
80 New Zealand Trucking October 2016
Richard’s experience includes personally drilling the city and town water supply wells for Palmerston North, Feilding, Masterton, Takapau, Foxton, Foxton Beach and Massey University, as well as heading many other major water well drilling projects in the lower North Island. He has also completed production bores for the Kapiti Coast District Council, installed monitor bores for Horowhenua District Council, completed high-yield irrigation bores for dairy farms and industrial supply bores for factories, as well as installing countless domestic supply water wells for home owners. It’s not just classic trucks Richard has a passion for – in his limited spare time he collects and restores classic tractors and has just spent two years restoring an immaculate 1958 International W-450 diesel – thought to be the only one in New Zealand. He has a collection of 42 tractors, crawlers and bulldozers, mainly Internationals, but also Allis-Chalmers, Caterpillar, Oliver, and John Deere. “I was brought up on a farm, and love tinkering with mechanical things. I enjoy working them and fixing them. I bought my first tractor for $45 when I was 13 – it was an Allis-Chalmers C and it was seized,” he says. Richard occasionally works his vintage gear, ploughing with one of the tractors and a vintage trailing plough, and hay-baling with his vintage International 50T baler.
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From Low Gear to Overdrive Vol 2
Radiata Logging Trucks and Truckers
By Ron Cooke and Audrey Walker, paperback, 176 pages
Paperback, 124 pages, over 200 photos By Gavin M Abbot
The second instalment in the history of road transport in the King Country. A huge amount of information about the people and trucks that made a difference in farming, forestry, mining and roading in the region. The book is illustrated with fantastic photos.
Gavin’s third book in the series gives us some amazing photos of logging trucks and the men that drove them in the 1960s and 1970s.
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Mamaku West Trucks and Truckers
By Bill Richardson, 164 pages
Paperback, 2016, 140 pages, 300mm x 210mm By Gavin M Abbot
A quality hardcover book by the man who made trucking in the south what it is today. The businesses, the history, the people and the trucks are all covered, complete with numerous photos. This eighth edition has an update on the Richardson Group, including a postscript by the family.
The fourth book in the Trucks and Truckers series from ex-log truck driver Gavin Abbot introduces us to logging from Taupo to Putaruru, from the 1950s to the 1980s .
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Carl’s
classic
K By Faye Lougher
Carl Gibson admits he has a bit of a thing for Kenworths, but says he’s stopped looking at ones for sale now.
“I
t was a bug, but I’ve stopped looking for them now, I’ve got too many,” he says. The Manakau earthmoving contractor has four in his collection – a 1973 W924K, a 1975 W923, a 1984 K124 and a 1996 K100G. He also has a 50% replica of the W924, featured in New Zealand Trucking in September. Carl bought the K124 (minus a motor) in 2009 from Barry Satherley. The truck had originally been owned by
82 Classic Trucks Volume 3
Hawke’s Bay Transport, plant no. 230, and had been used as a stock truck and then later a logger. “I told my wife it was for spare parts!” laughs Carl. “It was actually in pretty good condition. Pretty much all I did on this was strip it, sandblast it, put a new cab on and then get it painted. I spent about 800 hours restoring it, not too many compared with the 1973, which I spent about 1800 hours on.” The K124 was in Beattie’s colours when Carl bought it, mainly white with orange trim. Carl had planned on keeping the cab the truck came with, but his family had other ideas. “I had it finished in the blue of my other truck and went on a classic run. The family decided they wanted to come too, and that’s why I had to change it for a sleeper cab,
otherwise I’d still have the original cab on it.” Carl bought the sleeper cab off McGinty’s in Porirua and says it was already undercoated but had been sitting in a shed for years. (As with so many restoration projects, the K124’s original cab isn’t going to waste – it’s going on a Kenworth currently being restored by Ian Buckley from Central Automotive.) “John Leach helped me a lot with this truck too, like he did with my 1973 and the mini truck. He did all the prep work, and the exhaust brackets and all that kind of stuff. He’s the one who changed the cab over too.” Precision Panel and Paint in Levin painted the cab and the late Murray Smith did the signwriting. Carl says Murray was a master at the art of freehand signwriting and was responsible for a lot of the decorative touches
Classic Trucks Volume 3 83
seen on trucks in the region. Carl added twin stacks and twin air cleaners to the K124. The bull bar is off a Mack and the fuel tank off a Volvo, while Arlan Engineering did all the remaining stainless steel and aluminium work. “Arlan Engineering also did the visor, the steps and the bits around the headlights, the reflectors and grille, and the checkerplate on the back,” says Carl. The K124 originally had a 400 Big Cam Cummins but now has a 350, paired with a 15-speed Road Ranger gearbox. “The engine had been put aside for a fire engine,” says Carl, “and it had only done 63,000kms so it was still like new.” The air-operated passenger window had to be repaired, as did the air-operated windscreen wipers, and Carl said finding a pair that worked wasn’t easy. “The leather upholstery is all new, but the cab just needed cleaning up and is pretty much as it was in the day, although we added a modern radio and a CB radio.” The K124’s original set up was as a 6x4 tractor unit when Carl bought it, with a turntable on the back. Since completing the restoration in 2012 he says it has towed his low loader now and then, but mostly he uses it for the classics runs. “In October I took it on the South Island Classic Truck Tour. It was just awesome to forget about work for a while. It was my first time on the tour but I’ll go again if I am allowed. There were a few cabovers on the tour.” Carl’s wife, Michelle, and children go on all the local runs with him, and he took his son, Ethan, with him on the South Island tour. “My daughter Baylee is coming of age too, so she’ll be coming on the longer runs soon. I think she may be keener on trucks than my son.”
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Specifications Year: 1984 Make: Kenworth Model: K124 Configuration: 6x4 tractor unit Plate: GAL206 Chassis: 406582 GVM: 31,750kg Tare: 8,820kg Wheelbase: 4330mm Front Axle Group Rating:
7000kg
Rear Axle Group Rating:
18,000kg
Classic Trucks Volume 3 85
Menefy’s
Macks By Faye Lougher Photos by Faye Lougher and Brent ‘Cookie’ Cooksley
86 Classic Trucks Volume 3
B
ryan ‘Ruffy’ Menefy’s latest restoration project means he’s only one truck away from completing his line-up of six classic Mack trucks he’s coveted for years. The owner of Menefy Trucking Ltd in Palmerston North started his career in 1986 with Ian Easton and says the first truck he drove was a Mack. “I’ve always been a Mack man. When I was a kid, as most kids in Palmerston North did, I walked around the Mack yard. I’m after the six models that I grew up in and around. I’ve got one more to go, the MC Mack, and one day I’ll find one.” The latest to join the fleet is a one-owner until he bought it 1982 R797, beautifully restored over the past year at the Mack Modification Centre in Palmerston North. Commonly known as an R700, Ruffy’s model has a V8 Mack engine, which is what the 97 signifies. “7 Series means it’s a long bonnet like the Super Liners. This is 250mm longer than a standard R model, and they are longer because of the bigger engine. The other long bonnet R model is the same but with a Detroit engine. This R model has a Mack 12-speed gearbox and a Mack engine. “The 350 was the duck’s nuts, king of the road then. Before the days of intercooled, they were turbocharged but not intercooled. Pre-E9 days the biggest horsepower they turned out would be 375, that’s where it stopped.” Only a handful of the V8 R700 models were ever made. Ruffy said some had Detroits while others had the V8 Mack engine. “I was going to do up an original R model but when a V8 one came up I thought it was a rarity and I grabbed it. I believe there are only two V8 R models that are still around and I think this is the only one on the road. They were few and far between when they were new and even scarcer now.” Higgins owned the R797 from new and it began its working life in Manawatu before doing a stint up in Waikato as a rigid tar tanker. Ruffy says the truck was in pretty rough condition when he bought it, although being covered in tar had helped preserve it. Several of the men who worked on the truck when it was new still work at the Mack Centre, including Brent ‘Cookie’ Cooksley, who was heavily involved in the restoration. “We got the engine out and stripped the truck down pretty much straight away to get it in to the panel and paint guys,” says Cookie. “We called on Bill Anderson, now
Left: Brent ‘Cookie’ Cooksley made the horn insert for Bryan.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 87
retired, who worked on CKD in the past and we stripped the whole cab down and did as much as we could. Ruffy bought an old secondhand cab from Clive Taylor that had some bits missing so we stripped that down and took the best parts out of that and the original cab, and with some new parts, it’s all good.” Ruffy says the whole vehicle got completely rewired and re-airlined – plumbed. “It would have been easier to use modern plumbing for all the lines, but Cookie, being Cookie, sourced the brand new original airlines that were used in the 80s. The modern stuff would have been easier to work with but he found all the old valves and fittings too. “Cookie’s got this amazing thing for finding stuff that has been obsolete for 30 years. Badges and gauges and cables and even of the era speakers that went with the radio of the time. There’s nothing on that truck that’s not new or rebuilt from that era. One of the two cabs had a laminated screen in it which was reused.” Cookie admits he managed to find quite a bit of stuff that had been lying around the used truck division and the centre’s own store. He even managed to find an old school Veeder-Root hubometer that still worked.
