They're still out there! Lovely LAD.

Graham Kircher came across this wonderful Leyland Hippo in early March. Other than the 'cage' (for sugar cane?) she is pretty much a carbon-copy of the trucks my Pop used to run in Tasmania - even down to the colour! I know they're not everyone's favourite trucks but I love 'em.

Mack R700 follow-up

Rufus Carr from the Northern Territory is an absolute mine for classic photos of trucks - particularly those that were bombing around the NT in the 1970s. Naturally, he read Cam McFadyen's recent R700 round-up and, happily, he's dropped me a line with some great photos in response. Here's what he had to say:

The City Wreckers R700 was registered 126.298 (it's on the fuel card). She was Buntine's No.16 "Call of the Wild" although the name is not on it in these pics. Taken in Alice Springs in 1979 the truck is just back from a rebuild in Brisbane after a roll-over near Mt.Isa late in 1978. She is pulling two Gitsham bitumen tankers on contract to Shell Co. She was one of a pair owned by the company, the other was (un-named) No.14. There were two other similar Cummins R700s running in BRL colours. Both were owned by subbies. Number 20 was owned by Peter Deans and was mechanically the same as No. 14 & 16 but had the rare RP cab. Number 9,"The Gentle Giant" was owned by Jim McHours and differed slightly from the others in that she had Jim's favoured transmission - a 5x4 twin-stick Spicer.

Many thanks Rufo for these wonderful pics. It's great to make these historical links.

Photo challenge - Battling the elements

Below you'll find the entrants of the photo competition which ran till the end of March or thereabouts. Which one do you like best? The winner will receive a nice little gift in the mail direct from ACC's comprehensive pile of merchandise...

Votes please to accemagATbigpond.com - replacing the AT with @ as always. In no particular order:

Above: October 1962, Cora Lynn, Victoria - what looks like a Inter K-series is stuck in the Main Drain during flooding (seriously, she didn't just empty her tank...). Stuck or, er, pumping hard?! You can see the goal posts of the Cora Lynn football ground in the background.

Above: taken somewhere on the Darwin run, a Kenworth tests its tensile strength.

Above: fed up with the weather, these blokes decided to move to sunnier climes. This is Fraser's of Newcastle, well known house movers, making their Federal do all the work.

Above: a different take on battling the elements. What's left of this GM-powered White is fighting moisture on all fronts - soft ground, moss and rust. Good thing she's a tough old girl.

Above: another flood photo. An AEC of OAK Dairies in Hexham, NSW, is perhaps lucky it hasn't floated away yet.

Above: dateline - September 1979. Location - near Hugh River, Northern Territory. The truck - April 1979 Kenworth W923AR of Buntine Roadways. The load - a double-decker and two single-deck 40-footers loaded with cattle from Maryvale Station headed for the Alice Springs railhead. The elements - heat and bulldust.

Above: Esso, oh, oh, no! Probably losing this battle is what looks like a Bedford J-type on fire in February 1967 on Pitt Road, Vervale, Victoria. One suspects the tiger in the tank was a smoker...

Mack R700 = living history

Cam McFadyen has been bumping into R700s after a bit of a drought. Some recent travels have uncovered some gems. Here's what he found out:

I`ve always been a bit of a fan of the R700 Mack. After not seeing one for ages I spotted a blue and white one in a yard in Mackay back in January. Then Andy blogged Barry Kitto`s latest find in March and then on a recent trip to Darwin I came across ths red and white one owned by City Wreckers. The City Wreckers truck is ex-Buntine’s and is kept in top order. She’s still got the factory-fitted 350 Cummins, 12-speed Mack box and heavyweight back end. City Wreckers found an old Buntine’s fuel card when the truck was being painted and screwed it to the door for a memento – how’s that for a bit of history?! The blue and white one is also getting a freshen-up and is now in Victoria. I didn`t get a look to see which motor is in that truck though it looks like it would have come out with the V8 two-valve motor.

