Merry Christmas Bloggers!!
Reply
Category Archives: Volvo
The Trucks of Steve Jenkins
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.
Trucks of The Year 2021
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.
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.
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.
Moodys Mediterranean Magic
He’s done it before and he’ll probably do it again, Mr Moody has created another belter in his own colours. Remember the 143??
This Volvo F12 had lived a life in the Mediterranean and was looking for a new owner after a good service for its Sicilian owners. MM was tipped off about the truck and soon enough she was on her way to Grimsby.
A number of months and a lot of £’s later and the end result is just perfecto! The angle in the photo above is much the same as looking at your favourite pin up on a centre page spread, it just looks absolutely spot on, it’s that good I’m not sure I’d show my mother!
Built in 1987 the truck is one of the last of the F series off the production line, before the launch of the FH. She’s got 385bhp and a 12 speed manual box, with the best gear stick you’ll ever find in a truck! Truck restorers please note how much of a difference it makes to the truck if you use period parts, look at the small hole wheels!
Not content with making the rust free exterior look like a million dollars, the interior has been given a freshen up and looks as box fresh as it can be. It looks like a copy of the Volvo brochure, not a lot wrong with it in my head. Well done Mick and the team, I look forward to the next one! The question you’ll walk asking while reading has the following answer; Yes it will be at some point but it’ll be up for at least half the price of a brand new one and some!!
Watching Paint Dry
Hopefully I’m going to pass you all a little one of Jaimes Golden Nuggets that has taken me 23 years in the industry to come across and quite frankly I think it is spot on! You know how it is, we all have a good knowledge of our day to day jobs and we all have own thoughts on what current fashions and styles suit our favourite trucks. Some trucks suit a tag axle, some suit 4x air horns, some suit a bull bar and more and more need to be painted over and above factory paint to hide the increased of plastics that help with air flow and fuel returns. So if we dwell a little on that last point, this is where the Golden Nugget comes in and I’m hoping some of you will go “oh yea, I never thought about that” or perhaps “I knew that already you bell….”.
This week I was chatting to Nipper MacClean from MTS Restorations and he be the font of this little gem of info. Well he is having spoken to wise Dutchman a few years ago and we all know the Dutch know how to style a good looking truck. Over to Nipper;
“As the wise Dutch man who I spoke to in Holland a few times said, something we all perhaps look at but never notice, is that a truck really works well with 3 paint colours. Anymore usually looks cluttered, but he did say that on an odd occasion 4 works, but when it does black will usually be one of the 4 colours.”
The more I think about it, the more it seems to be bang on. 1 or 2 paint colours would be classed as less is more these days which is still mega smart, but when you look at the 4 trucks above they are all sticking to the 3 colour rule and look just plain awesome! All that said I can also see the 4 colour rule as long as it includes black as one of the 4. A few example below easily back it up, 3 bright colours and black works pretty well don’t you agree?!
The Danish Globetrotter is worthy of another photo as I thought it was one of the best looking trucks at Truckstar 2019 and it is clearly the rule of black 4. Red, white and blue with a hefty amount of black but I think it looks fine and I’m not the biggest Volvo fan.
Who feels like they might just have learnt a little something that will probably be of any use??? You? You? And you? Yep I’ve got my hand up as well. I’ll leave you with a photo of Nipper’s own 4 series. This was painted specifically to test the rule of 3 and once again you can see that it works and works very well indeed!
C390 BBU – Volvo F10
Asking for a friend…. We need some help and more info on the life of a Volvo F10 with the registration number C390 BBU please. It’s current owner and restorer thinks that it used to be on for Kammac’s although we don’t have pictorial evidence. The photo of C390 BBU above suggests that the livery may have once part of the Kammac fleet if you look at the fleet colours in the photo below. Not exactly identical but that is because the photo above is when the truck was part of the Applegate Rental fleet. At the time the above photo was taken in 1990, she was 5 years old. The current owner has spoken to various people and it is thought that the truck wasn’t new when it joined Applegate. Can anyone confirm if this was a Kammac truck or not please?
We are trying to find out the vehicles heritage hence the questions. As all classic truck owners know, it’s nice to know the life of your vehicle. The most important thing to know is of course who had it from new, so if any of you bloggers know anyone who was part of the Kammac fleet or set up, can you see what you can find out please and report back.
