Trailers shouldn’t be ignored, you know I enjoy looking at old trailers as much as old trucks. Is that just my perversion going to far, or are you lot the same?? I had a pleasant Saturday morning out, wandering around loads of old commercials, so I will be writing various blogs about the, no doubt, about time I gave you some material!
Here we go then, kicking things off is this lovely Danzas, drawbar trailer. It was in relatively good condition compared to others. Having had a good nose about it seemed a little unique. I couldn’t think of many UK based Danzas drawbars, in fact I couldn’t think of any. The trailer was built by DAF which made me think this is likely to be from a haulier who subbed for Danzas or worked from the Netherlands. Moving to the rear of the trailer, it had some extra mud flaps, the sign of a driver who liked his trailer, so perhaps an owner driver. Despite the trailer being built by DAF the rear lights and London Boroughs permit suggests this was a UK operated trailer, well at least at the end of its life.
Amazingly I posted these photos on my Facebook page yesterday (Saturday) to see if anyone had any ideas on who’s it was or if anyone knew anything about it. The blog is a good place to ask questions and get answers from all of your extensive knowledge, but I was surprised to get quite such a response just a couple of hours after posting the pics. On Facebook I had a reply from Michael Edwards, also sending the below photo, amazing! Michael said “This is Dave Princes wagon and drag from Avonmouth. I think Chris Amos was the driver.”
You can’t deny that it certainly looks like the right trailer and as I said, there can’t have been many Danzas drawbars in the UK. Thanks for the info Michael, if anyone wants to add anything else please leave a comment below. More of my findings to come later on and also more trailer talk, or trailer detective work!
So after my last plea last year, I got a lovely email from Adrian English at the weekend with the above photo attached and a few words of explanation. I don’t actually know how or why but I’m guessing Adrian may be involved with pigeons or the pigeon fraternity but how ever I am so pleased to see my old girl and see that she is indeed still keeping herself busy even though she is something like 21 years old.
Adrian says the chap who is the current owner works for Border Amalgamation in Manchester. Border Amal appear to be organisers of pigeon races so makes sense the cure my owner works for them. We are t Tom sure how recent the photo is but if the owner of said blue beauty reads this can you make contact please. I’ve tried to find you on Facebook but there are a lot of people with the same name! Anyway I’d be good to catch up with the truck if I can this year, no idea why but that’s what up truck nuts do I guess.
I may have still been in short trousers in the late 80’s and early 90’s but I was already dreaming of Amy from the A-Team, Kylie Minogue, Anneka Rice, sorry, long distance trucking to Europe. Italia has always been a favored destination for the long distance Clara’s among us (sadly not me…yet) and it’s fair to say that one of the big parts of any trip to Italy is getting over the Alps. Which ever route you chose, whether it be Frejus or the Blanc, it was a regular route for hauliers from all European countries, although looking at these videos it would seem that every 3rd truck is from the Northampton area!
Luckily for us, whether you were sleep deprived and heading back to the UK or if you were too busy looking at Mrs Edwards in art class, sorry learning your times tables, thanks to the genius that is Pasquale Caccavale, lots of the goings on over the mountains has been recorded on what could have only been a fairly large video camera. You can loose hours looking through Pasquale’s YouTube channel, so I thought I’d share a few crackers to entice you in to watch more in your own time. One thing that genuinely does surprise me is the amount of British trucks cresting the mountains. I know its always been a popular destination but it seems that Pasquale must have know when the brits were coming. I guess it was regular days depending on which way you were heading and what end of the week it was, but still. There are many more videos to watch on the YouTube channel, CLICK HERE to go and see what other gems you can find. You might even find yourself, you never know! I love the Carisio video, its the who’s who of UK international Transport, must have been a convention on, nothing to do with the beer and local “services”…. Grazie Pasquale….
J727 TRO – 113M 360J606 UOE – 113M 360J5 LOS – 143M 500J949 EDS – 113M 400
So what will come first 100 trucks on the list or a publisher??!
In the mean time we are now down to 4 confirmed Centurions we don’t have numbers for and amazing we have 4 empty spaces on the Centurion list. Is it a coincidence or have RP and myself (and all our informants) just about got 96 other trucks right?! Well there is a good chance as all the others are based on plenty of evidence, each number backed by at least 2-3 facts on the truck.
The above 4 trucks are all genuine Centurions, we know that for sure. Amazing we can’t get anyone with any concrete evidence on what number they were. I have even been having contact from Chris Kelly at Keltruck and even he can’t find any evidence of what number J606 UOE was and he drove it out to eastern Europa on an aid mission!