88 Classic Trucks Volume 3
“I found the only vertical Mack radio with the bulldog emblem – it’s an AM radio, brand spanking new!” Even the external air restrictor gauges on the air cleaner are new. “They were new back in 1982, not reproduced in 1992,” says Ruffy. “They were new when that truck was new back in the 80s and they had sat in Cookie’s stash. The things to come downstairs were mind-blowing. He’d go ‘I think I’ve got one of those upstairs’.” The upholstery – seats, carpets and hood linings – were all found new as well, and the auto-upholsterer who worked on the truck when it was new embossed the Mack emblem on the seats and door panels. “Auto Interiors did the work and Pete is the original person who had the stencils for the Mack emblem embossed in the seats,” says Ruffy. “We used a mixture of tan and dark brown and he put the two different colours into the right places. The dash was restored, the cracks fixed and it was repainted tan. We repainted and used the original steering wheel – how did we know that? The guy who drove it from new was a big man and they had to put a smaller diameter steering wheel in the truck so he could drive it.” The truck’s wheelbase was shortened by 30 inches, from 220” to 190” and a turntable put on the back so it can tow
These photos were taken in the Mack Centre by Brent ‘Cookie’ Cooksley during the restoration.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 89
Bryan Menefy with Vera Lynn, his 1982 R797.
a trailer. A cement-filled box was also made to keep the weight on the back and also to accommodate gear when the truck is taken to rallies. Ruffy says the finished truck is better by far than what he thought it would be. “Even the V8 badges on the bonnet – we got two Mack V8 badges new. Everything came from the States or from Cookie’s mezzanine floor. New trucks would have ‘Custom-built for [the owner’s name]’ on a metal insert that sits on the horn button and Cookie made one for me that reads ‘Rebuilt for Bryan Menefy 2016’. He’s really good to me, he’s good to everyone in his circle.” Cookie says he gets a lot of satisfaction being involved in restoration projects. “We’ve done quite a few for Bryan as well as a few of our own we’ve restored. People are starting to realise that once these trucks are gone, they are gone for good.” The truck has been kept as original as possible so it looked like it would have done when it rolled off the production line in 1982. “That’s the standard I wanted; it’s how the truck was
Great attention to detail has been given to the interior and exterior of the Mack.
90 Classic Trucks Volume 3
built and that’s what I tried to do. I was going to paint it in Higgins colours but a couple of key people said it was not Higgins’ truck any more, it was my truck, so I painted it in my colours.” Trucks in the Menefy fleet are all named after Pink Floyd songs and the R797 is no exception. “It’s named after Vera Lynn, who entertained the British troops during the war,” says Ruffy. “We have it so easy nowadays but we should remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so we could have a better life. They were alone and scared but they had Vera Lynn to keep them going, she helped the boys through the war. The train that transported the troops was also called Vera Lynn, and a truck is the next best thing so that’s why I chose that name.” The truck also has a personalised plate, R797. “When I got R722 for the Super Liner it was really easy. This time it wasn’t so easy, but luckily for me the guy who had the plate on a trailer was a vehicle enthusiast himself. The combination didn’t mean anything to him but he knew it meant something to me.”
Ruffy’s other classic trucks 1990 Super Liner (R722)
The Super Liner was a chemical tanker and had been owned by Chemical Cleaning. Ruffy said the gearbox was blown when he got it and he had to find a donor truck for the gearbox. “The Super Liner was different, I wanted it. It was a start-again job with the intention of using that as a working truck. Cookie played a big part in restoring it.”
1999 Ultra Liner (UP U KW)
Originally owned by Nick Mills, an Owens’ Road ownerdriver. Ruffy says the Ultra Liner is a rare E9 V8 610hp truck, one of only five engines that came to New Zealand. It also has a Voith retarder. “It was still a working truck so it was in very good condition. Why did I get it? I’d not long sold my tanker trucks up north and I was plodding along on my own with my Super Liner and needed two trucks so I actually got it to work. That went through a total rebuild bumper-to-bumper.”
1986 Cruise Liner
PHOT O: DE REK TANKE RSL EY
“This truck had been owned by Fernz Chemicals Ltd. I bought it about 2010-2011; it was still driveable, but never been kid-gloved. Because of the recession I left it alone – I didn’t know what was going to happen. That truck was restored slowly over two years before it was finished.” The Cruise Liner was one of 29 that were made here and only nine are left in existence in any state. It is 350hp and has a 12-speed gearbox. “So when it came up I grabbed it because there were only nine that were ever going to come up. It was a sleeper cab one.”
1983 FR (KZ3049)
Ruffy says the first truck he was allocated was a 375 V8 FR with Eastons before that was sold and he went on the Super Liner. The one he purchased was in reasonable condition and also took about a year to restore. It is also 350hp with a 12-speed gearbox. “There are not a hell of a lot of FRs with sleeper cabs so when one came up I grabbed it. I didn’t want an 8-wheeler, but I didn’t care, I just grabbed it.” It’s not just trucks that Ruffy likes owning and restoring. “I also like GT Fords. I have a new GTF – the GTF was the last FPV Falcons made, ‘F’ stands for Final. I also bought a 1997 EL GT 30th anniversary model. There are only 16 left in New Zealand. I’m about to restore a Falcon Coupe too. I’ve just done up an old motorbike, a 1980 twin-shock XR500. My next project is a late 70’s TT500.” Classic Trucks Volume 3 91
Homalloy cabs didn’t stand up well to rugged kiwi operators; however it’s unlikely the manufacturers designed them for tough logging work.
Mick Whiteside – for the love of Leyland By Wally Bowater
M
ick Whiteside is not a ‘truck nut’ but he surely is a truck enthusiast. Whether it is by choice or by nature is probably debatable. But the brand of his enthusiasm is Leyland – and that’s not up
for debate. Mick was born in 1941 and ended his education at Feilding Agriculture College in 1957. A spinal problem forced him from jobs with a high level of physical activity and governed his life from that time on, and major surgery on his spine in 1959 did not improve matters greatly. The family farm was at Papamoa (east of Mt Maunganui) and in 1960 he secured a job in the spare parts department at the Te Puke GM and Bedford agents, C. F. Washer & Sons. Already a truck fan, it was a great introduction to Bedfords. The call of trucks was too strong and, although it wasn’t the best move for his back, he started at Taft & Seabourne Carriers Ltd, where he stepped into an S model Bedford with a 350 Leyland engine. This was his first real
92 Classic Trucks Volume 3
The Leyland Hippo when it was working in Fulton Hogan colours as a crane truck. Mick bought the Hippo without the crane.
Mick pilots the Beaver through Auckland’s spaghetti junction in the Northern Classic Commercials, North Island Tour in 2014.
Whiteside’s Transport’s Albion Clydesdale and Beaver, complete with stock crate, side by side about 1970.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 93
Homalloy cabs
e an The distinctive Homalloy cabs wer ) Ltd ston (Pre English unit built by Holmes of ber num a in Lancashire, and fitted to n ctio stru con different truck brands. Their with e fram consisted of an aluminium timber fibreglass panels and some internal tly bolted mos e framing. The components wer cabs the that together and Mick points out e. can be unbolted to a bare fram e to New It’s believed about 20 of them cam ed rugg our dle Zealand, but they didn’t han bolts cally typi that conditions well. Mick says rack ld wou cab would come loose and the wn for until it cracked. They were well kno eens dscr win having their massive curved literally fall out. es to Mick’s biggest expense when it com eens. dscr win the restoring Homalloy cabs is lds mou two It cost him thousands to get roved to made and the glass formed and app legal requirements.
Mick Whiteside (left) and John Pulham, reassembling the Hippo chassis.
association with Leyland, and it’s an association that has become more serious since then. The Bedford had a habit of blowing diffs when pulling trailers and Mick wasn’t allowed to tow a trailer with it. He ignored this advice and his experience with the Leyland engine resulting in him thinking, ‘They’re not a bad motor’. In 1960 Mick decided to go it alone when he purchased a secondhand Commer and registered the name of Whiteside’s Transport Ltd. He operated under a general freight licence out of a depot in Papamoa, and the business grew steadily. The Commer had a sloper 6-cylinder petrol engine and was far too fuel hungry, even in those days. Mick’s next purchase was a new TK Bedford in 1962. He wanted one with a Leyland engine, but they didn’t have a great choice and he had to settle for 330 Bedford power. The truck proved troublesome, with lots of engine problems, including a broken crankshaft, and after nine months he traded it in on a new Albion Clydesdale with a Leyland 400 engine. He says it was a much heavier and better specced truck than the Bedford, with full air brakes. Consequently it was much more expensive. In 1968 he bought his first Leyland, a secondhand 4x2 Beaver (all the Beavers were 4x2, and the Hippos 6x4) from Binnies in Rotorua, where it had been on stock work. It continued to do stock at Whiteside’s Transport,
94 Classic Trucks Volume 3
although it did a share of flat-deck and logging work too. Over the years his business grew to four trucks, and in 1981 Mick decided to sell his operation and two licences to Steve Kilgour. Australia appeared to be the place to go at the time, so Mick made the move and secured a job driving log trucks for Green Freight in Aubury, Victoria, where he stayed for the next five years. As was the case with most New Zealanders, the draw of kiwi country saw Mick move back home, to drive for Taylor Bros in Tauranga. They put him in a new Louisville LTL9000 with a 400hp Cat engine. Mick and the Louisville travelled over 1.6 million kilometres in 10 years and neither the truck nor driver put a foot wrong. J Swap Contractors then employed Mick for a further five years, but at the end of that time Mick had to give up driving. His back dictated the terms and he was grounded. Mick decided to look for a truck to restore. It had to be a Leyland of some sort, but there wasn’t much on offer, until a mate told him of a Leyland Beaver sitting in a paddock in Waipukurau. It turned out to be the first Beaver he owned; in fact his name was still on the door. It had been shortened to a tractor unit and had been sitting for about 20 years with a damaged engine and many parts stripped off it. After inspecting the wreck in 2003 he bought it, and had to beat the scrap dealer to get it out
The unique and distinctive Homalloy cab on Mick’s Beaver is soon to be joined by a Hippo with the same cab.
of the paddock it was resting in so that a house could be built there. He contracted Rowe Motors in Tauranga to transport it back to Tauranga. It was eventually moved to Alf Williamson’s depot in Putaruru, where, with Alf and his son Carl’s assistance, the Beaver was restored to as-new condition. After that exercise, Mick was still hooked and he was made aware of a 1959 Leyland Hippo which was in the care of John Hood in Methven. It was an ex-Fulton Hogan crane truck and still had the crane mounted. What appealed to Mick the most was the Homalloy cab, as he had the only other one in the country on his Beaver. However the cab on the Hippo was virtually cut in half to allow room for the crane jib to be lowered when on the road. Mick bought the truck without the crane. Once again it was hauled back to the Williamson
complex where it was transferred to a large shed where it is currently under restoration. The cab is in Tauranga awaiting some attention but the chassis was first on the list to upgrade. It was stripped down completely and the rails separated and sandblasted before being painted and reassembled. The chassis is now almost complete and the cab work is well underway after Mick found a local fibreglass expert who was able to make a new roof and left door. At least he has the only other Homalloy cab in the country to copy off. The completion date is not certain but as long as the Beaver continues to pass its CoF (which it has just done), Mick will have a Leyland to run around the country. He’s an enthusiastic supporter of classic truck runs and the truck is regularly seen all around the country.
