Roger Preston's BIG MACK Truck: Classic Restos Series 47
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- Опубликовано: 17 июн 2021
- This episode of Classic Restos is about a man, his son, and their family Mack truck.
It all started when a former NSW Highway Patrol officer Roger Preston left the force in 1974 and went out on a limb buying his first Mack Truck, an R600, with a 237hp Maxidyne engine, 10-speed gearbox, and 36' Fruehauf Tri-Axle trailer.
Roger started carrying freight from Sydney to Mt Isa, then onto Darwin. But when cyclone Tracey hit Darwin on Christmas Eve in 1974, it changed everything. The demand for freight services increased dramatically to assist with the rebuild of Darwin. Roger Preston's business expanded to meet the demand. He purchased a new Mack R700 V8 Thermodyne in 1976 with a 12-speed gearbox and massive pulling capacity; this was a class above everything at the time and a great workhorse.
About six years ago, at a meeting with some of Rogers industry friends, they asked whatever happened to the R700. A two-year intensive search began using all their industry contacts. They had almost gave-up hope when a call came out of the blue, saying the R700 was at Alpha, west of Rockhampton, on a property and not in great condition.
Roger with his son Rod travelled to Alpha to check it out, only to find that it had been sold to a restorer. All was not lost; they chased done the restorer and befriended him, and took on the project of restoring the R700 to its former glory.
Four years later, son Rod suggested to his father that he needed some help on a job in Queensland, a stop off at the Mack dealer workshop, and the fully restored R700 was revealed. The R700 is now back home with the original owner, Rod had purchased the restored truck to keep it in the family as a legacy of his father's work in transport.
A great story with plenty of outback stories of an era long past. Roger Preston was inducted into the National Transport Hall of Fame in 2017 and inscribed with the 'Roger is always happiest when he had to be somewhere else', sums him up beautifully.
#classicrestos #macktrucks 
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Fantastic story Fletch, everytime I watch it. Please do another trucks series soon. So many great characters like Roger.
The best part of my youth was sitting along side my Dad. The first truck I remember was the NR Mack with soft windows it had a float behind it, she was Red and Black brambles Port Kembla company, followed by a B61 then a R600. Dad has since passed away twenty years ago, but boy those memories are all mine.
How good is this, bloody legend truckie driving a legend old skool Mack with that legendary 375 v8 motor, the days when a Mack was 100% Mack👍💥
This truck mack is absolutely 💯 gorgeous 😍 ❤️
Great Bulldog, respect ! So that he keeps barking ... best regards from south Germany
Beautiful truck .
Class operator.
Thank Fletch great interview
like his son my best memories of my childhood was when i had school summer vacation and i was spending all my summer with my dad in his 1957 mack truck and i was enjoyed every second of that time . i was loving how my dad was shifting gears and how good driver he was which until he died he never had accident and he like roger was teaching me of that driving graft too . he was great dad like most hard working truck drivers back then which now i dearly miss him .
The old trucks are gold, but the old drivers are priceless. I've sat here an emotiona wreck, so many of my old friends passed on. Myself forced to leave e the road after 30 years and the last of 5 generations of drivers.
As a young truck driver, only two years behind the wheel, old blokes like this are inspiring.. all I’ve ever wanted to be is a truck driver, and old blokes like this are truly an inspiration to us young bloke that have a passion for trucks and being behind the wheel
What a great Australian; good on ya Roger.
It makes me so happy that there are people out there keeping these old trucks running. These modern trucks just don't cut it as far as I'm concerned
Love these old Mack’s
Great guy, great truck,great story!
I had the pleasure to drive with and have him in the passenger seat on a long haul from melbourne I shouted him a 6 pack and had a drink with him he is one of life's gentlemen he only gave me advise about my driving was to watch out for the highway patrol guys. Roger is a great man to be with and loves to pass on his knowledge if you want to listen. well done roger. stay safe old friend
Can confirm Roger's still sharing his knowledge and experience with younger drivers. Great story.
What a wonderful story, thank you Fletch and a special thank you to the Preston family for sharing their memories.... :)
Very nice
That classic sound of the air assisted starter on the Big Mack reminds me of Mad Max 2.
Great story . 👌
Great story fletch,proud hard working Australian, proud to be a Aussie, with what's happening in Australia these days that's a hard word to use, gone are the good times
Glad to hear you liked the episode Justin, it was great to see a hard working Australian in action. Hope you're well and take care! - Andres.
That air starter is awesome. Neat old truck!
The Bear becomes the Rubber Duck. Great story 👍 Roger and his mates truly did carry this country. Big respect.
Amazing this rig has survived. Lost count of how many times these air starts have made me jump out of my skin.
This is such a great story Roger is a real trucker, with a true spirit
They are so lucky that it was still sort of in one piece and they could get hold of it
It could quite as easily been scrapped
What a beautiful beautiful truck 😍😍😍👍👍
It is so hard to imagine 1000 kms of dirt road to Darwin and how many times he did it
I’m sure that truck had 2.4 million plus miles
What a great clip awesome truck loved all those trucks growing up in the 70-80;s even loved drawing them
Did u ever drive them I'm from USA Connecticut on the east coast We have a lot of mack's running around the state I have driven many R models super liner's CH. RDs DM There some stuff trucks Cheers Mate from the US
Excellent story, great family
Awesome video,not many of the ol Mack's like that here in the U S,love them
Another great Video Fletch!
Good story mate👍👍👍
Glad to hear you liked it Raymond. Stay tuned for more to come 😎 - Andres.
@@ShannonsInsurance I’m in the states. Always like watching videos of old trucks. They usually come with an awesome history of the owner. Thanks again, cheers.
great story
i've probably passed him in my FJ in the 80's and through to 2014 along the highway to DARWIN the many times i travelled the stuart highway
It's great to hear you liked the video. You probablu did pass him back in the 80s, do you still drive on the highway much? - Andres.
Very good
I don't know much about trucks but I really enjoyed watching this episode! Awesome work.
Great story 👍
love your work and the Mack, hope one day you can do a video on Jim's iconic Shannon's Javelin.
Good on ya :o)
Good job to Preston's and fletcher . Hey you need talk to Kevin Sanderson of Oakey he has a r700 with a e9 this is his daily driver
✋👍
And with nothing in his pockets he still would have given you the shirt off his back if you needed it
First 👍
Aàaaaaaaaa
No tolero el acento británico, prefiero el acento gringuito.