J727 TRO in Cambrian Pet food livery, but it does look a little tired in that photo.
J606 UOE. Well photographed and was a demo, but what happened to it after? Did it end up with a repaint and on the SEAS fleet after they parted company with #100? Just a thought.
J5 LOS. Perfect looking 143, we know a lot about it and have original photos from the owner before and after sign writing but no number!
J949 EDS. Had quite a few owners including Thomas Douglas Haulage from Glasgow. Still no one knows the number.
The remaining 4 numbers in the Centurion list we can’t allocate to a truck or a reg number are: #037 / #043 / #054 / #068.
No need to go over old ground but if you know anything on these 4 trucks or a Centurion number rings a bell as you’ve seen a certificate from Scania in a transport office, please, please let us know. Comment below or email me; ben@truckblog.co.uk
It’s a truck, albeit a steam one, but a truck none the less. Love it when you send me photos of things you think I’d like. This photo was taken by a supplier of mine, Steve Bowdidge. Steve is in on the steam scene and has his own mini traction engines that he attends the various steam fairs around the south west of England and beyond. This beautiful Foden, in my favourite colour of the year, was spotted at a show sporting the right surname and two of my Dads initials. I have double checked, but my old man confirms that he doesn’t have a secret collection of steam vehicles for me to inherit. What a great photo though, thanks Steve.
If you have anything to share or that you think I need to see, please tag me in anything you can or send me an email: ben@truckblog.co.uk
There’s nothing I like more than talking to good old boys about their memories of good old days of trucking. In this case my awesome colleague Mr Stephen Jenkins. Steve has been in transport for most of his working career and ever since I’ve known him (probably 4 or 5 years now), he’s been promising me some photos of his owner driver years. If my notes are right, the owner driver years were from 1971 through to 1986. Most of this was on European work, but I know Steve did make a few trips to the Middle East, although he wasn’t a regular.
The first photo he finally got round to sharing is the awesome Volvo F88 above. this was YBE 540K, an early F88 with a split screen and top mounted window wipers. Steve bought the truck and had it painted red, black and white chevrons on the bumper and 4 spotlights under said bumper. Interestingly Steve said that the 4 spots were mounted under the bumper to help with the fog on the Italian mountain passes such as Mont Cenis. The standard lights on the truck from Volvo just weren’t enough to help when the fog came down, put the spotlights under the bumper so they were down as close to the road as possible. Makes perfect sense when you think about it and there was me just thinking it was an early fashion statement! When Steve went to see Ian McKellar about some work, Ian agreed Steve could start working with him as he had a red truck that matched Ian’s colours. The only catch was, Ian insisted a white stripe be painted on the cab. Steve was quite happy with that but only if it didn’t cost him any money, so Ian agreed he’d pay for the stripe to be painted on. Can’t beat a little anecdote.
The list below is of all the trucks Steve owned as an owner driver. I’d very much like it if you could all try and find any photos of the other Volvo’s listed please. I’m sure there will be some somewhere and I’m not just talking about Steve’s loft!
YBE 540K – Volvo F88 240
SLL 62L – Volvo F88 240
OGS 49M – Volvo F88 240
NHL 618X – Volvo F89
KPU 13V – Mercedes-Benz
The Merc below is a 1632 that Steve bought 2nd hand. During his time owning the truck he managed to clock up enough KM, that by the time it was retired from his ownership it had around 1.6 Million KM on the clock. Regular trips to Italy accounted for a lot of the mileage. Even though the engine was a 320HP, V10 with an 8 speed ZF gearbox, Steve was able to get a decent 7mpg out of the big German.
Man-O-Man, where do I start?? Shall I save you all the pain of reading a new blog and just republish last years?? If I did then I wouldn’t have the chance to get all gooey, reminiscing about yet another awesome weekend at Gaydon or as I like to call it, the Retro Truckstop Weekender! The show it’s self had 401 trucks on Sunday mornings count up. That includes everything inside the main gate. Now one quick note for the organisers, quite a few commented that there were a few too many “new” trucks, make of that what you will and perhaps it’s a discussion point or comment below? Then again without enough trucks the show wouldn’t be what it is….. awesome.
