All sorts heading for Truckfest this weekend. Might be a few worth seeing this year, seems there are a few new trucks out and about and I’m sure there will be plenty of New Volvos to look at as it’s their first real year on the road. I’ll be popping along tomorrow to have a quick look about. Hopefully I’ll be able to wear the TB Tshirt so say hello if you see me, I’ll have some wrist bands to give out hopefully.
Thanks CR!
Possibly the finest show with the finest trucks from Europe. A small but perfectly formed show. It’s on my list for 2015.
If you need the weakest excuse ever to go to the possibly the best truckshow in Europe, then you need to go so you can your hands on this delightful WSI model. The model is being released in collaboration with Truckstar. They produce an official 1/50 scale model each year, this year it is a Mercedes Benz Actros Big Space rigid, with a very tidy matching 3 axle frigo drawbar trailer. The WSI website says;
“The 6×2 truck features a tag axel and built-in cooling engine underneath. The chassis has been closed up completely. The trailer has 3 axles and also has a completely closed chassis with storage boxes and a Thermoking cooling engine at the front. The model comes in the colour combination white and orange.”
If you want to get one of the models then you can either pre-order on the WSI website from next week or you can get yourselves to the Netherlands for the last weekend of July. Having now been to Truckstar Festival twice now, I still can’t quite put into words quite how much I like it! Top trucks from all over Europe and a typical relaxed Dutch atmosphere and all without any hi-viz wearing Stewards or health and safety officers trying to make the show about them. Just awesome if you a real true truck nut.
Held at the Assen TT Race Circuit, just out side of the northern Dutch town of Assen, the Truckstar Festival is well worth a weekend visit. The dates for your diary are 26th & 27th July and I suggest you charge your camera’s and for those of you who are old enough charge your beer arm as the Dutch are a hospitable bunch. If your slightly smaller and not old enough try to persuade your parents to let you take your roller skates of even a bike, there can be a lot of walking if you want to see all 2200+ trucks! My trusty drinking truck driving partner Mr James Cartwright will be heading over to Assen by one way or another, hopefully by truck but if not car will have to do, at least if we go by car we might be able to find a supermarket that sells that amazing Dutch curry sauce. Other than that I will have to be-friend yet another Dutchman so I can recharge my camera as I usually use a full battery each day.
Some bloke called Freddie Mercury once sang:
“One man one goal one mission
One heart one goal just one solution
One flash of light yeah many Griffins One Vision”
Ok, so I changed a couple of words, but never did our Freddie realise that this was the perfect description of one Mr Rob Bilman and his vision of a Scania only show. It perfectly sums up Rob’s idea of a Scania only get together. A show for those who are fans of the Griffin both drivers and fans alike. The idea was that the 2013 show need to have a few more trucks than the 35-ish that attended the 2012 gathering. On the big day there were 118 confirmed trucks, but sadly a few pulled out and the final figure was 108 Scania’s all in the same place at the same time. What was also nice was that it wasn’t just the big V8’s that turned up, Scania 110, 111, 141, 112, 142, 113, 143 and of course many more modern motors were all present at the Ipswich based gathering. Next year surely we could get 200??
The show started on Saturday and ran through to Sunday afternoon. Saturday was supposed to be the arrival day and Sunday the public show day, but there were plenty of people have a look round on both days. I was due to go with a tasty Tcab but a last-minute change meant I had to ask a favour and took a mighty fine 143 from NC Cammack. I have to say that I was more than happy to take the 143 as a replacement, but all it has done has made me realise that I need a 143 in my life all the time. This also wasn’t helped by finding out that my favourite 143 at the show was for sale. Some of you won’t be shocked to hear that my wallet stayed in my pocket. Thanks Jim Cammack for the truck and I’m glad I took it as it got plenty of interest.
