Category Archives: Photos

Fordham Vehicle Show 2022

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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!

Finnish-ed Power

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The summer holidays can be a long drawn out affair for some kids, always restless by the 3rd week, not enough things to do, etc, etc. Not for me though as you lot are on your jolly holidays and it pleases me that you think of me while you’re away. I get a few photos sent in every year of your holiday findings and I have to say that Suomi has not disappointed. My sons friend and parents are on holiday in Finland with family who live there. Dad, Mark, sent me these photos whilst they were out exploring last week;

“So these worked for the Finland electricity board and were parked outside an old power station. The HIAB looked like it would be a little top heavy when rolling, the other had a pretty plush interior for its age and work intention.”

I did wonder whether the 1413 had been restored a little as it really does look in very good condition. The Unimog looks in good condition but looking at the wheels and tyres, it looks more like it’s just been parked up after it’s last shift.

Thanks Mark and family. If you have any holiday photos to share (not those ones!), please email me with a brief description and tell me where you found your findings.

Email: ben@truckblog.co.uk

A Real Swiss Sweetie

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For me the best in show and I’m glad to say that the people at Truckstar agreed. This Swiss beast was voted best in show by the judges and I couldn’t agree more. There are a good few reasons why I shouldn’t like it, as we all have little things with our taste in trucks that we aren’t that keen on. For example I’m not a fan of gold paint work, I’m also not so keen on additional spot lights or bull bars anymore, but just like Jerry Maguire, this truck had me at hello.

Despite my pet hates, I think I’d only need to remove the 7 spot lights on the roof, the rest just works. Nestled between Paul Cecil’s jaw dropping XF and matching Schmitz trailer and the crazy artwork on Ristina’s latest Scania offering, this Swiss gem appeared like an oasis in the desert.

Oh what’s this…. Ooooo it likes quite tidy this James….. Oh crikey, I think I like the look of this…. This could be my best in show…. And the interior…… And it’s an R cab…. This is my best in show.

That’s pretty well how things went when we came across it at Assen. When it comes to the new Scania, I’m an R cab man, you all know I love the smaller cabbed trucks, the R for me is far better looking than an S cab Scania. There were a few trucks with Speedline super singles on the front axle and I really like it, a trend started years ago by the Prince of Somerset Tim Rigby. I also absolutely appreciated the gear shift pattern being the focus for the LED lighting above the bunk and also on the pa em on the rear of the cab between the stacks. I feel this is a real ode to the demise of the manual gearbox. Those new to driving but are real drivers at heart, there is nothing more secretly satisfying than getting the gearbox working and making your way up through the box all of your own doing. This is pre-mortem tribute to the no doubt soon to be obsolete mechanical masterpiece that is a multi-geared gearbox.

This burgundy, antique red, colour touched me in more ways than a 1980’s TV presenter. The Heinrich’s frigo and the Dansk Soleen trucks all wearing g a similar shade, just suit the truck. I can’t say if it suits all trucks as sometimes paint colours only work on certain trucks but it c retail y works on Scania’s. The different shades of deep red, gold and black also used compliment each other and go with the theory of top paint jobs need 3 colours to really stand out from the crowd. even the red rear wheels on the twin tag fit in with the rest, big bumper, square lights, good size straight stacks, just enough lights, full flat metal chassis infill and side skirts, I can’t go on otherwise I’ll need a moment.

QJust when I’ve had a full walk around the outside and just about stopped dribbling, I get to the drivers door and boom, the pink, salmon pink, bubblegum pink, who knows what colour pink but I love it. James and I can fully appreciate trucks and lairy interiors, although often they would not be our personal choice. I love the deep brown leather interiors again like the Heinrich’s truck, but once again this just works for me. I’d not have chosen it myself but I love it. It’s just sumptuously gorgeous and one step to the left of the custom truck normal. Special Interior have just raised the bar another notch.

I genuinely can’t say any more about this truck, I just hope it has a well matched trailer doing what ever work it does. If I wanted to build a custom truck I think I could just be a carbon copy of this Swiss sweetie. As we all know the Swiss are the kings and queens of sweet treats and chocolate and this truck sits perfectly in that bracket……. I’m off to have a word with myself.