No one can disagree that there were more trucks than ever and more trucks that I’d not seen before. Being a Merc fan, we even had a Merc corner which was a first, the Stuttgart Stars. The standard of restoration, preservation or any other ‘ation, was incredible. We have to remember than not everyone has the budget to restore from the chassis rails up, so for all of you, like me who can just about afford to keep your pride and retro-joy road worthy and MOT’d, you’re doing just as important a job. We have to keep as many old trucks on the road as possible, other wise they will end up at the mercy of the nearest gas axe. I think another point that was very noticeable was the increase in manufacturers. Some years it seems that there are only newly restored Scania’s and Volvo’s coming on the scene (no bad thing), but this year their were Fords, Scammells, Magirus Deutz, ERF’s, an amazing Scottish DAF that had had the full piggy bank thrown at it and it looked better than new, simply delightful. One thing that is very apparent about the Retro Show, is that it is the show for the fans and the lovers of your own favourite manufacturer. Even if you aren’t a fan, then everyone present can appreciate each and every truck on show for what they are. I’m sitting here writing this wondering how on Earth I’m going to choose which photos to include!
I know I’ve said it each year and again now but one of the most enjoyable parts of the show is the people that attend. You genuinely can’t walk more than 50 metres without seeing or meeting someone else to chat too or catch up with. I think the best I heard, was someone who’d been at the show for 3 hours and had barely made it to the end of the first row of trucks! Whether it’s chatting about a truck on show, seeing old friends, making new ones or just joining in a conversation as us drivers like to do, it is by far the most sociable show with the least amount of ego’s you’ll find in the UK. I think most are gently surprised when someone likes their old truck, much how I felt when people kept coming over to the 814 and saying how much they loved it as it bought back many memories of peoples first truck. Made me smile anyway.
Zoom in on the line up!
The social element and banter is present all week and their were countless “moments” where everyone gets a ribbing from their counterparts. Then their are the serial collectors and proper encyclopaedia types who know their trucks better than The manufacturers who built them. Peoples knowledge is genuinely amazing. If you need to know something there will be someone at the show who can tell you who you need to talk too. Then there are just the trucking VIP’s who everyone knows and has a chat and a laugh with. To name a few; the King and Queen, or Trevor and Jody Rowell, Keith Storey, Fred Parker, Mark Farrow, Richard Payne, Nick Bull, Karl Skilton, Nick Pelosi, Uel McCullough, Miss Hopton and Master Hopton and the list goes on. Sharing a beer is one thing, having a good chat and a joke is another, so when you can do both together surrounded by some mates and the trucks of the golden years of UK haulage, what more could you possibly want?!?….. oh yea delicious home cooked food and a delicious cooked breakfast from a team who have to put up with same old drivers jokes with each new punter! It is truly a great weekend and for me the best show in the UK currently. Appreciated it’s not for everyone but the social side and the trucks from my childhood make it so.
A final few more mentions, the amazing MAN Roadhaus from Wexford, the living 79 year old legend and still driving international Mike Dunston, nice to see a few Magnums on the scene, Nick Pelosi’s face when he heard some 80’s hits banging out my 814’s stereo, the sound of a Transcon with a Detroit engine, Carl Jones for pointing out my fuel cap was off as I drove out the show, yep in front of all the cameras, check your pictures, what a twit! Other than that just a big thank you to Lee Herbert and his team who make the show a complete joy in all respects. I can’t wait for next year, the Gr814 and I will be back.
The Retro Show ‘22. I thought I’d give you a break from how good it was and you clearly aren’t in the club if you didn’t go. As you will know by now this was the Gr814’s first UK show outing and we made the trip there and back in good company. 1st leg was from Ipswich to Elmswell to meet up with James with EGV and Mat with Jim Cammacks 143. We decided that Elmswell would be a good meeting point as I had an early finish and James couldn’t finish until 1730hrs at the earliest. I also had a couple of jobs to finish so needed a few tools and a couple of nuts, bolts and screws.
First job was to fit the CB in the Gr814, fairly simple ax there is already an aerial and a cable, so I just needed to connect up the power (also already there once I’d looked) and mount the bracket up on the sunroof surround, so it was well out the way. Much to my delight, once it was all in, it worked a dream, good range and clear sound with no effort. Just how I like it! Second all important job, although a temporary fix until he’s painted, was to replace the broken Mercedes-Benz badge on the back. I couldn’t turn up at the show with a broken badge.
