Bigloryblog's globetrotting man in Poland---Mariusz Kościński---has obviously been taken by my recent posting on the Mack Titan but asks: "Ever wondered what was the biggest Mack truck before the mighty Titan? Wonder no more because here it is---an E9 V8-powered CL Mack. Unlike the Titan, CL series was available in Oz/NZ as well as in USA. Although it doesn't have as much grunt as the Titan (525bhp compared to Titan's around 600bhp if I'm right) I wouldn't say it's less 'mighty'."
Mariusz goes on to say:"Despite being 6 feet tall myself I felt quite small standing by that bonnet and you can say it's one tough truck. I had a pleasure to chat with the driver of that off-highway logger. He said that if they were still in production CL Macks would be his only choice. He tried a different truck at some point and said he was lucky that he didn't sell his old trusty CL yet. And I felt very lucky to see one as it's quite an old truck and they're fast dissapearing. Looking at some old photos it seems like everyone working on off-highway logging had one. The driver confirmed that at some point there was over 50 CL Macks working on private forestry roads compared to around 10 at present."
Now click through here for another CL.....a bulldog with real attitude...GRRRRRRRRR!
Mariusz tells BLB: " I had the luck to see another stunning example of the CL at Kinleith with a different outfit this time..." Looks pretty muscle-bound to me--and for the record the old E9 ve-bomber was also offered under the Magnum for a short while too. Why? Because Renault bought Mack long before Volvo came along...and used the E9 to give the Magnum some grunt. I have to say that CL does look pretty tough, however. But for me, the Aussie (not US) Titan is the one.
Right Mack?
I forgot to mention that the first Titan was only made in Australia for OZ/NZ market. Only recently the new Titan was introduced in North America...
Mariusz,
You wouldn't beleive it if I said the Americans only nabbed the Aussie Titan for their own! But they use the bigger MP10 engine instead of the Cummins we use down under!
Joe