Truckstar Festival 2022 #2

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..Night Time is The Right Time….. very rarely do I get my proper camera out, especially when my new mobile phone has such a good camera even for night shots now. The big Canon comes out for truck show use as I can take a few photos without the need for a tripod and without the need for a timer to make sure the camera is still. Please don’t think I claim to be any sort of photographer, but I do love a truck with its side lights on. For those who like to pick up on the finer points, if you look at some of my pics you’ll see they are only in focus in the middle and the rest of the photo is a little blurred. I reckon I haven’t got the manual focus set up right but perhaps someone can tell me more?!

It has become the norm at truck shows these days, but the Truckstar Festival was the first show I went to where all the trucks were running with lights on at night. There is a certain amount of trust in leaving your pride and joy open, running and free for all and sundry to look around. It’s become a thing to have a walk around Assen in the dark and I would think that the majority of those attending the show with a truck do the same of an evening as their are a lot of people walking around right up to midnight. To be fair this year I made of point of getting out on the Friday night to make the walk and I’m bloomin glad that I did. There was a lot of top, top quality motors on show and the lighting of a truck has almost become as big a part of the customising process as the paint, interior or anything else. I have to say I’m Holland you see very few trucks that are “over done”, you know, the ones that look like they have crashed into the lighting section at Halfords. All the trucks look well balanced and as if some proper thought has gone into the lights, not just bolted on and hope for the best. Everything is even and nicely spaced, as with everything the Dutch, the Danish, the English all have the right idea when it comes to lights.

The triad of Danish stunners from Christian Soleen‘s stable, made for many a pretty picture and to say they were my favourite trucks at the show and I will be doing a separate blog on them for you. Love the 3 lights under the bumper and also love the nice straight lines down the sides of the truck. Like our American friends I do love lines of orange down each side, just looks mega in my book.

The white line above the left side of the DAF isn’t some cool new aerial, it’s the big crane in the background all lit up.

Truckstar Festival 2022 – #1

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Where do I start?! For me the best trip to Truckstar Festival in 8 visits. The hospitality shown by proper truck people to others who perhaps can’t offer the same hospitality through no fault of their own is genuinely humbling. The Dutch are in a league of their own, nothing is a problem, everything is about friends and all are included.

Thank you to everyone we saw, met and shared a beer with. We feel like honoury Dutchman! Good people, good food, good beer, good trucks and crazy music!! Heel erg bedankt, bedank ook alle andere Nederlandse vrienden op de weg and of course a big thank you to our English friends too🍻🍻

Kurt, Lianne’s Richard, Peter with the nose, Mrs Olga Brouwer and all the rest. Also my BM James and of course the wife for letting me go !

As Old As The Greek Gods

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It must be holiday season?! A week or two back a good customer of mine, had some time away in southern Greece, Kalamata to be exact. Kalamata is the kind of place that still seems a little bit more relaxed about modern life and a delightful place to go for some downtime and old school truck spotting. I am so very pleased that’s it’s not just me that spends holiday time looking for trucks native to where ever said holiday destination is.

What else do all of our better other halves enjoy more than spending time with us?? Yep you guessed it, truck spotting or if you’re in Greece, Malta or anywhere else not plagued by Euro emissions legislation, old school truck spotting. It would seem this particular busman’s holiday maker came across a parking area that can only be described as gold dust to us few Merc fans. The beauty of Greece is the serious lack of rust and rot on these ageing machines. Up here in Northern Europe the humidity and moisture takes hold of anything that is 20+ years old and you have to say goodbye to your old favourites. Judging by the condition of this group of transport OAP’s (old age pensioners / senior citizens), they have clearly been worked hard during their lives in the sun but there is not a lot of rust or ruin. Battle scars are of course acceptable and par for the course.

This little lot all seem to have similar bodywork, dropside types and or tippers. Even the mighty F16 looks like it may be pulling a tipper of some sort. Perhaps someone can tell us what Kalamata is known for? Olives? Watermelons? Other Fruit? Must be something like that, as is the way with Greece, supplying the rest of Europe with these delightful summer commodities for us to enjoy.

If you are off on your holidays or should a I say, treating the other half to some top spotting, these are the kind of holiday photos we do want you sharing. Better still if your away slightly off the beaten track, then if you do come across anything you want to share then please email me with a few pics and some details of where you are and what you’ve found, just incase we can’t work it out. Thanks to Peter for this episode of Holiday Haulage.

