Fancy a bit of belt-buckle bling? Ace snapper Tom Cunningham has sent me this picture and the message: "Hi Brian, do you know anyone who would benefit from one of these... ?" Errr...no not personally Tom, but I'm sure there are plenty of them out there!
Now click through here for a genuine Foden old-timer!
Continue reading "Bling and belt buckles on Biglorryblog--plus a classic vintage Foden too." »
Biglorryblog regular Andrew Cooper has sent me these pictures and the message: "Hi Brian, following on the blog with the Thompson-bodied 8-wheeler Iveco. I thought you may be interested in these pictures of one we have just finished painting, the first of four that we are doing for our local MAN dealer.
Now click through here for more...
"A four-legged friend, a four-legged friend, he'll never let you down..he's honest and faithful right up to the end that wonderful one-two-three four-legged friend..." Yes it was only a matter of time befeore Roy Rogers appeared on Biglorryblog. And here he is resplendant on this Leyand (I think Freighter..or it might be a Cruiser) sent to me by Ashley L, 'BLB's man in Malta'. And for a pie..what film did Roy star in with Bob Hope and Jane Russell in which he sang the above song along with Trigger the dancing horse?
And here it is again--only not comments about cowboy outfits OK? Now how about a Bedford with a lovely wooden dropside body on the back--obviously kept in a very up market garage...with pictures on the wall.
Meanwhile, click through here for a bus that thinks it's truck...or is it the other way around.
Somebody's been busy with the grow bags and John Innes compost..and look what's come up. Spotted by Biglorryblog at the recent New Eurocargo bun-fight held at Iveco's Turin HQ. Clearly the local gardener is handy with his dibber...I just wondered if later on it turns into a floral clock. Anyway further examination proved that he does indeed have his own special dibber..and here it is.
And here it is...check out the Daily 4x4, just right for those difficult 'at-the-end-of the garden' jobs, and with that Fassi crane even Ashley Coghill could get interested in a spot of horticulture...end arm takes dibber, fork, spade and hoe attachments...Now click through here to see the 'barrow' the Iveco gardener uses..
Now if there's one thing that Biglorryblog is partial to it's an eight-legger with a bit of bling..and what better than this one? And the story behind this splendid example is that when Dundee-based Ramsay’s Waste Management started to spec its two latest tippers, owner Ramsay McBain detected a wind of change running through Scottish tipper operators. Quite simply, he tells BLB: “I’ve seen too many Thompsons bodied tippers in this area to be able to ignore them any longer.”
“We quickly found out that the all-steel Loadmaster is an exceptional product with a huge reputation attached to it” says Ramsay. “For strength and durability, everyone says it really is the tops, and hence has to be the perfect compliment to the Iveco Eurotrakker chassis we currently prefer.”
Now click through here for news of its rather clever body....and a nice shot of the tipper at the bottom of a quarry...
Been looking for the perfect get-you-home transport from a heavy night out with the boys? Then behold the mighty 'Pub Scooter' from Australia...where else? It seems this is the picture from AtkiPete Lynch that I should have posted up on Biglorryblog but I used the wrong one...twas ever thus. Anyway Pete says: ''G'Day Brian, Maybe you forgot to post that picture of the pub scooter...or maybe I forgot to send it to you?'' Well Pete I think it was the latter but never mind it's up on BLB now. In the meantime he tells me: ''Lake Goldsmith is in Victoria, not Queensland....AND that Ford in your April issue of T&D on Page 20 is an LNT 9000, I think. Never heard of Econo out here. I used to drive an L9000 ( shorter bonneted version ) with the 3408 Cat and it went real well for a 350.''
Meanwhile, click through here for a real Bulldog of a truck....
