Imported into the Netherlands in the spring of 2024, after which the original tractor got a detachable flatbed. On top of that -quite literally- a small, home-built housing unit, strapped down to said flatbed. All in all, it’s certainly worth a leisurely vehicle walk-around.
The blue metal casing must be based on a shipping container. The foldable stepladder can be stored underneath the bed. The truck bed, that is. Or is it a tractor bed?
Aha, a gold bulldog. According to the Mack Trucks Historical Museum, the gold ornament -introduced for the 1967 model year- signified that the vehicle came with an in-house Maxidyne engine and Maxitorque transmission. Only much later the gold bulldog indicated that the truck or tractor had an all-Mack powertrain.
The Mack truck camper is powered by the turbocharged and intercooled Maxidyne 300-series (ENDT-676), 672 in³ inline-six, good for 285 hp.
Somewhat later, after everything was packed, the Cruise-Liner was maneuvering out of its camping spot.
And there it goes, on the road again. This cruising Mack has been around.
What a screech! Love it. Someone loves his Mack Cruise Liner! Unfortunately, I cannot post a picture on CC with a man wearing a T-shirt that has printed on the back “Built Like a Mack Truck.” The man is husky and is only wearing the T-shirt. However, I am adding a phot o f a Mack owned in Waltham, Massachusetts and displayed proudly at roadside.
WOW! Nice old F model.
Interesting ‘RV’, that’s for sure. Did many WS Cruise-Liners find their way to Europe? I know the Mack F series cabovers were commonly exported.
No new Cruise-Liners and Super-Liners to Europe, back then. Maybe a handful. The ones you see here now were imported into Europe (much) later. Almost all of them as classic tractors for hobby/show reasons, though some Super-Liners actually work for a living.
Kinda like a slide-in camper on a pickup. Mack 300 w/ air x air intercooler, 285 hp, not much by today’s standards, but the almost 1100 ft-lb torque makes up for it. Steering box on the front axle was an unusual setup with a very long steering shaft, I don’t recall a lot of problems with that setup, but it wouldn’t have been my first choice.
That’s the shortest version if an international shipping container I’ve yet seen. Good repurposing of both the truck and the container.
Sometimes I see storage boxes and such that clearly fully follow a shipping container design, just like the article’s blue box. I guess a company that makes such containers can also make a downscaled model. Or, as a DIY-job, you cut up an old container to create something new.
!0,20, & 40 foot boxes are in use for international shipping, those tens seem popular for small house loads of furniture, I did a stint for Crown relocations 2x10s fitted on their 6 wheeler Foden, Love the old Mack
The Mack Cruise Liners model WS (steel frame) and WL (aluminum frame) were built by Mack Western in Hayward CA from 1975 to about 1983. They came in 54, 76 and 90 BBC. The red grill emblem with gold bulldog is very rare.
Looks like the truck “the blue mule” from the movie white line fever
Close, the Blue Mule was a W9000 Ford.
Nice old rig, looks good even unrestored .
-Nate