My email address is: ben@truckblog.co.uk

Fun in The Spanish Sun

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What do you do with yourself when you’ve run one of the UK’s most well known international family firms? What do you do when you really are a proper truck spotter? What do you do to satisfy your romance with the open road?……. Got it! Early retirement, but a pad in southern Spain and insist on driving out. Yes the life we’d all like to live but most of us aren’t quite there yet!

The thought of driving out to my holiday home in Spain would be a pleasure especially when it would mean a drive from north to south and being free enough to stop off as and when you want too. This particular trip is the regular route of a certain GW who has well and truly earned his little Oasis in the Spanish sun. None of this Dover Calais lark this time round, the much preferred and slightly more enjoyable boat from Portsmouth to Bilbao with Brittany Ferries is a great way to start. The first bit of truck spotting starts as you pull in the dock at Portsmouth and you’re greeted by a very clean and tidy Jan De Rijk, with a very well sheeted load. A nice race transporter being pulled by the ever posthumously popular Renault Magnum. A truck that seems to be gaining popularity now that we don’t see many about. Onto the boat and a beautiful sunset to finish the day off.

Arrival in Bilbao sees a dock filled with LKW Walter trailers and a quick fill up sees a tidy 6×4 Globetrotter with a double stack of 4 axle trailers. Right up GW’s straße! The route from the UK and Bilbao is loosely; Portsmouth, Bilbao, Burgos, Madrid, Albacete, Murcia and finally onto Mi Casa. Day 2 ended south east of Madrid. Plenty of abnormal loads on the move, with a lot of LASO transport moving various wind turbine parts.

Along the way nearing the end of the journey, there was a quick stop made at a Salón del camión Español at Torre-Pacheco near Cartagena. A gathering like this is a gem of a find and looks like a decent show. From the pictures I think it is fairly obvious that the Spanish have quite a thing for Volvo’s and with more than a couple of decent examples on show, a classic Volvo in concours condition is not uncommon.

The romance of the open road. If you’ve had a lifetime (how ever long that’s been so far!) in transport, no matter what anyone says, it never seems to leave us. GW you are more than welcome to update us on the homeward bound leg whenever that may be.

Mystery DAF in the Dock

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So my good pal who many of you will know by various names, Mat Ireland, needs a little help with a mystery DAF 3300. Spotted many moons ago in Felixstowe dock, this DAF was never seen again, by May anyway. Clearly an owner driver or small haulier, with a cab covered in murals of well clothed ladies, some extra lights and generally a great looking truck. Not to mention seen here pulling a trailer from one of the best trailer companies there is (I may be a little biased!), Continental Cargo Carriers.

As you can see there is just a chance that it’s still sat somewhere in the UK, since January 1998, as no export market given, but that isn’t always correct. Was still listed as blue, was on the road for 13 years and judging by the date the tax expired it had been taxed for 12 months every year. That’s about all that my Columbo skills can tell me. I am sure that someone somewhere will know the truck straight away and be able to give a name, to help Mat get some sleep at night. Has anyway got any other photos? Did you own it at some point? Any info greatly received, so please leave comments or contact me.

Trucks of The Year 2021

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It’s been another funny old year and I haven’t actually done many shows sadly. There have been plenty of new trucks about despite the various cancellations and seemingly endless restrictions, and a lot of shows were still able to go ahead as they were outside. My annual trip to a foreign show was once again put on hold, but hopefully next year I can take my own truck abroad for the first time since UJN 509V back in 2009! Anyway I digress. Trucks of Year really comes following the week in trucks idea, which despite contrary belief first came about on TB and not elsewhere. I wanted to point out a few stand out trucks for me this year in the hope you will all share photos of some of your favourites too in the comments below.

I’ll start with Coles & Sons New Old Skool. Coles never disappoint and they really are no show ponies, they spend a lot of time abroad and do a lot of high profile work. For me I found this truck to take Coles back to their roots and back to the family business colours, but at the same time wowing us all as always. Just for info the Coles & Sons page released the first photos and videos of the truck back in January this year and have since had over half a million views, most of which came in the first week.

Next one worth a mention is this Volvo FH V1 restoration my Bert De Mooij and Bert De Mooij. I love the Retro Truck Show in September and for me this truck is 100% what it’s all about. The retro trucking scene is for trucks that have been restored and put into the glory of years gone by, perhaps with a modern twist. If we cast ourselves back to 1993 when Volvo launched the version 1 FH, this truck would have been spot on for a Dutch flower truck. Not over the top by any means, just clever use of paint (of course it’s Dutch!) and a few accessories that are easily accepted as being period. It looks spot on for me, love it.