Richard 'The Brochure King' Stanier has sent me this little selection and the message: ''Hi Brian, Hope you had a good trip to Italy---it certainly sounded good. Just to prove I do get out sometimes I've sent you some proper photos that I actually took myself this time!'' And what a cracking selection to TBK. '' First up on the top is Richard's pristine Guy Big J 4T, pictured this morning outside the newly refurbished test station at Featherstone, Wolverhampton, having just passed its' MOT. Hmmm that's a real Big Lorry!
Anyway Richard goes on to say; '' Next up I have attached a few of the other lorries that share shed space with my own. First there is a little Guy Wolf van which used to be powered by a Perkins diesel but has now been re-engined with a Meadows petrol unit.''
''Next we have a great Guy Otter [crazy name for a truck - BLB]with 4-pot Gardner and an Eaton two-speed axle, and lastly we have another rare motor from the Black Country.'' To which Biglorryblog says--and if you want to find out what it is, click though to the next page! Ooohh yer big tease!
Biglorryblog's man in South Africa, Dennis Child, the man with the best toy set in the world has sent me this shot of a venerable MAN eight-legger heavy hitter and says: ''ABNORMAL LOADS TODAY!' Now for a pie..can any BLB readers tell me what the exact model tractor that's pullng the heavy load--and where it was built?
And if you want to see a really unusual hybrid MAN click through here--but be prepared for a shock!
Hurrah! 'The Keeper of the Flame' is back with us again on Biglorryblog. Yes Martin Phippard has returned from Australia and New Zealand and chance encounters with Mariusz from Poland.
Martin e-mails me to say: ''Hi Brian, Here I am back after a whole month away and one of the first things I find myself doing is checking BLB!' And why not says BLB? Anyway Martin goes on to say ''It was great to meet Mariusz at Kinleith Mill in New Zealand although we really only had a few seconds in which to exchange pleasantries. And thanks for putting my ugly mug on the Blog too! As if I haven't upset enough people already!''
''Anyway I enclose an assortment of Mack, KW and Western star two and three-trailer road trains from Australia. I hope these may prove suitable for BLB. I have a few nice pictures from NZ too, but you will appreciate - I hope - that we were filming rather than taking stills so the selection is perhaps a little restricted. In any case Rod Simmonds and Mariusz have been doing you proud.''
Martin goes on to say; ''Nice to be home again. All I have to do now is answer a couple of hundred e-mails and pay off the bills!'' Well such is life Martin...such is life..
And after this Aussie monster click through to the next page to see classic Kiwi waggon and drag outfits too!
And now for those eight-leggers from down-under!
Now here's a couple of 'Likely Lads'. In fact they're two of my favourite 'Cloggies'. The tall guy on the left is Iep van der Meer who's got a great website and blog in his own right. The one on the right is Pete Zadelaar, a great Anglophile and Iep's co-driver---together they brought the wonderful Iveco Strator bonneted behemoth over to Truckfest and T&D's stand. Pete was delighted to see the Lancester that flew over the Peterborough showground and he also got a terrific Dinkey car transporter (he's a keen model truck collector too). Now here a a few of Biglorryblog's final memories of Truckfest.
If you're going to have a mobile home what better one to have than one based on a Peterbilt rigid. Big enough, as Ertha Kitt would say, to have a bowling alley in the back...
BLB was most taken by Benton's immaculate anniversary Daf XF105...expect to see more of this smart cabover in the coming months in the pages of Truck & Driver.
OK so I can't resist an ERF, I admit it. But this is a very smart ECX and as it's my blog it's going in. Especially if it's an Olympic. Now click through here for more including a three-legged "Swamp Thing".
And so to the New Iveco Eurocargo launch with other assorted members of Her Majesty's Truck Press including World Truck Blog Ollie Dixon in wonderfully 'awkward question' form. After what seems like an interminable minibus trip from Milan to Turin we finally get to the bun fight and the Iveco presentation centre next to the Turin plant and HQ.