The Beaver on the Otira Viaduct. PHOT O: PE T E LY NCH
Classic Trucks Volume 3 95
The White 3000 in New Zealand
T
By Gavin Abbot Photos from the Gavin Abbot collection
he White Motor Company began building vehicles in 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio. The company was then called the White Sewing Machine Company and the cars and commercials they built were steam powered. In 1910 White changed from steam to petrol power and, at that time, built their first heavy truck. During WWI large orders were taken for military trucks; the vehicles’ success in the rugged WWI environment set the company up as a truck manufacturer with a good reputation. Their vehicles were exported worldwide and New Zealand imported many of the early solid-tyred
trucks. Newer models followed and in the 1930s the 700 Series sold well; it was followed by the W Series. White service cars were also on our roads from the early days. In the 1950s White began an expansion programme by taking over the following companies: Sterling in 1951, Autocar in 1953, Reo in 1957, and Diamond T in 1960. They also reached an agreement with Freightliner in the 1950s allowing them to sell Freightliner trucks. White consolidated the range and amalgamated some brands, like Reo and Diamond T to form Diamond Reo. However, by 1980, White was in financial difficulties and in 1981 became part of the Volvo Group, which was named the Volvo White
Dick Twistleton of Gisborne used his 3000 with other White trucks on logging work. The
The fourth 3000 went to T.P. Gilroy Ltd of
driver in the picture is Jack Muir. Ian Wood of Mananui was the next owner on logging
Christchurch who used it on heavy haulage
work, and repowered it with a Perkins diesel. Robin Wildbore of Te Awamutu next used
work.
the White. It was eventually sold to a farmer at Eltham and wrecked.
96 Classic Trucks Volume 3
1
2
3
4
5 Only four of the 3000 Series trucks came to New Zealand. These four, 302264 models, were sold by the White agents at that time, CablePrice Corporation. Two went to Uden Bros of Putaruru, one to Dick Twistleton of Gisborne, and the other to T.P. Gilroy of Christchurch. All of these operators also used other models of White trucks.
1&2 One of Uden’s two White 3000s. The Uden’s White was sold,
After being traded in to Ray Vincent Ltd on an International it was
along with a heavy haul licence that covered the North Island, to Richards Heavy Haulage of Tokoroa. 3
purchased by Gavin Abbot and restored (main image). 4
Abilene Farms of Pukekohe next used it to haul a semi-tanker and a
Ngatea. It ended up working on a metal pit at Taihape and
semi-stock unit; in the 1970s they towed a 4-axle semi-trailer tanker unit. One of the owners of Abilene Farm was Royce Riordan, who later went on to be a partner in Riordan and West Transport Ltd.
Truck Corporation. The White name disappeared off trucks in 1995 when they were badged Volvo, as they are today. White introduced in 1949 what were quite possibly the most advanced trucks in the world, when they designed the 3000 Series. With their strikingly aerodynamic cabs, the trucks were first made in smaller models with Packard car engines. Later the range extended to heavy-duty diesel-powered multi-axle units. Not only was its futuristic shape advanced, but its mechanical makeup was also a departure from anything else available at the time. It was unique with its powerlift tilting cab, which was operated by an electric motor driving a screw jack powered by the truck’s 6-volt
Uden’s other 3000 went on transporter work for RP Blackler of was later wrecked.
5
A smart looking rig on the road. It is believed the chassis of the Gilroy 3000 was converted into a crane unit.
electrical system. After unlocking the safety lock, a keyoperated lever controlled the lift system – up and down. The all-steel cab was also steel-lined and the absence of gutters on the outside added to the aerodynamic styling. The clutch and brake pedals were pendulum operated. Behind the driver’s seat was a shelf with an outside trap door, a layout that was to be seen 11 years later in the UK, when the TK Bedford was introduced. A large opening panel below the windscreen gave access to the wipers and other compartments and also served as an air vent when opened a little. This easy access cab was very popular for delivery work but its heavy weight and high cost of production led to it being replaced.
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George Scott – mover of machines and men Condensed from a story written by the late Guy Spurr and originally printed as a two-part special feature in New Zealand Trucking in 2007
N
ew Zealand’s heavy haulage industry mourned the loss of one of its most colourful and distinguished characters this year [2007], when George Scott, founder of Waikato Heavy Haulage Ltd, died aged 76. Described as an innovator, inventor and an inspirational leader, George was fearless when it came to the transportation of over-dimension loads and was a truck lover and enthusiast second to none. Born in Hamilton in 1931, George had no formal secondary education but at 15 went straight to work for JD Wallace Ltd. Vern Kensington first met George, or Scotty as he was known, just after he’d started at JD Wallace. Vern began driving logging trucks for Harold Davies. The two shared a great love of trucks and soon struck up what would be a lifelong friendship. George first worked in Wallace’s workshop, but soon was out driving a 1947 Chev on dead cow pick-ups for delivery to JD Wallace’s rendering plant at Waitoa. Despite the nature of the work George always kept the truck spotless. He also had a chrome grille and every other shiny extra he could find fitted. “George was always a showman,” says Vern. Pride of presentation was reflected in the great air of confidence George always exhibited.
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One Saturday morning Vern and George’s mum went for a ride with George in the cow truck. Coming back into Te Awamutu Vern commented that George had missed the turnoff as they were heading up into the town’s main street. “No I haven’t,” quipped George, “I don’t take back streets for anyone.” JD Wallace’s opinion of the young George was no doubt based on incidents such as the time the lad was sent to Hamilton to help hand-load 400 concrete posts. When he was sent back for another load the following day there wasn’t a soul to be found on the premises, so he just rolled up his sleeves and did it on his own. George progressed to driving JD Wallace’s transporters, and the passion and attention to detail he was building a reputation for were applied equally to this new role. At first an elderly Marmon-Harrington 6-wheeler was used as the transporter, but then JD Wallace bought a semi-trailer with a single row of eight wheels at the back and towed it with a GMC. The company also had an old 4x4 Autocar and an S Bedford. A new International LF174 replaced the old GMC in 1952, and with land development work in full swing, it went to work hauling some huge loads. Scotty did thousands of miles in the truck, hauling heavy equipment such as D6 Caterpillar tractors with scrub rollers attached, from job to job. In 1959, after seven years sterling service, the LF174
Waikato Heavy Haulage drivers Laurie Russell (left) and Frank Hurunui (right) with George at the yard c1970. P HOTO CO URT ESY L AT E G EO RG E SCO T T CO L L ECT IO N
was replaced with a new RF195 International. The RF195 came in for the full George Scott treatment. It was fitted with lots of extra chrome and was kept in showroom condition. George never wore boots inside the cab. He stowed them in a specially made rack on the diesel tank and he always drove in jandals or slippers. While he copped some jibes from big, burly bulldozer drivers about this, he didn’t care. Keeping the inside of his cab clean was more important to George. One thing about the RF195 that George didn’t like was its lack of power, and he often complained to Jim Wallace about it. One day in 1960, when Jim was overseas and George was lamenting the truck’s lack of power to Jim Ross of Ross Todd Motors, a solution was hit upon. Jim Ross suggested they take one of the two 6-71 Detroit Diesel engines out of JD Wallace’s ‘Bush Whacker’ machine that was laid up and repower the truck. George didn’t hesitate, and without his boss even knowing, had the truck repowered. In 1963, in a reflection of the close relationship that had grown between the two men, Jim Wallace gifted George his heavy haulage transport licences and financed him into the RF195. George formed Waikato Haulage and began business on his own account from a yard in Cambridge. Building on a reputation he was already developing for customer service, he set about establishing what for the
next 30 years would be one of the country’s premier heavy haulage companies. Graeme Kelly was Waikato Heavy Haulage’s first employee. Graeme and George had also known each other since they were teenagers and after leaving school Graeme worked for Karapiro Quarries. About three months after George started Waikato Heavy Haulage he asked Graeme to come and drive for him. Graeme took over the RF195, allowing George to devote more time to expanding the business. Expand it did too, and it wasn’t long before a second truck had to be put on the road. George bought a 2064 White and repowered it with a 6-71 Detroit, the same as in the RF195. George drove the White to begin with, and the work took him and Graeme all over the country. The Rogers’ trailers both trucks towed were quite short. When carting motor scrapers the tractor only could be driven up onto the trailer, while the bowl was left on the road to tow behind. The hydraulic hoses had to be undone so the outfit would turn freely, but then with the slightest movement squirted oil all over everything along the way. Tractor and scoop combinations were carted in similar fashion, with the bulldozer and front wheels only of the scoop up on the trailer deck and the rest trailing. The hilly, and mainly metal, Napier Taupo Road could take all day to negotiate with a heavy load. If you were
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Both George Scott and Baker Construction were big International fans. Here one of the Baker’s Payhauler dump trucks was photographed on the back of Waikato Heavy Haulage’s DCF400. PH OT O COURT E S Y L AT E GE ORGE S C O TT C O LLE C TI O N
late getting started, or were held up somewhere, you often only got half-way and had to stay the night in the Tarawera Hotel. The transporters were so slow on the long, uphill pulls it was not unknown for a brewery or soft drink company traveller, stuck in his car behind, to hop out and run up alongside the cab and pass the driver a welcome, albeit warm, drink. As work continued to increase, brothers Frank Hurunui was seconded from Baker Construction to drive the White. Frank ended up being called so often he asked if he could
stay. Jim Ross, his boss at Bakers, agreed and he joined the team. Frank went on to work for George at Waikato Heavy Haulage for the rest of his life. Laurie Russell started at Waikato Heavy Haulage in 1965, taking the driver’s seat of the RF195 vacated when Graeme Kelly left. George by this time had established an impressive client list, and as well as earthmoving and forest machinery, the company was also carting electrical transformers for the New Zealand Electricity Department, steam boilers and a host of other oversized loads.