©️Tim Andrew

Next a couple of personal favourites. The above Actros Edition 2 special Edition with all the boxes ticked is an amazing truck. Once again MB Trucks are pioneering the way with technology, which whether you like it or not is coming now the majority of manufacturers are now copying and offering similar. This Actros is my favourite new truck delivery of the year. Everyone loves new truck day, but perhaps because of how passionate Wilkin & Sons are about Mercs or perhaps because it was the first Edition 2 on the road in the UK, for me my favourite work related truck.

Next up…. The Gr814. My own truck, bought and imported from Germany in February. I love little sleeper cabs, I love mini tractor units and when I bought my first truck in 1997 I couldn’t afford an 814! This has had two owners since 1989 and has done a genuine 260,000km from new. It has nearly all the available factory options from the time, which really just leaves me only to do a little titivating and then hopefully get it painted before 2022’s show season.

Next a proper big hitter and a worthy truck of the year mention. This DAF by Paul Cecil is simply awesome. Even if you’re not a DAF fan, or a fan or green trucks you have to appreciate this Gloucestershire beauty. I don’t know Paul too well but we have the odd chat and I remember a few years back at Assen, Paul saying the truck was in build and was having a few paint issues, but those have all been overcome and the result I’m sure is exactly what Paul and family were after. One thing to remember is that building a show winner takes time and patience people. That said it is a hard working truck, it covers all of Europe on a regular basis and is cleaner than nearly any other truck you’ll see. It is also clearly appreciated by the European show circuit too, picking up trophies at both the Nordic Trophy and the Powertruck Show in its first year. Well done Paul.

Attention to detail.

For me I think this is my truck of the year 2021. A boy hood dream and poster truck for lots of us. I have been doing the Centurion list with Richard Payne and hopeful of getting a publisher for ‘22, but finding out this truck was being restored back to its original glory and then seeing her in September will take some beating. I have spoken to Michael Taylor during the restoration and was also privy to seeing the artwork being done by Matt during the painting process. I have even spoken to John Philips and he is over the moon with it too. The truck is as good as I’d hoped, the attention to detail is everywhere. Note the Keltruck mudflap’s have the 1991 phone number not the current one. I also love the artwork, we all know Matt is a true artist and should be recognised in the art world for his masterpieces. I also like that the artwork is a modern take on the original, as in the images aren’t quite as they were in 1991 but are Matts take on them. A real dream truck for me and once again well done to Michael and all involved, I really look forward to seeing again in 2022. They say you shouldn’t meet your hero’s…… certainly not trucking true in this case.

My son took my picture next to the truck I had on my wall as a boy.

Claudia is Back!

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Briefly! I managed to log back in to a very old email account, that to be honest I thought was somewhat obsolete. I found an old folder full of old picture messages I had emailed myself, while out and about in my truck around the UK and Northern Europe. Long before the days of doing everything on our phones we had to keep things simple and send photos via email rather than download, upload, ping, Tweet, Facebook, MySpace or what ever else you can do these days.

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I think I have seen them before and perhaps I should have been bothered to look through my Flickr photos to see if I have them already as they do look familiar. Not to worry though as these were very happy days and we all love a blast from the past. Even though these were 2004-2007 I can remember where they were all taken as I’m sure we all can, funny how I can remember everywhere I’ve loaded but struggle to remember the neighbours names!

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So starting from the top, photos as follows;

1) Boughey Distribution in Deeside. A full load of detergents. Bloomin heavy but a good tip and would happily tip you early if they could. Shower available.

2) Although I can’t remember the name, this was the big roll place on Trafford park. Loading 5x 1 ton toilet rolls. A great load once it was on although usually had to wait a fair while to get loaded. What’s the name of the place people?!

3) Unloading a full load of scaffold boards at Beaver 84 near Small Heath, Birmingham. I remember loading this myself out at Wurselen, Germany. The Germans weren’t impressed that I wouldn’t load dripping wet timber to the roof at the front of the trailer as it meant leaving 2 packs off.

4) Parked up solo outside my sisters old house, no idea why or what the occasion was though, Claudia had a shine on though.

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