As you can see the truck is getting the full treatment and has had a full, proper full, ground up restoration. I have to say that the quality of the work in this is tip top and a credit to the skill of the current owner. Nothing left or ignored, striped right back to the chassis rails and started again. The engine had the same treatment and now looks like new, someone at Volvo Trucks UK should be getting excited about this one!
Please let me know by email or comment below if you know anything about the life of this truck. Thank you bloggers!
BeeDee & Road Route Ltd
Funny how you get talking to folk. I first spoke to Dylan Wren about a truck he was looking to buy, then we crossed paths again recently as he is an ex Centurion owner (#067). It took a little while for all the cigs to work but we soon realised we had spoken before. Having had a few text chats and a few telephone chats now, I could sit and listen to Dylan all day, plenty of tales from a long life transport and soon to be back in it too. Having sifted through 1000’s of photos, Dylan sent me a few over from where he started and where he ended up. Always great to see those who started on a 7.5 tonner, not quite a #littlebigcabclub member but at least he had the big trucker flags in the windscreen!
“Hello Ben its Dylan here found some serious memories today. My first truck D371DFA a Ford Cargo 31 years ago. Also you can see G930FSM a blue Volvo F12 on the net asking who owned it, we did. It’s on the net now in Stobart colours looks fab. From Bee Dee I changed it to Road Route Ltd. Remember the big tanks I told you about? you can see them on N392FWT & N391FWT – 1550 litres on a tag axle.”
“So many memories, you can see my big red Scania Topline and the other big Scania F600FKH which I bought from DS Walker with an Estepe high roof conversion.”
Now Dylan doesn’t mind me saying so, as the demise of Road Route Ltd is on the internet and was the same demise as many hauliers from the same period who were busy trying to make money from a tough industry with ever rising costs. Anyway, I love old tales and one such story Dylan told me involved one of the tag axle Volvos, 3 men in the cab, including Dylan and a rather quick run to Spain. Over to Dylan….
“It was with N392FWT, one of the Volvo FH420 tag’s. A full load of extremely urgent parts to take to the SEAT factory at Barcelona. Their were 3 of us in the cab and we left the yard on Sunday and were back in the yard by Tuesday evening. Boat out and train back in. We tipped Barcelona and collected a return load of fruit from Perpignan back to Lincolnshire. Even had time to fill up in Belgium on the way back, 1000 litres plus!?”
Well I reckon that’s pretty good going, Yorkshire, Barcelona, Yorkshire in just over 48 hours. Now don’t all start making comments and saying it can’t be done. We all know back then, there were ways and means and plenty of you will have similar stories. Thanks to Dylan for sharing these photos and details, hopefully more photos to come judging by the amount of albums full of photos I know he has!
Those who are happy enough to tell us you crazy run stories please do, just keep them believable!
Retro Truck Show 2019 Vlog
Oh happy sunny days, when we could stay outside without drowning, when we could stand about all evening, enjoying a cool beer and a good yarn with other like minded folk, bring back the summer! The Retro Truck Show at Gaydon is still one of, if not the best Truck Show in the UK. This year was especially good, as I was able to take a beast of truck, in a convoy, with a V8 burbling away and smoke pouring out the stacks!
Myself in the 143 450 Streamline, James from HC Wilson in the 141 and Matt Ireland in the F16. Now there’s a convoy for the truck pervert! Although its not particularly good quality but the photo below is a sight for retro eyes, coming up the M40, probably how the M40 used to be with the Irish running between boats. I know we were spotted by a few, as there were various comments on social media over the show weekend about how people had seen such a great sight back on the UK motorways!
Anyway, my photo talents are sketchy at the best of times, but you can see the rest of my photos by clicking HERE – If this doesn’t float your boat, then have a watch of Matt’s little video of the weekend. Starting off with some convoy action from the drive up. A great afternoon and what a lucky bunch we are to have friends who will let us borrow these fine motors of yester-year. Just for the record I did realise that i am not one of those that gets fed up with the V8 growling through the open sun roof, even in the rain showers. Thanks again to all involved in a top weekend, you know who you are, thanks to Darren and his team for putting on another great show and thanks to all those who came with trucks. In my opinion the widest variety this year of different makes and models. If you have not been to the Retro show before, get yourselves along next year, or get yourself booked in with your retro motor. If you think yours isn’t up to standard or isn’t shiny enough, it really isn’t that kind of show. Those in, shall we say, “working” condition or those needing a little Tcut here and there get just as much attention as the show is full of enthusiasts.