The new 1674 Cat engine mounted in the frame
George clocked thousands of miles for JD Wallace
of the RF195 when it was repowered at Ross
transporting machinery between land development jobs
Todd Motors in 1969.
in the central North Island in this LF174 International.
PH OT O COURT E S Y NORM T ODD CO LLE C TI O N
P HOTO C OU RTESY LATE GEOR GE SC OTT C OLLEC TI ON
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Oversize and unusual loads were the norm for Waikato Heavy Haulage. The cooling tower from the Waitoa Dairy Factory made for an impressive sight on the company’s S-Line international. P HOTO C OU RTESY LATE GEOR GE SC OTT C OLLECT IO N
Laurie and Frank carted boilers manufactured by John Thompson Ltd of Hamilton to freezing works and other industries all over the country. Laurie even took one all the way to the Ocean Beach Freezing works at Bluff. George modified trailers and made frames and racks to suit unusual loads that competitors often steered away from. Waikato Heavy Haulage was one of the first companies to make everyday use of dollies, or load dividers, and with 4-axle low loader trailers they were regularly carting 60 tonne loads. A less weighty, and generally much more straightforward
The GMC that George Scott first drove as a transporter for J D Wallace Limited. Note the fairlead over the top of the cab from the front mounted winch.
job Laurie remembers being a regular feature of the company’s work in the mid-sixties was new truck deliveries to New Zealand Forest Products at Kinleith. A new R190 International logger would be loaded on the trailer, and another towed on an A-frame behind. “You’d never get away with it these days,” says Laurie, “But we did all sorts of stuff back then that nobody batted an eyelid about.” Routes had to be carefully planned. Some loads were too high to get under the railway bridge at Mangaweka so if it couldn’t be unloaded and driven under, they had to go down the Paraparas. Other loads were too heavy for bridges on the Desert Road so went over the Napier Taupo Road. The tunnels on the Kaikoura Coast required most South Island trips to go through Murchison and over the Lewis Pass. Due to the circuitous route that had to be taken, a load from Auckland to Wellington could take three, or even four, days. Tyres were also a problem, and it was nothing to have half a dozen flats during the course of a heavy move. The drivers loved wet days as the tyres didn’t heat up as much and were less prone to blowing out. The 6-71 engine in the White seemed to have a bit more power than the one in the RF195, and the truck was a little faster. Coming home empty across the Desert Road together Frank would often come right in behind and push on a block on the back of Laurie’s trailer. In the yard one evening after they had returned from a job together George asked why there was a shiny patch on the White’s front bumper. When the pair told him what they were doing they were told in no uncertain terms it was the last time they’d ever be sent away together. They both,
PHOT O COURT E S Y L AT E GE OR G E S C O TT C O LLE C TI O N
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however, noticed a smile on George’s face as he walked back to his office. A third truck joined the fleet with George buying an AA164 International for use on some of the lighter work. It had had a new Perkins diesel engine and heavier differential fitted, as well as lots of extra shiny bits. Like the RF195 and the White before – and all Waikato Heavy Haulage trucks after – the AA164 was set off with another characteristic George Scott trademark. It had a flying lady mounted on the bonnet. These chrome ornaments became a distinctive feature of the Scott look. Further expansion for Waikato Heavy Haulage came when George bought out Gus Breen of Morrinsville. Breen’s flagship 2624 Mercedes Benz joined the Cambridge fleet and Gus became George’s transport manager. A second Mercedes Benz, this time a little 6x2 1418, later joined the fleet. The White was then stationed in Rotorua to service an expanding client base in the forest and industrial sectors there. After 10 years hard graft the RF195 was given a full overhaul. Under the direction of Mike Souter it was fitted with a new, heavier front axle and power steering. A new, 8000 series 16-speed Spicer transmission replaced the old twin sticks, and the truck received its second repower. The 6-71 Detroit came out and the ‘ultimate’ truck engine of the day, a new 270hp 1674 Caterpillar, went in. The Tongariro Hydro Scheme at Turangi was a major source of work during its construction, and the Ministry of Works’ draglines and bulldozers were regulars on the back of Waikato Heavy Haulage’s transporters. Laurie Russell loaded one of the big, MOW Ruston Bucyrus 54RB draglines onto the RF195 in the Moawhango Valley one night, but found when he returned early the next morning to bring it out he couldn’t get the truck moving. A look around revealed that overnight the wheels had sunk into the ground a little and then with a heavy frost the whole rig was frozen to the ground. It required a couple of bunts from a D7 Caterpillar bulldozer to break free. The biggest load Laurie ever carted on the RF195 was a 71 tonne Marion dragline. With dolly and trailer the transporter had a tare of 25 tonne, so the combination had a gross weight of 96 tonne. “Not bad for only 270hp,” Laurie reckoned. Brett Miller started at Waikato Heavy Haulage at 18 and spent five and half years there, mainly driving the RF195. Brett has very fond memories of his time working for the company and speaks highly of George Scott. “Scotty was strict, especially on us young fellows, but he taught me a lot about proper vehicle maintenance and the best way to do things. It’s all stuff I’ve never forgotten,” he says. Paul ‘Butch’ Hopcroft took a job with Waikato Heavy Haulage in 1972. He’d already spent a lot of time in and around the company’s yard before that while completing an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic at Ross Todd Motors just over the road, and had got to know George well.
When carting motor scrapers there was only room for the tractor on the short trailer, the bowl was left on the road and towed behind. P HOTO C OU RTESY LATE GEOR GE SC OTT C OLLEC TI ON
Waikato Heavy Haulage’s 2624 Mercedes Benz, 2064 White and AA164 International with two D8 Caterpillar bulldozers. P HOTO C OU RTESY LATE GEOR GE SC OTT C OLLECT IO N
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Butch Hopcroft drove this KM Bedford for Waikato Heavy Haulage. Loads weren’t always heavy, but awkward was a company specialty. PH OT O COURT E S Y L AT E GE ORGE S C O TT C O LLE C TI O N
Butch drove a KM Bedford for Waikato Heavy Haulage. The little 6V-53 Detroit-powered tractor had an Allison automatic transmission and an Eaton 2-speed rear axle, and was used for much of the tank and silo work the company did. One of George’s directives was, when away on a job if approached by a prospective client with an enquiry, no matter how outlandish it sounded, the driver was to without hesitation say yes and get a contact name and phone number. “If someone asked if we carted rockets to the moon, we had to say yes and get their name and number,” says Butch. George always insisted on high standards of personal hygiene and his drivers at all times being well groomed. “You had to be neat and tidy yourself, your boots had to be polished and you had to keep the inside of your cab clean,” Butch says. As the fleet continued to grow and George assembled a plethora of trucks, trailers, dollies and other support vehicles, the company virtually took over the whole of Kirkwood Street in Cambridge. People turning into the street were often faced with the sight of transporters parked up and down both sides of the street and even in front of the town’s Memorial Hall. An International eventually replaced the ageing White in Rotorua and George bought a Scammell Contractor. This truck had been imported as a glider kit by Leyland agents New Zealand Motor Corporation. It was first run on a trial basis alongside the Kaingaroa Logging Company’s off-highway Pacific loggers at Murupara, but then went to Waikato Heavy Haulage.