The show was broken down into series categories as well as best working truck and best fleet and a few others. Acting as Truckblog I sponsored the “Best 3 Series” category as this was the series I dreamed of owning as a schoolboy and also what I still dream of owning now! Due to yet another change of circumstances I judged the trucks myself. Now you would think judging 13 trucks would be pretty easy……. How wrong was I!! The judging guidelines were to choose the truck that I thought most deserved the prize, again not as easy as it sounds. I wasn’t swayed too much by cleanliness but in the end it did come down to one being shinier than the other. Unlike Truckfest (from what people say!!) I wasn’t bribed in any way, although Richard Payne and Dion Anderson deserve medals for their competitiveness, in my head I awarded them joint 3rd place. Richard Paynes 143 is just delightful and a true work of love. Richard also earned extra points for the authentic stickers and beer crates and also earned an extra point for the wicked Twin Trucker aerials mounted on the roof rack.
Dion Andersons fully restored 113 Centurion is pure class. I think next year there should be a new class at the show for “Most Authentic Restoration”, in my book this truck would be a clear winner. Replicated maroon and gold Centurion stripes, grill badges, seat covers, it was all there and should be applauded. I even donated a photo of the original truck that I took at Silverstone when the truck was brand new.
2nd place went to the gorgeous blue and black Streamline M504 RRN, sorry not sure who the owner was. If I could own a Streamline I think this would be the one. I love the colours, and customisation, it’s just right in my book, a stunning truck and some gorgeous side pipes earned extra points. The only reason finally decided that this truck was 2nd in class was purely that it wasn’t quite as clean as the winner, other than that this was my personal favourite. Now where’s my wallet……
The winner of “Best 3 Series” was this show-room finished 143 450 Streamline that had come all the way from Scotland for the weekend. The truck is owned by Craig of Denny and is Super dooper clean and tidy. In fact it is in virtually new condition. Looking round the chassis and the cab it was just perfect and to me just looked like the perfect show room ready 3 series Scania. Although the black and blue 143 was my favourite, N40 COD was just straight and as clean can be. As a bit of a show goer myself I just felt I had to award the trophy to this truck as it was “as new” in my book a real credit to the owners, this could have brand new back in the late 1990’s the way the truck was. Spot on.
All in all my top 4 trucks could have all been the winner and it was massively difficult to choose just 1. Well done to all that I judged and I look forward to picking next years Best 3 Series.
This blue 142 summed up the show. Not glamorous, not ultra shiny covered chrome, just a well-loved Scania. The whole idea behind the show was for people who love their Scania’s……job done. For those who didn’t go you must put it in your diary for next year. A delightful little show that is organised purely and simply for the love of the trucks. Rob Bilman and Michelle Lines deserve a round of applause for organising such a great weekend. I hope next year I can find a truck to take and take part once again, in what can only be described as a true truck show. The whole weekend was rounded up and finished off with a huge convoy down the A14 with all 108 trucks taking to the road. In some ways it was a pity we weren’t in one continuous line but hey ho it certainly didn’t matter to me.
Bring on GOTG 2014!!
Click HERE to see the rest of my photos.
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This weekend will see the 2nd running of The Gathering of The Griffin show at the Orwell Truckstop at Ipswich. A bit of a one-off type of show as all the entered trucks are Scania, its a Scania only show (as i’m sure you’ve all worked out!). The organisers started the quest this year hoping for a few more trucks than the first show last year. So anything over 40 trucks would have done. I said we can make 100 trucks as it turns out I think if space had allowed at the venue, we could have ended up with nearer 200 trucks!! As it stands there are 118 confirmed entries, so if you have entered please please make sure you turn up.
The man behind the show, Rob Bilman, is over the moon with the interest and the amount of entries. I have been lucky enough to see the list of entries and it is really rather impressive. Sadly only one “0” series will be present, but there are plenty of “1”, “2”, “3”, “4” and R series. A few familiar trucks and loads of not so familiar, plenty to look at and enjoy whether you are a Scania fan or just a truck fan in general.
This is the basic set up for the weekend:
Trades Stands
Speedbird Promotions, Truckmax, Bailey Truckparts, CDC, Autosmart and Truckeast / Scania.