Once my jobs were done, Mat had had a good wipe around to try and degrease and JC had finished the day job, we just had time for a roll call photo before hitting the road. The 4th member of the convoy was already flying along to the sound of Karen Carpenter and her siblings, so we decided to meet up at Rothwell Truckstop on the A14, just west of Kettering. After a pasty and a bottle of Coke, we left Rothwell with Brian Potter leading the way in his drop dead gorgeous Swedish beauty. Sadly MDF soon realised why I was in front on the way up. Sadly unlike my hero the Duck, I did have everyone following me, I wasn’t just in front as the Gr814 is somewhat relaxed about speed. I think a sound investment maybe a new diff to give me a little more than 50mph. Although it wouldn’t have been to much of a problem if JC had driven EGV rather than trailered. Anyway a steady 50 is good for the fuel gauge
Once on the way to Gaydon, we planned on A14, M6, A46 and M40. Sadly as already of a Friday evening the authorities had better ideas and we were diverted off the A46 into Coventry. Amazing although a royal pain in the ass, it did provide some awesome memories of perhaps a time when dual carriageways were few and far between and we would have regularly been followed through towns by gorgeous old Scania and Volvos. It provided some great photos of the mind of nothing else. Once back on the A46 it was a simple run down to Gaydon. As the time was getting on we were a little unsure if we could get in the gate or not. But we didn’t need to worry as Lee Herbert and his team were more than accommodating and let us all in, unload the 141 and park up ready for the morning. Perfecto.
As for the run home, a real lovely run back in the sunny Sunday afternoon sun. Although I did manage to leave the show and drive up the little hill past all the photographers with my fuel cap dangling on its chain. Bugger. A change of route to go home, down the M40, A43, A421 to Buckingham, Milton Keynes and onto Bedford. We then picked up the A428 back to Cambridge. A nice run and chosen as we all potentially needed fuel on the way home. Once nearly back at Cambridge we headed our separate ways as JC wanted to get back to Elmswell and get EGV unloaded. I then headed down the M11, across the A505 and then down the A1307 to Haverhill and the back roads back just bear Colchester where I live. May was going to follow me but day dreamed on to Bury St Edmunds and then back down to Sudbury and Halstead.
The little Gr814 didn’t miss and beat and to be honest is a real pleasure to drive. It’s actually not any where near as bouncy as you’d think and by the time I got home, I’d proper settle in and it looked like I’d been away for a week towel hanging up to dry, bags on the top bunk, bedding on the bottom one, music on and CB there incase I needed a road report Roger. 300 plus miles covered and I’d happily do it all again, perhaps a little more speed and few less revs would be nice but you can’t have everything! Hopefully way before the Retro Show ‘23 I’ll have the paint done and the other bits and bobs and he’ll be finished. Top round trip, top show and top mates.
The most local vehicle show to near where we live. A fantastic little village show that took place for the first time since 2019 and bearing in mind it was a scorching hot, humid day there was still a decent turn out of vehicles. One of best things about the show is the variety of vehicles. Yes I’m a truck man, but everything from bikes, cars, vans, a few lorries, tractors, racing cars, buses, Land Rovers, Americans and a Harley Davidson club. Something for everyone, literally a lovely assortment of what every takes your fancy. Sadly there were also a large numbers of dropouts due to the heat, lots of classic owners are keen on risking overheating their pride and joy, which I understand. Hopefully next year it’ll be back to full steam. I’ll try and post the details more next year as it would be great to see a few more commercials there.
Ok so it’s a pick-up TRUCK, but I’ll allow it on the blog this time, as for me it was the best looking vehicle in the show. The owner saw it for sale in Virginia, USA in exactly it’s cute t condition and decided he just had to have it. With Patina on vehicle Mrs being the latest craze, this has all the natural rust patches you could want. I think it just looks the nuts and I’d have happily taking it home myself. Perhaps a Chevy needs to go on the lottery list.
Pallet Plus were the only actual working trucks on show but two new MAN’s looked great in their red paint and sunshine. The Scammell below is a regular and I have a feeling it comes from a local railway museum at Chappel near Colchester but I could be wrong. It’s a proper old-timer and isn’t over cleaned or polished, it just looks tidy and original.
As for the Flatman Bedford, well if you like a classic British truck, this is the one for you. Flatland are a local egg company and the owner has a huge collection of classic sorts cars, but this was the first time I have seen the Bedford. Again like the Scammell, this was very tidy but not cleaned and restored to within an inch of its life. Genuinely it looked like it had just finished a days work collecting empty boxes. I think it looks perfect in the black and white photo below. Anyway, mid August next year, get yourself up to the Colchester area and come visit the show. You never know the Gr814 might have had a kick of paint by next years show!
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