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The Scammell was a purpose-built heavy haulage unit, but in the UK would have likely run as a ballasted tractor towing a drawbar trailer. It was also no beauty. To improve both its looks, and suitability for towing semi-trailer low loaders, it received the full George Scott treatment. The truck was lightened, the original epicyclic transmission replaced with a 14-speed Spicer, and the wiring system simplified. A new grille was made and it was painted in Waikato Heavy Haulage’s smart carnation red and white fleet colours. Vern Kensington took the wheel of the Scammell. A 14-speed Spicer was in Vern’s opinion the perfect heavy haulage transmission, and with the Scammell’s low gearing there was nowhere he couldn’t get the truck to go. “I clocked 380,000 miles in that truck and never lost traction once. I carted machines out to the iron sand mine at Waikato North Head before there was even a road into the place and the old girl just walked straight in,” he says. On one occasion the Contractor even hauled a load to Australia. Vern carted a turbine rotor for the NZED that went from Wairakei to Cockatoo Island in Sydney, the truck boarding a roll-on roll-off ship at Mt Maunganui. George’s insistence on things being done the right way was not merely being pedantic. Dale Belcher, company office administrator for six years, never once remembers receiving a traffic infringement notice in the mail. “We did things by the book,” says Dale. “George always believed it was the most efficient way to run a business.” Howard Coles, now transport manager for Porter Heavy Haulage, started as a driver for Waikato Heavy Haulage in 1980. George had an International DCF400 with an 8V-71
Silos and tanks were always a regular feature of Waikato Heavy Haulage work. The company’s Mack was photographed with a relatively small sized silo on board at the Huntly Power Station during extensions to that facility in the mid-1980s. P HOTO C OU RTESY L AT E G EO RG E SCO T T CO L L ECT IO N
Detroit he’d been building up ready to go on the road and invited Howard to come and drive it. The eighties were an interesting decade for Waikato Heavy Haulage, and one in which George and his company experienced some memorable highs, and some much rather forgotten lows. Loads were getting bigger and trucks had to as well. Deregulation of the transport industry dramatically changed the environment that older, more established operators were accustomed to working in. Competition for loads increased, and with that came pressure on rates. The entire company was shocked and saddened by the death of Frank Hurunui in 1988. Those who worked with Frank described him as a heavy haulage operator second to none. He was the man who could have carted a rocket to the moon if there had been one to go. The Hurunui name was carried on at Waikato Heavy Haulage by his son, Frank Junior, who by that time was also working there. On the upside the company did what George loved best, and moved some of its biggest and most challenging loads ever during this period. In 1986–87 a new boiler and silos were carted to the Te Awamutu dairy factory as it was rebuilt, and in 1989 three giant causticiser tanks were transported to Kawerau. The units were built by NDA in Hamilton, and required George to construct a special trailer and rear steer car, or jinker, to carry them. The route from Hamilton to Tasman Pulp and Paper’s Kawerau mill site included private forestry roads from Rotorua to Kawerau, as the loads were both too high and too wide for the main road. To cope with the ever-increasing size of loads George
had other new trailers built in the 1980s. In first for Waikato Heavy Haulage, MTE in Hamilton built the first ever widening four-rows-of-8 transporter in the country. In 1989 the firm moved to a new and much more spacious yard in Cambridge’s Queen Street. Howard drove the DCF400 for six years, before moving on to a W model Kenworth. A memorable trip for Howard first began about 9pm on the day of the Bay of Plenty earthquake when he was called to load an electrical transformer and take it straight to Edgecumbe. He had no permit and no pilot; it was just a case of get it there urgently. He was met by the army in a couple of places where the road had fallen away from bridges and they built temporary abutments so he could drive across. He remembers feeling the after tremors of the big shock as he was unloading. For brothers Michael, Tony, Tim and Simon Ross, one of their fondest boyhood memories of growing up in Cambridge was George Scott’s yard being just over the road from their dad’s business. The Ross boys thought the Waikato Heavy Haulage trucks were just the greatest things on the road and knew every detail of each, including driver’s name, engine, gearbox and differential type intimately. They could even tell which truck was approaching from a distance of at least a mile away just by the sound of its engine. The association between the boys’ father, Jim Ross, and George Scott, went back a long way. “Dad talked George into repowering JD Wallace’s transporter with a Detroit, and was a sounding board for him for a lot of things. They’d have sessions of parliament
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together over a couple of bottles of beer and George would ask our old man for his opinion on the latest idea he’d had. Dad would either tell Scotty it was a great and to go for it, or that it was completely stupid and to forget about it,” Mike Ross remembers. When Jim Ross and partners formed Baker Construction that company became a big client of Waikato Heavy Haulage. Sandy Southcombe, of Taranaki Building Removers, had long admired Waikato Heavy Haulage’s trucks on the road. An International fan from way back, Sandy particularly liked the RF195 and the little AA164. They were very sharp he thought. “George was just such an easy fellow to talk to,” says Sandy, “and always incredibly interesting. He was no office boy. He knew his stuff when it came to heavy haulage and didn’t mind sharing his knowledge with anyone who was interested.” Sandy had more formal contact with George through the NZ Heavy Haulage Association. George’s real passion for the industry was clearly demonstrated in this forum. He was a foundation member and was awarded Life Membership of the association in 2001. At its height Waikato Heavy Haulage had eight trucks on the road, but by the early 1990s George had taken a conscious decision to scale down and wound the fleet back to three. After much soul searching and deliberation he finally decided to sell the remainder of the business, and in 1992 accepted an offer from Hookers Bros of New Plymouth.
Both George and Howard accepted positions at Hookers, Scotty on a two-year contract signed as part of the sale and purchase agreement. “The Hooker way was the Hooker way, and that was ok for them, but it certainly wasn’t the George Scott way,” says Howard, “And as soon his contract was up [George] left them to it.” George accepted an offer from AF Porter Ltd in Hamilton to head that company’s heavy haulage division. He took on the role of transport manager for Porter’s heavy haulage fleet, and a within few months appointed Howard as his assistant. George later handed the day-to-day running of the Porter fleet over to Howard and moved into a planning and advisory role, coordinating the transport of many extremely specialised loads. These included live giraffes from Auckland to the Hamilton Zoo, bridges, and some of the country’s biggest mining machinery. In the later stages of his career silos became George’s number one focus. He organised and managed the transport of 54 of them from Hamilton to Blenheim, two a week, over a six-month period. If that in itself wasn’t challenging enough, he personally piloted 25 of them. Ill health finally forced George to give up full-time work in January 2006. It was hard to keep him down though, and he still called into the office at Porters almost every day to collect work to take home. George died at his home near Cambridge on 29 March 2007. His influence on those who knew him, and the industry he loved, will be felt for a long time to come.
Three large causticiser tanks manufactured in Hamilton were transported to Tasman Pulp and Paper’s Kawerau mill in 1989. The moves required the construction of a special trailer and rear steer car and saw the loads carried over private forest roads for part of the journey. P HOTO C OU RTESY LATE GEOR GE SC OTT C OLLEC TI ON
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Classic Volvo A pictorial history of Volvo trucks Photos: John Murphy, Volvo Museum, Volvo Truck Corporation and as credited
Volvo’s first truck
The 1928 LV40 was Volvo’s first truck, it was based on their car chassis of the time and 997 LV model trucks were produced through until 1930. Although Swedish drivers drove on the left side of the road at the time, the trucks and cars produced in the country were all left hand drive, although buses were right hand drive to allow them to pick up passengers more safely. In the 1960s, Sweden changed to driving on the right side of the road. An early Series 1 LV40 in its heyday.
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A restored example of the LV40 at Volvo’s museum in Gothenburg, Sweden. Right: Even for its day, the interior was Spartan and basic. Below: The LV40 was powered by a 28hp 1944cc side valve petrol engine driving through a 3-speed gearbox.
The 1930s
During the 1930s Volvo trucks became more distinct from their cars as heavier chassis’, more load capacity and more axles were demanded by customers. But like their cars, the trucks followed American styling trends throughout the mid to late 1930s, progressively using more flowing lines and aerodynamic curves.
Volvo icons
The name Volvo is Latin and translated means ‘I Roll’. It was originally registered in 1915 for one of Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF bearings) products, but was not used after they stopped producing the product. Volvo founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson resurrected it as the name for their cars and trucks after they agreed to build vehicles in 1925. The circle and arrow emblem is an interpretation of the old symbol for iron. While the prominent diagonal bar, which is still used today, was originally fixed from corner to corner across the radiator simply to secure the circle and arrow emblem in place.
The LV76-78 series featured a long bonnet concealing a 6-cylinder 75hp engine and 4-speed gearbox. It was produced during the years 1934 to 1938.
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The 1930s
During the mid-1930s, the design trend led to slightly more aerodynamic shapes, such as this 1935 LV83 model.
6 wheeler In 1931 Volvo introduced bogie drive 6x4 versions of their trucks. Apart from the extra axle, they featured the same running components as their 4-wheeler versions
The first cabover was the LV75, it was produced from 1933-35. Its design achieved an increased load space and higher axle loading than its conventional stablemate of the time, the LV74.
Heavily influenced by American design trends, the LV101 from 1938 featured a two-piece windscreen and both rounded and sharp shapes.
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First diesel The first Volvo diesel truck was the LV150-series, introduced in 1946 and reaching mass production in 1947, production continued until 1949. It was a medium to heavy-duty truck with modest power output of 95hp, intended for general cargo and construction, but some found their way into heavier work such as logging.
Snowplough Volvo’s diesel engine handled tough tasks like snow ploughing
Heavy-duty trucks
in the north of Sweden.
The late 1940s heralded the development and introduction of larger medium-duty and heavyduty Volvo trucks. Late in the decade, Volvo produced it’s first diesel engine.
Milk tanker The first heavy-duty 3-axle diesel Volvo was introduced in 1949. It’s original chassis and cab design originated from a 1937 design, updated with modern driveline components. This truck is carting milk, and towing a trailer.
Volvo diesel engine Volvo’s first diesel engine was introduced in 1946 and designated the VDA (Volvo Diesel engine type A). It was a pre-combustionchamber design developing 95hp.
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The range expands During the 1950s Volvo extended their range to include the light modern European styled Snabbe cabover, the Starke medium-duty American styled conventional and the Viking and Titan heavy-duty trucks. The styling of their heavy-duty models were trending towards the unique Scandinavian designs that ensured Scania and Volvo styling remained different from the rest of the world.
Snabbe
Viking
Advanced for the day, the L420 Snabbe was the first production Volvo
The Volvo Viking L485 was basically the heavy-
truck with a Volvo designed and produced forward-control cab. It was
duty Titan truck, but with a smaller engine, which
available with Volvo’s B36AV engine, a powerful, but fuel hungry petrol
decreased running costs. First produced in 1953, it
V8. First produced in 1956, Snabbe production continued until 1965.
became legendary all over the world.
Titan L395 One of the most powerful trucks of the early and mid-1950s was the 3-axle L395 Titan. It featured the first Volvo direct-injection diesel engine; the VDC (Volvo Diesel C), with improved fuel economy and performance. Seen here working under a classic face shovel, the model was produced from 1951 to 1959.
Titan L495 Volvo introduced a more powerful Titan, the L495 in 1959. It fulfilled the increasing demand for long distance heavy-duty
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trucks capable of towing trailers and was produced until 1965.
The System-8 trucks
Trucks were travelling longer distances and expected to carry greater loads than ever. Long bonnets were no longer favoured as European legislation and the introduction of ISO containers demanded shorter cabs. Volvo rose to the challenge, producing trucks with ever more power and comfort and developing their own unique characteristics when it came to cab design. In 1965 the first trucks in the Volvo System-8 series were introduced, the F86 and the F88 with the all-new TD100 turbo-charged 240hp engine.
F88 The Volvo F88, with its functional styling, an ergonomic tilt cab and a powerful turbocharged engine, became a benchmark for heavy-duty trucks. The F88 became an international success and opened up markets like the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand for Volvo. Although Australia and New Zealand adopted the set-forward axle model, designated the G88. It was produced from 1965 to 1977 (the G88 was still produced in 1978) and about 40,000 units were built.
F86 The F86 proved a popular medium-duty truck. Lighter-duty less expensive versions, designated F84 and F85, were also built. In 1973, a new plastic grille was added and in 1976 the cab was upgraded. Production ceased in 1979. PHOT O: BRIA N W E ATH E R LE Y.