Truck Arrivals
Some expected Friday or 9am Saturday till 18.30hrs
Saturday Evening
Organisers opening address 19.30, in the bar. Just a hello, few thank you’s, outline of Sundays events. 20.00. Lighting up time!!!! ideal for photos. We have arranged for a 17metre cherry picker, let’s get up high for some aerial shots!!! 🙂
Sunday
More truck arrivals from 7.30am All trucks and trades should be on site by 9am. Official opening at 9am. No ceremony, just go with the flow. The boys from Felixstowe radio, fresh gold providing entertainment, some live singers, chit-chat with exhibitors and visitors.
1400-1500. Judging results and presentations. Everyone one is a winner with this show!! Thank you’s.
Convoy Debrief
Trucks may start moving after 16.00, truck convoy depart 16.30. Some may return to site after the run thru to Copdock Interchange.
I’m judging the Best 3 Series class so I hope to see you all there on Sunday. It’ll be a good day and a unique chance to see so many Scania’s all together in one place, the convoy at the end should be equally as impressive. Come along, bring the family, bring the camera and hopefully leave the umbrella in the car!!
I’d not been before, so it took very little persuation for the wife to spend the weekend with her favourite aunt and the kiddie winkles and I got to spend the sunday 10 miles down the road at the Retro Truck Show at the Heritage Motor museum in Gaydon. What a thoughtful husband I am.
The criteria for the show is that all entries must be no newer than the year 2000 (except for a few stunners, like Parkers new Volvo, a couple of Coles & Sons and a delightful Scania from Shaun Burton). Being born in 1979 all my childhood dream trucks were from the 80’s and 90’s so the turn out was just perfect. 1, 2 and 3 series Scania’s obviously, Volvo F’s and a good smattering of good old Brits!
Now for all you non-British people when it comes to British trucks you either love ERF’s or you hate ERF’s. I have to say that I have always had a soft spot for an ERF as I did grow up driving them at my Dad’s work and much like a first girlfriend you tend to always rather like them! There was an ERF club present, so if you like ERF’s then read on and enjoy the pics, if you hate them then please close your eyes and proceed to the next bit.
And as for the Seddon Atkinsons (the 1st truck I ever truly drove on my own) this Strato was as retro as it gets and summed up the show. If its retro and its your pride and joy bring it along!
There were a few trucks from across the channel including these 2 Germans. I can’t tell you who’s they are as I have no idea! But they were so well detailed for a life on the roads to the Middle East. Including the palm leaves on the grill, to the stickers, the Arabic writing and, and the big chunky desert friendly tyres. They really were bang on. I guess it was helped by the fact they hadn’t been washed and polished so they were just road dirty. Congratulations to the owner/owners for making them so authentic.
In the Volvo corner I had to get a photo of Bob Carmichaels still working, 1973 Volvo F88. Yes that’s right she has been working for 40 years!! I know I always put Scania stuff on here but I do like a Volvo and I especially like a Scottish Volvo as the Tartan paint jobs and tradition liveries always seemed to suit the square cab of an F10 or F12. The perfect example being Alex Andersons F10. Very tidy. It made for a nice line up actually, Andersons F89, F10 and brand new FH. Quite a difference between the F89 and the new FH I can tell you.
No that last photo wasn’t taken 30 years ago on the road to Saudi. I was pleased to see Swains wagon and drag their as I hadn’t seen it in the flesh. A real classic euro set up, with the drag trailer, snow chains and a big power engine to help climb those mountains.
All in all for the 350ish trucks that were on display the show is well worth a visit next year. I certainly hope to go again. I think it’s easy to forget how popular and common these trucks were and it was really good to see plenty of them being restored to their former glory. Long may the mass restoration continue, I just hope there is a 3 series Scania Streamline tag axle for me when I can finally afford to buy another big boys toy. Saying that I wouldn’t mind a flat front 143 if it was anything like Darren Griffins mighty fine example. For me this was best in show (closely followed by John Andrews F88). So simple but oh so smart.