SPECIAL EDITION TRIBUTE TRUCK FOR ADAMS TRANSPORT
Customised promotional model vehicle specialists, Search Impex, are pleased to announce the release of a 1:50 scale Volvo FH XL 25 Year Special Edition (6×2) truck with fridge trailer, customised in the new eye-catching livery of Northern Ireland based operator Adams Transport. The models have been produced exclusively for Search Impex by WSI Collectibles as a certificated Limited Edition (175 pieces).
Adams Transport took delivery of the Volvo FH 25 Year Special Edition (the first to be ordered by a Volvo customer) to commemorate the life of John Adams’ late wife, Gillian Marie, who sadly passed away in 2015. Dedicated to his wife’s memory, the unique new 25 Year Edition flagship truck is especially poignant to John – as 2019 would also have seen the couple’s 25th wedding anniversary. Based in the village of Armoy, Co Antrim, Adams Transport was established in 2007 by John Adams. With a passion for trucks from an early age, John had been driving rigid trucks since he was first legally able to do so and he quickly moved onto driving artics from the age of 21. After some years of driving for other companies, however, John found he was increasingly spending extended periods away from his wife and young family and so he began to think of ways of changing his lifestyle so he could spend more time with his family. With a view, therefore, to taking back control, he made the decision to set up on his own and so Adams Transport was born.
Sheer hard work and dedication, supported by a team of loyal staff, has seen the business grow solidly and successfully over the last 12 years. The Company specialises in the delivery of agricultural goods throughout Ireland, as well as undertaking general haulagework. With a fleet of 15 trucks (almost exclusively Volvo) and a similar number of trailers (a mix of fridges and curtains, plus one flat bed), Adams transport trucks can be seen regularly on the roads throughout Ireland and also over on the UK mainland – from Scotland down to the Midlands and beyond.
With the exception of the new flagship Volvo, the other trucks in the fleet run in Adams Transport’s smart corporate red livery. Thus far, fridge trailers have usually been plain, with livery applied just to the back doors – but all of that may soon be changing! The arrival of the new Volvo also led to a rethink about corporate branding and this resulted in a decisionto design a smart new trailer livery. The first fridge trailer in the new design will be arriving in the fleet very soon – so keep an eye out for it! When coupled with the Volvo 25 Years Special Edition truck, it will certainly make for a very classy combination.
Models, available from Search Impex, are priced at £149 each (including UK delivery & VAT). For details of availability of this and other models, collectors can visit the Search Impex website at www.search-impex.co.uk or call them on 01332 873 555.
BOWKER BEAUTY MARKS CENTENARY!
Customised promotional model vehicle specialists, Search Impex, are pleased to announce the release of a 1:50 scale Volvo FH Globetrotter (6×2) tractor unit with 3 axle, curtain trailer, customised in the eye-catching, centenary livery of W.H. Bowker Ltd. Produced exclusively for Search Impex by WSI Collectibles, the model is a certificated Limited Edition (205 pieces) and has been commissioned by Bowker to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2019. It is based on their real life Volvo FH units and curtain trailers bedecked in the special 100 years anniversary livery – two of which have recently joined the Bowker fleet.
W.H. Bowker Limited was established in 1919 in Blackburn – Lancashire, when William Bowker used his £75 war gratuity to buy his first vehicle. Hard work and sheer determination saw the business grow rapidly from its origins as a local haulier to become one of the UK’s leading transport specialists with a reputation for an innovative approach to the needs of industry. Expansion into European haulage came during the early 1960’s when UK manufacturers became increasingly successful in exporting their goods and Bowker saw the opportunity to introduce a reliable service to the Continent by conventional trailer. The first continental cargo movements began in December 1961 and continue to form an important part of the business.
Despite being one of the oldest UK companies specialising in national and international logistics, the business has most certainly kept pace with the times. Nowadays, Bowker runs a state of the art fleet comprising more than 160 vehicles (predominantly Volvo) and around 300 trailers and the Company also operates more than one million square feet of warehousing and storage at its seven sites across the UK.
Models, available from Search Impex, are priced at £149 each (including UK delivery & VAT). For details of availability of this and other models, collectors can visit the Search Impex website at www.search-impex.co.uk or call them on 01332 873 555.
www.truckblog.co.uk 