We took the Volvo and the 1418 Benz to the Hunter Valley Vintage Truck Muster, held on May 14 & 15 at the old Pelaw Main coal mine at Kurri Kurri in New South Wales. The event was organised by the Hunter Valley Classic Commercial Vehicle Club. It was perfect weather and we had a great time. The highlight of the show was the fact that for the first time ever Volvos outnumbered Kenworths, in fact Benzs also outnumbered Kenworths. The total European truck count was a massive ten! This was a show where English and European trucks dominated. In this post I will show you the European and English trucks and in the next post the American trucks. I will start off with our 1976 N1025 Volvo and our 38ft Freighter trailer.
Our 1974 1418 Benz on the Freighter trailer.
It's a beautiful sight. We bought the Benz in June 2007 and this was it's first trip, since it left the paint shop. The green is the original Nestles colour. It was painted up by Robbie at Victorian Truck Painting in Dandenong South. If you want a good painter, then he's the one.
There were four other historic Volvos on display - it was very exciting as we are usually the only one. There was also a flash new 600hp model.
This is the F86, the earliest Volvo model in Australia. The truck below, owned by Steve King, is a later model F86.
This is an F88 model and the green one below is a F7. For more information on Volvo trucks click here to go to the Australian Volvo Truck Heritage Group web site.
A Thornycroft and a Leyland.
Smiths was a local carrier and the fleet has been saved by HVCCVC members. The trucks made a great display.
Andrew Blacklock's Scammell.
Morris Commercial. It's cute, isn't it?.
A Leyland, another Smith's truck.
Frank La Torre's Foden, a familiar sight to those who frequent historic truck shows in Victoria. It's painted Boral colours.
Above and below, two neat Commers.
There were four other Benzs apart from ours. Above and below are 1924 models.
A 1419, above, also once part of the Smiths group and a 1418 below, owned by Ian Bartholomew.
Bedfords - a pair of TKs above and a neat little red one, below.
Another familiar sight on the historic truck circuit - David Horne's 1934 British Bedford. He drove it all the way up from Croydon in Melbourne and it doesn't even have any glass in the windows.
A trio of Austins.
A duo of Atkinsons, above and below.
There were three Albions on display (above and below)
A 1912 Albion, above. How fabulous is that paint job?
If you are a fan of AECs then this was the show for you. There are five in the line-up, above. 
AEC Mammoth Major, above.
A 1964 AEC Mandator.
AEC Matador, above, and a Mammoth Major, below.
Lastly, another Smiths vehicle, a Monarch Mark VI. Click here to see all the American trucks on display.
The red and green AEC mammoth majors are from a batch of three, verified by builders sheets and consecutive chassis numbers. At the show a gentleman introduced himself as the person who unpacked all three from the crate in 1950. They were new to R W Brown, Newcastle, fitted with tmber framed sleeper caps and 26' trays for interstate work. Some years later two were converted to tippers with locally built steel cabs. All three stayed with RW Brown until their retirement around 1990. The location of the 3rd truck is not known.
ReplyDeleteWow! I love seeing old trucks given a life life! They are spectacular!
ReplyDeletecan anyone supply some info on 1419 benz trucks ie hand books date of release in aust known faults benz truck clubs etc
ReplyDeleteBurnsie
Unreal, My Dad used to Drive for NHT.. he used to drive AEC Matador mostly, but would Drive the 1964 Mandator at Times..Berings back a Shitload of Memories.. Great to see them again after 50 years or so.
ReplyDeleteYour dad would’ve known my grandfather, Clarrie Foster
DeleteThank you for reading my blog!
ReplyDeleteCan someone tell me who restored the old AEC's. The ones together with red NHT. etc..
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know where the NHT AEC 1964 Mandator lives??? I spent so much of my childhood in it!!
ReplyDelete