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System-8 trucks
continued
F89 In 1970, Volvo introduced the F89. Apart from the extra wide grille, it was similar in appearance to the F88 models; but it was a substantially different truck, rated at up to 100 tonne gross combined mass. A stronger chassis and choice of gearboxes, including a new 16-speed
G88 NZ truck
unit, delivered the 330hp produced by the new TD120 12-litre engine. The model continued to be built through to 1977 and 21,000 units were produced. It was Volvo's most powerful truck, and said to perform
The Volvo G88 was launched in 1970 and first sold in New Zealand in 1972 through Dalhoff and King. The early models had a steel grille and the later a
comparably to or better than any of the top European models of the time, even the 350hp Scania V8. To fit the engine under the cab, it was mounted on a lean to the right. This prevented a right hand steer model
plastic grille. Transport World in Invercargill has this beautifully restored example on display.
being built.
F88 290 Although Volvo couldn’t meet the demand from Great Britain for a F89, they were working on the F12, which would be available in right hand drive, and would be an ideal truck. But the F12 wasn’t yet ready, in order to temporarily satisfy demand, they upgraded the F88 and its 10-litre engine to 290hp and added the F89 grille, making the F88 290.
The Aussie G89 Volvo Australia Pty Ltd built a right hand drive G89, using the TD120 engine and Volvo 16-speed gearbox. It has been suggested that the New Zealand Volvo agents of the time, Dalhoff and King, believed the model would compete with their Kenworth sales and did not bring it into the country. At least one found its way to New Zealand, this truck is owned by Don Rennie of Canterbury.
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The G88 when quite new at work for Tony Siery Ltd. PHOT O: COURT E S Y GAV IN A B B O T
New Zealand’s first G88
Showing the signs of a life hauling logs, the G88 takes on another load. P H O TO : C O U RTE S Y G AV I N A B B O T
Volvo G88’s were assembled in New Zealand by the distributor Dalhoff & King in Palmerston North. The first one arrived in 1971 or 1972. Wayne Osgood was one of a team of two or three mechanics who set to assembling the first truck, while also carrying out their normal workshop duties. Wayne says the truck arrived from Sweden as a large number of separate parts, with instructions written in Swedish. He says they laid the bits out on the workshop floor and started the assembly, but it was painstaking and time consuming. Wayne says about three trucks were assembled before they worked out an efficient procedure. The first G88 sold in New Zealand went into logging with Tony Siery Ltd of Rotorua.
The first Volvo G88 assembled in New Zealand. This photo was taken by Wayne Osgood, one of the assembly team. P HOTO: WAYNE OSGOOD
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The first Globetrotter cab The first Globetrotter was launched 1979, as a top of the line F12 model. The Globetrotter interior was larger, more comfortable and luxurious than other the
The Globetrotter
competition when it was introduced in 1979.
In 1979 Volvo acknowledged the value of long distance drivers in a way that no other truck manufacturer had before that time, when they introduced the mighty Globetrotter cab.
Volvo F16 1987
Globetrotter XL
With the introduction of the F16 Globetrotter,
In 1996 the Globetrotter XL cab was launched
Volvo offered the most powerful series-produced
with an interior roof height of 193cm. With its
long-distance truck in the world in 1987.
introduction, the term “full standing height” was first used to describe the cab’s interior height.
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The WWII years During World War II Volvo trucks built a number of military vehicles. They were especially adept at designing and building trucks with serious off-road capabilities. However, Sweden was a neutral nation in WWII, consequently the majority of vehicles did not engage in combat.
TVB The first specially developed military vehicle made by Volvo was the TVB (TerrängVagnB), produced from 1940 to 1941. It featured drive on both rear axles, but not on the front axle.
TVC The first all-wheel-drive Volvo vehicle was the TVC, developed and series-produced during 1942-44. It was a very powerful vehicle for the day, and was used by the Swedish Defence forces for decades.
HBT The Volvo HBT (‘HalvBandTraktor’) combined a tracked chassis with steering on the front wheels; it featured a Volvo FCT engine and Volvo driveline components; and although it was wholly built by Volvo, it was based on a German design. It was only produced in 1943.
Tank At the time, the most powerful vehicle built with a Volvo engine was the Tank m/42 Lago. The Volvo powered tanks were equipped with a specially designed petrol V8 engine (Volvo A8B) developing
Lynx
410hp, but most of the Lago tanks of the period
The Lynx armoured car was built at Volvo
were also powered by Scania engines. They were
Pentaverken in the southern Swedish town of
produced from 1943 by AB Landsverk, or by Volvo
Skövde, at the beginning of WWII. It featured a
under licence to AB Landsverk.
Volvo driveline, including a 135hp engine.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 117
Classic
truck models By John Murphy
P
ete Dellow’s models are unique one-offs. The most noticeable thing about them is the 1/12 scale he uses, this means the models are large – twice the size of the 1/24 scale plastic kitsets models are commonly based on. While wood, in its various forms, is the main component of his models, Pete points out that he uses whatever material will work. He says he never throws anything out and rarely has to buy material, saying the most expensive element on most of his models is the paint.
McCormick Transport Dodge
In the early 1980s Pete was an off-sider in a 190hp Perkins V8 powered Dodge operated by McCormick Transport in Ashburton. At the time they used to carry a lot of bagged grain, which was lifted onto the flat deck by a Briggs and Stratton powered crane with a rope and bag hook. Pete says the new guy always got the job of working on the side of the crane where the hot exhaust inevitably burnt him and he had to put up with the exhaust fumes.
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The crane was controlled by a rope, when the ground based bag loader wanted to get the hook, he let go of the rope, which slackened the drive belt, allowing him to pull out the hook. He then hooked it on to the lip of the bag and pulled the rope to tighten the belt and lift the bag. The man on the deck unhooked the bag and stacked it while the next bag was hooked and lifted. When all the bags were on board the two operators lifted the light crane off its swivel post and dropped it on top of the load. A single rope went around the bags and the crane was left unsecured. “We did that day in day out in summer because we didn’t have bulk grain in those days.” Pete points out the exposed belts on the crane, no exhaust guard and the single rope around the load would make the system highly dangerous by today’s standards. He modeled the truck, crane and load off a few photos and plenty of nostalgic memories. He made the authentic looking sacks himself, although he found someone to sew them up for him. The cab tilts and a Perkins V8 engine and radiator sits between the frame rails.
The simple crane that was used to load bags onto the deck. Below: The cab tilts to reveal a Perkins V8 engine.
Right: The hubs, wheels and tyres are all handmade by Pete out of wood.
Hitachi ZAXIS excavator
Pete’s Hitachi excavator is beautifully made, he had made a wheeled excavator in the past, but wanted to overcome the challenges of making tracks. From the slewing ring down the model is made up of 880 pieces of wood, as well as a few bits of metal. The grouser plates themselves are exactly the same proportions as real ones and are connected by pins in the same manner as real ones. Although the unit is not powered, the tracks and drive gear do turn if the model is pushed along the ground. There is even a replica ram to adjust the slack in the tracks. Great detailing is visible inside the cab, the floor mat is patterned accurately on the original. The door opens and can be clipped back against the cab just like a real one too. A tiger for punishment, Pete painstakingly constructed a bush cage to add authenticity and ‘protect’ the cab. An engine cover opens to reveal an engine, in keeping with Pete’s quest for detail, it looks great with an injector pump and fuel lines in place. But he points out that it’s a ‘generic’ engine and not based on the
Classic Trucks Volume 3 119
Left: The engine cover opens to reveal the engine. Below left: Pete says the hydraulic plumbing is an exact pattern of that on the original digger he copied. Below right: Inside the cab; even the floor mat is patterned on the real one.
original engine, because he didn’t see the original. The side covers open to show components such as the hydraulic pump and air cleaner. A tool box is mounted in place and genuine looking tread plate is in all the correct places. The hydraulic components are on a par with the tracks when it comes to perfection. The rams all slide smoothly, even though they’re made out of timber, and the plumbing work is superb. Pete points out that the plumbing is “exactly as it was [on the real machine]”. The boom and bucket construction is in perfect proportion and all moves as a real excavator operates. In keeping with Pete’s ability to use other people’s ‘rubbish’ in his models, the lamps on the cab are made from the plastic centres of Anzac poppies.
Pete Dellow
Pete’s 72 years old, he was born in Ashburton and lives two doors from the house he was brought up in, in a house he built himself in 1971 after buying the section for $800. A carpenter joiner by trade, when he finished his apprenticeship he started with Burnett Motors as an offsider in a truck, eventually he got his own truck and drove for the company from 1964 to 1966. After that he drove a Leyland Comet for British Pavements in Christchurch, before returning to Ashburton and rejoining the building trade. The rest of his working life was shared between building and driving trucks or operating machines. He had two years operating a crusher plant, but says it was a boring job, sitting in the shed reading most of the time. In 2007 his wife sadly passed away and shortly after that he took time off to nurse his ill daughter, who passed away in 2009. After that he says he didn’t feel like going back to work, although he did a bit of part-time driving. Pete keeps his mind active by building models. He says it’s a great challenge working off photos and finding materials that he can use in a model, but he generally loses interest in them once they’re completed – it’s the challenge of successfully finishing a model that drives him. The talented craftsman also builds guitars.
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* Models shown for illustrative purpose only. Some of the features and options shown may not be available in New Zealand.