To see all my photos from Gaydon, please click HERE.
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Delivery point in Birmingham. Backed in to the site next to a foreign tilt who had all the small parts and sundries for the transformer installation. Hopefully that won’t take long.
Next up the crane gets in position to lift off the 15,000kg Transformer Radiator. Hopefully it won’t take long then James and EGV 565T can get on the road to Gaydon and James can give the truck one of his famous polishes!!
I went to the Mecca of all truck shows and came home and the blog promptly crashed and I’ve been unable to write anything about it on the blog….until now. I finished work on the Thursday evening and hot footed it up to my old work to pick up my truck for the weekend, I had the 141 and my wingman for the weekend was Mr James Cartwright who took the slightly more comfortable 143. Any way we loaded up the trucks and headed off to Harwich for the evening cruise to the Netherlands. Very enjoyable it was too. When we arrived at Harwich we had to put on our yellow vests incase we got run over, then follow the yellow lines to the check in. Then the jobs-worth on the desk bluntly refused to let us buy Vignette for 2 trucks on one DKV card! Idiot. It seemed that we were not the only ones heading out on Thursday night as we were soon joined by Doyles amazing 8×4 Scania tipper and a well lit tractor unit also from Doyles.
I think in this little write up I’ll concentrate on the show as a whole weekend away and then i’ll do some truck based write ups in the next couple of weeks, just to drag it out a bit. So once off the Stenaline boat in Hoek and we popped round to the Tekno museum. As the museum is only open to the public on Saturdays we were pushing our luck a bit, but as the Dutch are clearly the best hosts in Europe the lady on reception said yes come on in. It was either that we said we’d come all the way from England or it was James good looks that got us in! The Tekno museum is a must for any of you model collectors. They have 1 of every model they have ever made on display and also a small selection of models for sale. I managed to found a very familiar Scania 141 model on display……
Anyway off we went north up through Holland to Assen. Just over 3 hours and plenty of heavy heavy rain we got to the Assen TT Race Circuit. Plenty of waving and hooting as we got closer. That’s when you really begin to realise that it is only the UK that treat trucks and their drivers like scum. In Holland we were treated like true professionals and James and myself tried to keep up to the expectations! When we finally arrived the rain was just clearing, having followed us the whole way up from Rotterdam. We reached the check in trailer and were greeted by a very happy and very soggy Dutch women who was happy to see us and give us all our wrist bands and bits before pointing us in the direction of the track. The old-timer section of the show is in the pit area on the inside of the track, so you have to drop down and through a tunnel under the track. The path through the tunnel is always lined with people taking pics and listening to the engine noises! So an obligatory honk of the horn and I floored the old V8 through the tunnel. She may be 30+ years old but EGV 565T still sounds awesome. In my opinion the raw-ness of the 1 and 2 series V8 Scanias is unbeatable. It wasn’t til we arrived at the parking area that we found out James in N500 HCW was actually booked in to the heavy transport class so would be parked slightly further along. I asked if we could park together and with a call on the radio and a “no problemsch” reply they parked EGV and N500 side by side. We got out the cabs and instantly melted in the humidity, unfortunately this stayed for most of the weekend. The little tin cab of the 141 gets rather warm, for those you haven’t had a night out in one. Best thing to do is open all windows and sun roof, and just lay very still, the cab gets very hot during the day! The parking area so filled up with some amazing old-timers including a couple of great Irish trucks. One from the lovely old brothers from Mackin International (after a few beers the stories of the golden days of Irish trucking were soon flowing!) and also the well worked but still legendary Astran 143.
The rest of the day was spent wandering round looking at all the trucks arriving. Due to lovely lack of Health and safety and men in hi-viz vests thinking they are GOD, I nearly got a Peterbilt in the back. I was taking a photo one way when James told me I better turn round, this is what I was greeted with….