The event is attended by various Italian high-ups, some foreign Johnnies (including a couple of Bigloryblog's Crazshee Dutch colleagues) and two members of the Italian Alpine Military Regiment (don't ask me....) But as we file in BLB notices some rather strange background music in the auditorium. Not your usual bland truck launch lift-music but something I vaguely recognise. Then the Euro drops...it's the Ramones. ONE ,TWO, THREE! And I find myself telling anyone who will pay attention to BLB that we're listening to 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker.' Why the Ramones? (don't ask me...#2). But before we get any further the launch show kicks off with a rather natty musical trip through the life and times of Iveco middleweight truck making including 'Rock Around the Clock' then 'A Hard Day's Night' followed by 'Disco Inferno' and 'Relax'. Clearly you can't launch a truck these days without a pop video! What's more, after the sponsorship of the All Blacks the Italians have really gone to town on rugby, now also sponsoring the Italian team and launching their own web-based rugby (union) website with interviews, rugby news and rock music called www.ivecorugbyradio.co.uk which is supposed to be live as you read this.
But back to New EuroCargo. There it is above in all its glory. The top one is a 10-tonner, the black one is the 18-tonner with both of them showing off their new front end styling and exterior cab panels. The inside has been given a full makeover too. Although it seems I was premature by stating the park brake has been moved into the dash--it hasn't. (Dont ask me...#3)
But it looks to be a decent stab and today we'll be driving it so I'll have a better idea before long--and naturally will blog on it. We've been told to obey all the local Italian road laws...(hmmmm) Now click through here for more news on the UK spec.
Having recently featured the pictures of Pacific logging trucks working in New Zealand from Mariusz I thought it was about time Biglorryblog featured another couple of Pacifics--this time from Dennis Child, general manager at ROTRAN Multi-Axle, who works for the "extreme" heavy-haulage specialist in South Africa. As I've said before, Dennis has the best toy box in the world but he does look after his toys--of that there's no doubt. For example he's been slowly breathing life back into a couple of his venerable 'Ultra' Pacific heavy haulage tractors adding new engines and other drive line bits to them before putting everything back together with refurbished cabs and chassis (that's probably a gross understatement of all the work that's actually gone on but you get the picture). And here's the latest Phoenix from the ashes above--and that's what it looked like below just a short while ago.
And Dennis is not a man to hang around tiehr for no sooner was his baby finished he put it to work--in this case hauling a 153-ton transformer! Which it naturally handled with ease....
And for good measure here's a shot from Dennis of a herd of his beloved ROTRAN Ultra Pacifics wortking together on another job.
Now click through here for some REAL monsters from ROTRAN..and news of the some soon-to-be new arrivals..
FULL STEAM AHEAD CEM 265ton STATOR ON BOARD
They don't make them like they used to.
'The Mystery Machine'
That young thruster of a PR man James Keeler has sent me these pictures and wonders whether this is a "Silly idea for a blog attached----people in the street in London have been remarking to Menzies Distribution that their new vehicle, the Modec, looks just like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo."
The MODEC
He goes on to say, "I couldn't quite remember that cartoon vehicle from memory---but the attached pic from Google Images confirms their point...perhaps!" ell anyway james there's no way I'm going to put this on Biglorryblog...(and for a pie what were the names of the four main characters from Scooby Doo?) And click through here for the full story on the Menzies MODEC."Rooby Rooo! Heh, heh, heh, heh!"
'AtkiPete' has sent me a few more pictures from the recent Lake Goldsmith Rally including a particularly strange steam-powered VW transporter pick-up pictured above and below. Pete tells Biglorryblog: "It has great acceleration and is deadly quiet. I heard it has the engine from a Stanley Steamer and can do 120km/h! If diesel keeps going up it might be the answer to some UK operator's woes. Can do a bit more research on this one if you like. Note the LED tailights."
The answer to that question is yes please find out more Pete---I'm sure my BLB army is as interested as me! Anyway Pete goes on to say : "Would anyone know what the object on the bumper bar of the Bedford is?