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Heritage, heroes and the hound Story by Dave McCoid Photos by Dave McCoid and as credited
Mike Patterson’s passion for his family’s business and desire to celebrate the life of every middle-aged male’s boyhood hero has resulted in the preservation of one very famous Bulldog! Global hysteria
Three things stopped the world in its tracks in the 70s. A moon landing, a Muhammad Ali fight, and Evel Knievel’s next crazy caper! Like so many of us who were kids in the 70s, Mike Patterson, owner and CEO of Historic HarleyDavidson of Topeka Kansas, grew up amidst the Evel Knievel phenomenon. This fearless dude in a cape with his trusty stable of Harley-Davidson motorcycles took on jumps that appeared impossible – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. The landings took their toll on both rider and machine, but every jump added to the mystique of
this man from Butte Montana, Robert Craig Knievel – a.k.a. Evel Knievel. An abrupt and controversial figure behind the scenes, in front of the camera Evel Knievel was the supreme PR machine for the youth of the era; helmets must always be worn and drugs and alcohol avoided at all costs. Endeavour and adventure were life’s true ‘highs’. For young Mike Patterson the living legend was all the more real. Unlike kids in the South Pacific who stared intently at delayed coverage on primitive TV, Mike was right there in the stands when the road show pulled into Kansas. He would cheer and yell with the thousands gathered as Evel, wearing the customary red, white and blue leathers, appeared at the coach door of his famous Mack transporter ‘Big Red’. Hysteria followed shortly after, as – cape flying in the wind – man and machine attempted to defy gravity and breach the impossible gap between the two ramps, invariably filled with buses, trucks or cars. Being the grandson of Historic Harley-Davidson founder Henry Patterson, Mike was born with a love of motorcycles in his bloodstream. Evel Knievel’s exploits only served to throw petrol on an already burning love
Left: Mike Patterson and Bruce Zimmerman stand in the Historic Harley-Davidson show room. A picture of company founder and Mike’s Grandfather, Henry Patterson hangs on the wall behind. Above: A replica of Harley-Davidson’s original Milwaukee shed has been built in the Historic Harley-Davidson Topeka museum. It houses the dyno tuning equipment, and is accessed from the workshop behind.
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Historic Harley-Davidson Topeka. Right: Behind the main dealership is Harley Village where you can do everything from insuring your new ride to organising personal customisation
for bikes – the Harley marque in particular. He went on to race competitively himself and earned his Harley works leathers in flat-track racing; leathers that hang proudly in the company museum today.
A special place
The year is 1926, the place Grand Junction, Colorado. Sixteen-year-old Henry (Pat) Patterson enters a competition at a local fair to see who could ride a pushbike the furthest along a four-inch-wide plank. After pedalling backward and forward, amassing two miles (3.2 km) without interruption, Henry was not only declared the winner, but had set a new world record. Not surprisingly he was offered work at the local bike shop shortly after.
The restoration room at Historic Harley-Davidson Topeka
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Henry loved anything with two wheels, but two wheels and an engine were even better, and in 1927 the bicycle store began selling Harley-Davidson motorcycles. He worked in the dealership for the next 22 years. In 1949, Henry, his wife Leola and their two boys, Larry and Dennis, packed up and moved to Topeka Kansas. Henry had bought the town’s Harley-Davidson dealership from local dealer Dutch Myers. His first customer was one Zeke Zimmerman, grandfather of Bruce Zimmerman, who heads the restoration team at the dealership today and is Mike Patterson’s right-hand man. For Henry, habits learned working in the Grand Junction business, helping it survive the great depression and war years, were paying off now he was on his own. Surviving would take total commitment, passion, and unfathomable self-belief. Saving every conceivable penny was critical, and as such nothing was thrown out…ever! There was no part that couldn’t be repaired, or that wouldn’t come in handy just down the track. Unwittingly, through these frugal habits, Henry Patterson was amassing the bones of a museum and restoration facility that would transpire some 50 years later. The early years in the new Topeka venture were torrid. Fires and floods threatened to end Henry’s dream, but after every setback he’d pull himself up and get ‘back on the bike’, as it were. After decades of toil, running the business with just himself and one employee, Henry’s son Dennis (Denny) joined, much to his father’s surprise. It was the mid70s and Denny’s timing couldn’t have been better. The
injection of energy was a much-needed morale booster as the Japanese motorbike invasion was well underway. In the early 80s Henry’s grandson, Denny’s nephew Mike, came on board also. With three generations of Pattersons in the business the future was bright…and times were changing. With the global resurgence of Harley-Davidson the business grew rapidly, enjoying several expansions. At the time of its 50th birthday in 1999 the business was located in premises at the northern end of town. The milestone was celebrated in the Kansas Expo Centre with 700 friends and guests, where HarleyDavidson CEO, Rich Teerlink, gave a tribute to Henry’s 72 years of dedication. A week after the celebration, having realised the dream that fuelled his passion for all those hard, unforgiving years, Henry passed away. The birthday celebrations also signalled the passing of the baton from Dennis to Mike. The legacy was now his. Mike wasn’t sure he wanted the business to continue in the modern, ever-expanding glass-fronted showroom corporate-type path. His passion was fuelled by his legacy. He wanted a business that, while successful, still had the essence of Henry’s humility and passion. The decision was made to uproot again and move to the current location on the corner of 21st and Topeka Boulevard. The stone building was constructed in 1935 and was perfect. It could house the dealership, workshops, a restaurant (Kansas City style Bar-B-Que of course), and the museum that formed a key part of Mike’s vision – a museum to celebrate the family business and the Harley-Davidson history.
This was the restoration challenge of a lifetime, but the desire to do it was without question. Right: The cab had more sky than roof. The coach (left) shows the ‘shambles’ that faced the team. Right: The chassis and coach being stripped and taken apart.
P HOTOS: TOP EK A HI STOR I C HAR LEY- DAVI DSON
124 Classic Trucks Volume 3
The disassembly process revealed
P H O T O S: T O P EK A H I ST O R I C H AR L EY-D AVI D SO N
hidden messages
In typical Patterson fashion, Mike and the team toiled relentlessly for a decade and a half toward that dream of a dealership and museum – starting with the bits and pieces Henry refused to discard. The increasing presence of the museum in the wider business meant Historic HarleyDavidson became the go-to place for anyone in the search of historical Harley parts, or needing a restoration. As a consequence, the business attracted artisan engineers and craftsmen onto its team, tradespeople wishing to ply their craft at a level that would later see the business’ restorations earn Harley-Davidson’s stamp of approval. In a fascinating irony, this was now a place where valuable parts were repaired rather than replaced, and little was discarded in case it was needed for a restoration. Mike had captured the essence of his own heritage, Henry’s spirit was alive and well at Historic Harley-Davidson. But the story was far from complete. It was time for Evel Knievel to re-enter Mike’s life…
to Evel from fans, written as Big Red trundled down the assembly line in 1974.
Sniffing out the trail to the Bulldog
Enter the scene Zeke Loftin, son-in-law of 50s and 60s rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis. Both Jerry Lee and Elvis had been gifted Harley-Davidsons in 1959. An attempt by someone had been made to restore the Lewis bike some years earlier, but that had ended in nothing more than a pile of pieces in a damp barn in Memphis. The elderly rocker and his family wanted the machine returned to pristine condition. “It wasn’t good,” said Mike. “Someone had done the easy part and stripped it.” It was the first build of note the restoration team undertook. The quality and authenticity of the rebuild was so remarkable the bike fetched US$385,000 when Lewis sold it at auction in January 2014. When Zeke Loftin told his friend Lathan McKay, ex proskateboarder turned actor, he too, headed straight for Topeka. Lathan McKay is arguably the world’s most passionate
What have we done! “When we first saw the truck we wondered what we’d done. There was more sky than metal,” laughs Mike. The truck was brought back to Topeka and systematically stripped apart…what there was to strip apart. The team that Mike and Bruce amassed to attack the gargantuan project included the best craftsmen and tradespeople from both inside and outside the business. Mike describes the mood at the time. “The buy-in was incredible. As much as what confronted everyone made them gasp in horror, it was who the truck represented that meant they rolled their sleeves up without a second thought. He took on the impossible for us, and now it was our turn for him.” Chuck Stover from Kansas Powertrain got the mechanics. Initial thoughts were out with old and in with something newer, but the theme of restoration is all-pervasive at Historic, and restoration means exactly that. Nut by nut, bolt by bolt, Chuck’s team and the Topeka crew put a pulse back into ‘Red’s’ heart. Interestingly for readers in New Zealand, the truck ran a five-speed Allison auto supplied originally by Mack in 1974. The rest is pure mid-70s Mack, with 38,000lb Mack rears on Mack’s yardstick Camelback suspension.
While the powertrain teams were dealing to that, master vehicle restorer and painter Todd Williams took on the near impossible cab job, performing nothing less than a miracle. Using every bit he could from the original cab, supplemented with panels from a donor, Todd and his team pieced together the bones of ‘Big Red’s’ on-road majesty. In the meantime Topeka Trailer’s Shawn Miller and his team were assigned cladding and refurbishment of the outer skin of the semi and coach, and Historic HarleyDavidson’s Chad Halepeska accepted the daunting challenge of a complete rewire. All that was left to assign was the detailed paintwork, and this was left in the hands of local cycle painting maestro Travis Charbonneau, motorcycle customiser Tex McDorman, and Evel’s original painter George Sedlak. The level of effort and craftsmanship that went into the two-year revival by more than 96 contributing parties is unfathomable. Take the painting as an example; Todd’s team kept two guns going simultaneously on the semi for hour after hour so there was no hint whatsoever of a dry-line anywhere. Mack Trucks in the US have said it’s the best, most authentic, restoration they’ve witnessed.
Classic Trucks Volume 3 125
2
3
P H O T O S: D AR R EN M O RT EN SEN
1
1: Evel’s recliner with his cane remounted on the wall behind it. 2: Doorway to the unknown. Note the four Monkeys on the sideboard and the horseshoe hanging above the door. 3: Entry to the dressing and bath rooms. 4: Bar in the foreground, desk and TV up front with the window into the cab at right. 5: The wardrobe where the famous leathers hung. Note the
4
Evel Knievel fan and collector. Born in 1978 he missed the great jumps that sealed Evel’s daredevil immortality, but even so, Evel was still the father of extreme sports from whom Lathan would draw his own inspiration. Lathan had one of the largest, most valuable, and significant collections of Evel memorabilia in the world, including many of his bikes, leathers, helmets, canes, and toys – everything right down to drug prescriptions and pill bottles. But in 2012, he came across something special, something in need of serious attention on a scale he’d not encountered. Lathan met Robb Mariani, host of the TV series American Trucker. Laying derelict in a yard in Florida, Rob had found the legendary daredevils 1974 FS786 LST Mack motorhome and transporter – ‘Big Red’. Robb facilitated the collection of the truck and start of the restoration process. After initial inspection the fuel pump was replaced and the power steering box was cleaned and reassembled. With some encouragement from Robb’s team the dear ‘old fella’ burst into life, the transmission engaged, and once again ‘Big Red’ could move around under his ‘own steam’… just. The truck was then shipped to Elizabethtown New Jersey for restoration where it sat for a year. That’s when Zeke steered Lathan towards Topeka. Mike said, “Motorcycles were one thing, and we’d done ex-military vehicles and smaller trucks, but a full sized semi-truck? But this was Evel’s. This was special. It had to be done.” And so ensued an association and friendship between the two men. A friendship whose roots lay in paying homage to a mutual boyhood hero.
