Something I didn’t really concentrate on at the time, but came to appreciate when reviewing the photos of the 2013 Historic Commercial Vehicle Club show, was the range of different cargoes that truck owners used to ‘decorate’ their vehicles with. It was actually very impressive, so let’s have a look, starting with the beautiful wooden barrels on this I-H AR160.
First let me say that the International Harvester Australia show is still coming, but the further I get in the more research I need to do to confirm various details. Relying on childhood memories and random snippets of info isn’t really adequate, as I will be making corrections for some comments on previous posts!
Of course if I had been thinking of this at the time there would be better photos concentrating on more of the truck cargo; as it is shots like this one of a Dodge 77 truck with an old horse-drawn wagon on the back will have to suffice. It looks like the wagon has been restored, which is certainly the case for the Dodge! Out of interest, it looks like a Ford V8 badge on the guard with a Power Stroke script under it. Anything is possible?
One I did shoot was this 1963-77 Caterpillar D4-D bulldozer, which was on the back of the Leyland Marathon 2 truck. At around 7 tons it would be well within the truck’s capability, and would make it better to drive – big trucks like this ride very roughly when empty.
This Chevrolet C60 would definitely not be taxed by the Holden HZ Kingswood station wagon it carries. The C60 would have been built from a CKD kit in GM’s Dandenong factory around the 1975-80 period, so may be the same year as the 1978-80 HZ Holden as well as a pretty close match in colour.
I don’t know if the sacks on this REO Speedwagon are supposed to represent potatoes or something else, but would you look at the wide cabin. The steering wheel is in its normal position, so there may be room enough for a passenger outboard of the driver!
This 1958-64 Austin 4-60F has a smaller Austin truck on its back – the sign of a collector dedicated to the marque. The 4-60F has a 4-litre 6-cylinder petrol engine, as used in the Princess limousines, and was a 4-ton truck. The smaller truck the same type as the fire trucks featured earlier, so probably has a 3-litre 6-cylinder engine.
A well-done tarpaulin and rope job like the one on this 1960 Commer CDY is worthy of appreciation, as it is becoming a lost art. Recently I had a delivery from one of the large freight companies where the tautliner straps where engaged by a motorised hook system which was computer-controlled and linked to the delivery computer.
Here is an Austin and a 1920’s era truck that I can’t identify.
An empty timber jinker like the one on this White 4000 might be unloaded in itself, but is still an interesting setup.
This 1892 Fowler steam traction engine is rated at 6 horsepower. It seems that the complete ownership history is known from when it was shipped from Leeds, England to the Melbourne agents Welch, Perrin & Co and was in northern Victoria for most of its life.
Another archaic machine is this WW2 M3 Stuart light tank and not a Bren gun carrier as I originally though (per Gary Everingham’s comment below). The Bren gun carrier is 12 feet long and just over 3 ton of armoured open hull powered by an 85 hp flathead Ford V8. There were 4 crew and the usual armament was a Bren light machine gun (.303 cal, 500 rounds per minute). Such a machine would not find a place in modern warfare.
By comparison the M3 Stuart is 15 feet long and about 15 ton thanks to much heavier armour and armament, including a 37mm main gun and multiple .30-06 machine guns. Power came from a Continental radial aero engine for the M3, replaced by twin Cadillac V8’s for the later M5 variant due to supply constraints.
Looking past the cable reels here, the trailer is a local 1965 Haulmark 34 footer with what is an unusual wide axle spread of just over 10 feet. Or at least it was a trend back then, but isn’t really used now.
This International C1800 has what looks like a sleeper cab mounted on its tray. This is a very heavy truck for such a short wheelbase to have a tray, so I wonder if it originally had a tipper body or perhaps pulled a semi-trailer.
This 1990s era Kenworth had a 1960s Kenworth on its back, and enough capacity from its 8 ton tare weight to 45 ton gross to carry another truck if there was space!
Would you believe that the steam-powered tow vehicle of this pair may actually be younger? It is a 1924 Sentinel, while the cargo is a Ford Model TT one-ton truck that were built from 1917-27.
To finish off we have another truckload of barrels, but steel this time. At 205 litres this translates to 44 imperial gallons or 55 US gallons. The drums are painted in the livery of the Australian Ampol fuel/oil company, and are on an International KB6 truck with a 4-wheel trailer and more drums behind.
I hope you have found this interesting – I will certainly be paying more attention next time I’m at a truck show. As I said before, I am still working on the post on Australian International trucks – it will be up soon!
Cool, I like the Bren gun carrier they were built around a 3 ton Ford truck powertrain but useless in sandy conditions, the tracks come off when they turn on sand, my dad explained how to repair the tracks apparently is was a requirement to operate them in the WW2 military, Looking forward to the Aussie Inter post, Ive had a bit of experience with those great old trucks.
Cheers Bryce. I gather that more than a few of them ended up on farms or similar being used as improvised bulldozers after the war.
Great photos John, thank you. I always liked that vintage of C60 Chev trucks, as there was one on the box cover of one of my favourite board games as a kid. Prize Property by Milton-Bradley was released in 1974, and featured the then brand new (for 1973) C60 in the box artwork.
Great collection of trucks and cargo!
+1
A lot of stuff I’m not familiar with, too. Nice mix.
I think that it is actually a M3 Stuart light tank not a bren gun carrier on the truck. The Australian army did use Stuarts as well as bren gun carriers. I doubt if the turret on the tank is 100% genuine at least as far as the main gun goes.
Thanks Gary, I had wondered about the turret but thought there must be many Bren gun carriers that don’t look anything like what they did originally.
One of these days I must visit the museums at Puckapunyal (near Seymour, Victoria) and Bandiana (near Albury NSW), one of which houses one of the Australian Sentinel AC1 tanks. There used to be a private tank museum near Melbourne but that was sold off years ago.
I would be all over that Commer. I have a fascination for the Rootes TS3 opposed piston engine that was available in these.
I can understand that Erik, I do too, they were pretty remarkable for their size. I will put it on the list to write about.