Haven't a clue...how about my BLB readers? Meanwhile, click through here for more 'weird transport' and a pie is in the offing for anyone who can tell BLB what it is. But before you do here's an immaculate Chevrolet...
While the UK timber haulage industry has effectively outlawed the practice of cross-loading timber, after a few nasty high profile accidents, the French still haven't caught on. Still, this load is held on with one fairly good ratchet strap.
It's not big, but it's black and clever too. It's the new Iveco Eurocargo rigid range from 7.5-18-tonnes and Biglorryblog and Will Shiers are off to see it today and drive it tomorrow in Italy. In the meantime you'll find a bit of advance news on the news pages of Roadtransport.com but for a taster, all right-hand drive models will have an auto box as standard! So if you want to find out more about new Eurocargo, stay tuned to this blog!
Ashley Lovering is back from his hols in Malta and has sent me these shots of classic ex-British working waggons, still going strong on the George Cross Island. So for a Biglorryblog pie, what is it? And I don't mean the tree apparently growing out of the back of it either!
Ahhhh...that Bedford moment. There is a a corner of a foreign field that is forever...TK...Now a 'Classic' Scammell...but what's that tucked away at the back of it? Have a guess then click through here to see if you were right...
Biglorryblog has already mentioned the fact that Mariusz Koscinski, 'BLB's man in Poland' has been out in New Zealand on a busman's holiday (or rather a logging truck fanatic's holiday) and he's sent me these fabulous shots of Pacific trucks and news of the sighting of another BLB stalwart. Anyway I'll let Mariusz tell the story: "Hello Brian, After a really great time and lots of photos I had to come back from New Zealand. However, while I was there I was taking photos at a weighbridge in Kinleith mill. In the morning when I arrived I asked the staff if I'd get to see some Pacific 'doubles'."
"After their assurance that papers for the loads usually brought to the mill by one particular Pacific truck were taken out, I was just calmly snapping away on anything coming through or near the weighbridge. Finally after some time I saw in a distance a characteristic paint scheme of Rob Dahm Ltd. pulling two trailers onto the road leading to the weighbridge."
"When the truck was coming closer I noticed there's a passenger in the cab with a professional camcorder. And guess who it was? Yes BLBs very own Martin 'Keeper Of The Flame' Phippard! It's a small world, isn't it? As the Pacific had to proceed with its work and there were other trucks pulling onto the weighbridge, after exchanging a few words we both continued doing our own thing---Martin filming the Pacific and me taking photos of it." So THAT's where Martin's been hiding says BLB. Well I just hope he's got some video footage of the Pacific I can put on the blog..or they'll be 'words'!
Mariusz continues: "Later in the day the same Pacific came back but as I'd moved to different location in the mill I didn't get a chance for more photos from up close." Well you probably need to stand quite some way away Mariusz..just to get it all in! Now click through here for more Pacifics, this time dumpers...
OK, so it's not a truck. But it is fantastic:
Yes, it's the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Avro Lancaster (the only flying Lancaster bomber in the world) making a pass or three over the Truck & Driver stand - and all to the strains of Atomic Kitten singing Ladies' Night!
I'll take four Merlins over the sound of Heidi, Keisha et al any day...
'AtkiPete' Lynch has sent me some more shots from the recent Lake Goldsmith vintage and classic commercial rally. (Actually this was the first batch but Biglorryblog cocked it up as usual and got them out of order...duh!) Anyway Pete says: "G'day All, a small selection of photos from the Lake Goldsmith rally at the weekend. 40 acres of great machinery, trucks and stationary engines." Love the Foden steamer..but by golly that cab must have been hot in the Queensland sun....
Pete tells me that "The AEC Mandator is one from Queensland, restoration progressing well. While the Leyland [pictured below] is still waiting...!"
Next we have a Chevrolet flat bed (anyone got any idea of the year? For a pie naturally) and a thresher behind it.
And if you want to see a REAL steamer click through here---you'll call a spade a 'flamin shovel' after you've seen this one mate!
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