ANZAC Convoy deployment has begun

I've been keeping in irregular touch with a couple of the participants of the Lang Kidby-organised ANZAC Convoy. One of the trekkers is Karen Bracken who is also a contributor to ACC. She has just started a blog of the preparations for the convoy and it certainly looks the part - http://www.anzacconvoy.blogspot.com/

Above: a wonderful photo of Karen and Dale in December with their almost completed GMC.

Friends from Western Australia who we lived around the corner from - Jim and Sandy Sewell - are also attending in their stunning Blitz radio van. Their blog is at - http://sewellnormandy.blogspot.com/

Here's an article and photos Karen was kind enough to send through a short while ago.

The Lang Kidby-led expedition of 15 Australian World War II Vehicles is now a reality. With members’ airline tickets booked and containers shipped and a definite port/deport plan in place Lang says “things are coming along nicely.”

The convoy will leave Istanbul on 1st June 2009 travelling through Europe via Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France and Belgium. Their object will be to reach Etreham, France, on June 2 where they will join the British MVT group and participate in the activities associated with the 65th anniversary of the Normandy D Day landing by the Allied Forces on June 6, 1944. “As excitement grows, and the word gets around, the scale of the experience significance is overwhelming,” says Lang.

In mid-February, fifteen WWII vehicles were containerised and are on their way to Istanbul from NZ, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.

Expedition members carrying only their personal gear will then follow to help with the unloading and preparation of vehicles for the Anzac Military Convoy. “Hoops, tarps, bumpers and wheels are some of the items needing to be reinstalled and tyres will need to be pumped up. Once general maintenance is completed, then we’ll be ready to take to the road,” added Lang.

“Our first stop will be Gallipoli which will really emotionally stimulate those participants who haven’t been over before. Then south-westwards into Greece and Alexandropolis, Keramoti, Thessalonika, Volos, Athens and Piraeus. A visit to the Maleme war graves is a must.

“We’ll spend five days looking over the militarily significant island of Crete before departing from Patra by ferry for an overnight journey to Ancona. We’ll also spend a week in Italy traveling across the mountains from Florence via Pisa, Garlenda, Turin and Verbano, crossing the Swiss Alps via Seelisberg and onto Mulhouse in France, where, at Etreham, we’ll meet up with the (British) Military Vehicle Trust to participate in the Normandy activities [before] finally leaving Etreham to travel to the Australian National War Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and then preparing for our journey home from Zeebrugge, Belgium on June 12.

“I expect to cover 5,000 kms and with 30 days of travel this averages out at 160 kms per day.

“Putting the military significance of this trip aside, it is about relaxation and explorative sight seeing and the pace reflects this. After all, the unpredictability of traveling in these old vehicles goes without saying,” says Lang. “Members have done their best preparation-wise but deadlines are always stretched with the result that most vehicles would never have been tried under these daily driving conditions, sometimes on large motorways, sometimes on country lanes and sometimes winding through the Alps.”

Above: some of the Queensland-based vehicles that will be doing the run. A Harley Davidson motorcylce will also be participating.

Happy travels everyone!

1,000 visits!

Wow, thanks guys. Amazing.

Southern Classic Commercials - Final Run for 2008

Mike Houghton, 'Beaver Steer' owner and an all round nice (and patient!) Kiwi chap, sent me these photos back in December of the Southern Classic Commercials out and about before the holiday season. Without any further ado, here's a fine selection of mostly larger classics.

Above: ERF A-series. Bogie-drive examples were local modifications? Below: this looks quite Chev to me. Can anyone confirm?

Below: very tidy White Road Boss (?) slotting between its English sisters.

Above: it's always great to see one of these cabs in good nick. Leyland Boxer (I'm guessing) looking like she still puts in a hard day's work. Below: Mike's pride and joy.

Above: a fine pair of Inters head the line up in this photo. The AB is a fire appliance and 4WD while the AA reminds me of a photo I took recently...