126 Classic Trucks Volume 3
5
duct tape on the coat hanger pipe.
When great becomes seriously cool!
If the project was an emotional journey for those involved in the restoration, for some of the people consulted during progress it was emotional overload. As well as George Sedlak’s involvement recreating the signwriting, Mike Draper, a driver and crewmember of Evel’s from the 1970s who lives close by in Wichita, was called on regularly to check for authenticity. A classic example was an old piece of water pipe clad in duct tape that was found in the derelict coach. Mike looked on in disbelief, telling the team that he’d put the tape on the pipe. “It was the wardrobe rail and the tape stopped the coat hangers squeaking on the pipe as I drove along.” What appeared to be superfluous scrap was in all reality treasure. When the cab was stripped back to its shell, messages of support saying things like ‘Evel you’re swell’ were found written on the back of components like dash panels, put there by adoring fans working in the Mack factory at the time of ‘Red’s’ assembly. The key to the restoration lay in the coach area. Preserving the soul of that private area, where Evel the mortal, and those closest to him, would spend the last moments before he faced both crowd and destiny; and then the hours after dealing to the often excruciating aftermath of yet another crushing spinal impact. Although battered and scratched the original coach panelling was cleaned, repaired, and reinstalled by Historic Harley-Davidson’s Greg Janosik and Bruce Zimmerman. His famous recliner, seen in many a famous photo, although badly termite-damaged, was repaired. The
P H O T O : T O P EK A H I ST O R I C H AR L EY-D AVI D SO N
Ready to return to the chassis. The rebuilt Maxidyne 300
walking cane he used until the anti-inflammatories kicked in – and his legs worked again – was still in the truck and was repaired and put back in place next to the recliner. The bar was rebuilt and the last whiskey bottles ever to sit in the Lazy Susan were cleaned and reinstated. Likewise, the dressing room and bathroom area were restored and reassembled. All under Mike Draper and Lathan McKay’s watchful eye, making sure every detail was perfect. The last two items recovered from the derelict coach and reinstated in their rightful place were the mildly superstitious Evel’s lucky horseshoe that hung above the coach door, and the four clay monkeys – hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil and do no evil. Where humanly possible everything has been given a new lease of life. The ramps stacked in the semi aren’t replicas, they are Evel Knievel’s favourite ramps that travelled with him everywhere and launched him into oblivion on all his famous jumps. Throughout the entire restoration process the Knievel family was included and consulted. The entire project, both the truck and museum, have the blessing of Evel’s wife Krystal, and children Kelly and Robbie.
Partners for life and beyond
‘Big Red’ wasn’t Evel Knievel’s original transporter. In the beginning a Kenworth adorned the front of the coach and semi rig. As fame and notoriety increased Evel put some pressure on Kenworth to support his growing enterprise. When Kenworth declined, Mack stepped up. Plans for the new prime mover were put in place and ‘Big Red’ was born. In Evel’s own words: “Our first trip was on California Highway #1 from San Francisco to LA through Big Sur and around the switchbacks on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The California Highway Department road maintenance crews told me that they had not seen a truck on that highway in six months, and were surprised to see the most beautiful tractor trailer in the world.” The original intention of the restoration team was to make the truck itself a travelling Evel Knievel memorabilia museum. It was soon realised, however, that the now ‘elderly’ specification didn’t make sense for long journeys, not to mention the non-compliant dimensions and emissions regulations in places like California. Mack’s interest had increased progressively throughout
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<CLUSTER> Photo 1: 2057_CabProf EKnvl Class1116 Photo 2: 2046_Dash EKnvl Class1116 Photo 3: 2047_Dash EKnvl Class1116 Photo 4: 2022_Cab Int EKnvl Class1116 Photo Credit:
P H O TO : D A R R E N M ORTENSEN
Caption: 1 – The transformation was remarkable. 2, 3 & 4 – The restored interior
P HOTOS: DAR R EN M ORTEN SEN
is pure Knievel.
The transformation was remarkable. The restored interior is pure Knievel.
the project. When the decision was made to make the restored transporter a largely static display, Mack once again stepped up, supplying two Mack Pinnacle tractor semi-trailers to ferry ‘Big Red’ around in speed and style.
All’s well that ends magnificently
Two years after it all started, in July 2015 ‘Big Red’ sat in a shed in Topeka Kansas, gleaming and resplendent in all his glory. This project was not about cost; this was about thanking someone who inspired a generation to believe nothing was impossible. Mike shrugs when cost is mentioned, “The paint alone was $50k US.”
128 Classic Trucks Volume 3
The goal was to have the truck ready for the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally, and although several pots of midnight oil were consumed, the team made it. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony took place that included all involved, along with vice president of marketing at Mack Trucks North America, John Walsh. Following Sturgis the truck embarked on a whirlwind schedule that included the premier of the documentary Being Evel in Hollywood, truck shows and NASCAR races in Texas, and a winter at Mack headquarters in Pennsylvania. Mike said, “We’re glad to have it back. It was finished, and before we had time to think, it was on
its transporters and gone! We can spend time with it now and take in what we’ve all done and what it means.” The restoration project grew the friendship and trust between Mike, his team, and Lathan McKay. Mike had been thinking of how to develop the Harley museum further and Lathan was unsure what to do with his priceless collection. When the realisation came that touring the truck as a mobile museum was not going to happen, all the pieces fell into place. Historic HarleyDavidson would expand the museum, creating an Evel Knievel wing displaying not only Lathan’s collections but also providing visitors with an interactive walk through the daredevil’s life. The tour will culminate in the centrepiece, ‘Big Red’. That facility will be open to the public by mid-2017.
Evel Knievel Cool Facts • Evel Knievel was the first living person to feature as the hero in his own comic
Thoughts on closing
The Topeka team and friends haven’t restored Evel Knievel’s transporter, they’ve breathed life back into it. This is nothing short of engineering CPR. Standing in front of the truck instantly floods the onlooker with memories of their own childhood. This is a restoration on behalf of every 70s kid, no matter where they were from. Entering the coach and seeing ‘the’ chair, ‘the’ cane, ‘the’ whiskey bottles and ‘the’ dressing room is a rare and huge privilege. This was actually Evel Knievel’s life away from the eyes of the world. It’s a tiny lonely place where he not only collected his thoughts before each feat, but also a place where he came to the realisation he’d lived to see another day. When inside there’s an overriding feeling that you are not in there alone. There’s no need to hang a sign saying ‘Please do not use the recliner’, because no one would…he’s in it, sipping on a Wild Turkey, watching us all. All too soon your moment is over and it’s time to respectfully leave, and not overstay your welcome in his world. Eventually it’s time to stand in the door, look up at the horseshoe, and walk out into the unknown…
• Evel Knievel was the first living person to have his own action figure
The dare devil’s favourite ramps are still in the semi.
Below: The soon to be opened Evel Knievel wing of the museum is taking shape.
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The Historic HarleyDavidson team have not restored Big Red, they have breathed life back into him.
“ Fear is high-octane fuel for the possibility of success. I have never subscribed to the no fear attitude. Those who truly feel they have absolutely no fear belong in a mental institution. Do I fear death? No. Was I ever afraid to make a jump? If I was afraid, I was not going to tell you about it. I’m Evel Knievel. I’m not supposed to be afraid.” Evel Knievel
130 Classic Trucks Volume 3
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ry Trader
Trader
ions Long Haul Publicat
Platooning and autonomous trucks
& Machine
gst
A special MACK in the ’naki
including Truck
Includes
nd Trucking
including Truck
$8.50
New Zeala
including Truck Trader
nd Trucking
New Zeala
New Zealand Trucking
es
Freight Lin gallery
Internation al solution in the ‘Naki
$8.50
2016
MOUNTAIN TAMER
INCLUDING
Long Haul Publications
OCTOBER
AN D NE W ZE AL
NEW ZEALAND
AUGUST 2016
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER 2016
TRUCKING TRUCKING G N I K C U TR KEOVER UCK – MA OUR TOP TR
www.magstore.nz Phone 0800 truckmag 0 8 0 0 8 7 8 2 5 6 2 4
TRANSPORT WORLD - BRAND COMPONENT BRAND COLOURS A TRIP DOWN SOUTH THAT WILL
SPIN YOUR RED
BLACK
GRAY
CREAM
Pantone (PMS) : 185 CMYK : 1/100/92/0 RGB : 235/28/45 HEX : #eb1c2d
Pantone (PMS) : Black CMYK : 0/0/0/100 RGB : 0/0/0 HEX : #000000
Pantone (PMS) : Cool Gray 6 CMYK : 35/28/28/0 RGB : 170/169/170 HEX : #aaa9aa
Pantone (PMS) : CMYK : 00/6/20/0 RGB : 255/237/2 HEX : #ffedce
WHEELS BRAND FONTS
Geared Slab Regular
ENTER ONLINE NOW
BRAND COLOUR / DEVICE USAGE at: www.transportworld.nz/spinyourwheels Terms & conditions apply. See website competition page.
PACKAGE INCLUDES Return flights from anywhere in New Zealand to Invercargill with Air New Zealand • Visit both Bill Richardson Transport World and the recently opened Classic Motorcycle Mecca • Dine at both The Grille Café and Meccaspresso thanks to Mash Catering • Stay in Invercargill’s newest luxury accommodation The Lodges At Transport World • Take a scenic return trip to Stewart Island with Stewart Island Flights • Experience a Village & Bays Tour and Wild Kiwi Encounter thanks to Stewart Island Experience • Enjoy a nights’ accommodation on Stewart Island thanks to the South Sea Hotel
Competition closes Friday 27 January 2017. Prize to be taken from April 2017.
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