…he was busy reversing into his parking space. No one telling us to move or closing the lane. In Holland I think the UK’s over the top Health and Safety culture is replaced with some thing called common sense. It was there all weekend, or not if you like. You are left to your own devices and what a refreshing change it is. Now to James and myself watching trucks with a few beers is like watching game of football. So we spent Friday evening sat in the main stand on the pit straight watching all the trucks. Before it got too busy all the drivers were waiting at the bottom of the straight, letting it clear before letting rip and roaring up the pit straight. I think this was best summed up with 2 awesome Scanias from French operator STH. The big brown Longline keep steaming up the straight followed by the red Tcab. The red Tcab was like an over excited dog chasing their owner, although i’d much rather hear the V8 roar than the yap yap of a little dog any day. The following pics were taken on the straight up to about 2300hrs, when the straight was still full of trucks arriving and waiting to be parked up round the circuit.
While we were sat watching the evenings arrivals it was pouring with rain and a thunderstorm was busy rumbling away. While the storm was busy flashing and banging we noticed that Mammoet had been busy setting up their mobile cranes, only in Holland!
The love of trucksl goes on and each night at the show, all the trucks are ticking over with all the lights on for all to enjoy. A great time for taking night shots. I had a few tips on how to best use my camera and hopefully you’ll agree that they aren’t too bad either. If you want truck doors opened or closed you just ask and the drivers oblige, people walking round see your taking a photo on a tripod and they either stop and watch, take their own photos or walk round you. If you ever feel like a bit of a plank in the UK for taking truck photos, in Holland you don’t. Its normal.
I could post them all up here, but I took some thing like 900 photos all in all. The show is just amazing it really is. If you’ve never been before you have to go. Even better if you can enter a truck and spend the weekend there. Over the weekend we just wandered, watched and drank (sensibly of cause children!) and enjoyed the great hospitality on offer. Including a BBQ and beersch all night on Saturday all for €15. This was all thanks to Arie Spaansen and Anton Brouwer. Mr Brouwer has a drop body that opens up to be a V8 Scania bar and that’s where we spent our night. Listening to what can only be described as the amazing taste in music the Dutch have and the intermittent playing of a V8 Scania sound effect that made the ground rumble. Awesome. Brouwers gorgeous Scania 140 rigid.
What a great view for a BBQ…..
Any way I think you get the idea just what a great weekend the Truckstar Festival is. Over the next few weeks I will put some more photos and blogs up to show you what there was. Really there is just too much to put up here, even this blog has taken over 2 hours to put up. I’ll leave you know, but if you want to see all my photos from the weekend then please click: HERE
! week to go until I finally go back to Truckstar Festival Assen in the Netherlands. I went way back in 2009 and have been trying to go back ever since. Why? Well if you ever went then I can almost guarantee you, you wouldn’t enjoy Truckfest ever again. For me Truckstar is my Mecca! It’s just trucks, trucks, trucks and perhaps a few trucks on the side. No crappy stalls selling chunky garden furniture or stalls selling binoculars and telescopes, it is just a TRUCK show, take note Live promotions!
This time around I will be taking HC Wilsons Scania 141, yes thank you and yes I am a lucky bugger. Off on next Thursday night Stenaline boat from Harwich to the Hoek of Holland, then a quick trip to the Tekno model factory, followed by a steady drive up to Assen in the north of Holland. That’s about it really, I have no idea how but I will try and update the blog, or the blog Facebook page from my phone or even the TB Twitter if I can. If you see a odd looking chap with a Tin Tin haircut and a TB T-shirt, it’ll probably be me, so please say hello. Other than that I hope I can update you, although my updates just won’t do the show justice. If you really are a truck lover then you must make the effort and go to this show at some point in your life. These pics here are just a few from my trip in 2009, but to see the rest just click HERE.
Finally a pic of my beloved Scania 141, that made my 1st trip to Assen just awesome. I still miss the truck but hopefully one day I can return to Assen with another classic V8, yea one day there will be another!
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