Black Mack Magic

In-depth

14 Jan

Black is it! Just about everyone loves the look of a black car. They are cool and classy. There’s a bit of gangster about them.

They are good for the health as well, given the exertion needed every other day to keep the buggers clean. You don’t see too many black Big Bangers though. Klos are well known down south for their show-winning black rigs but there’s not too many others about.

So what induced Dwayne Shanahan from Warrnambool, better known as Bumcrack, to invest in a black Mack Superliner?

“It’s not black, it’s Cherry Black!” says Dwayne indignantly.

This was Dwayne’s second prime mover and his first brand new jobbie.

“I drove a little van for about 12 years for a Herd Improvement Company in Timboon. Took me 12 years to get into the big bangers. I started with Wickington Transport at Camperdown and was there for 10 years. They were good to work for until they put me off.

“I was driving Kenworth cab overs doing hay and grain. Then I worked for a mate, Lou Walker while he had two trucks. I drove his Aerodyne doing a beer run out of Melbourne. And before you ask, no, I didn’t drink the cargo!

“After Lou decided to become a one-truck business I worked for Five-star Stock Feeds out of Camperdown. Three years on and I bought my first truck from DRT, a 608. I traded that in on this.”

From owning a Kenworth to owning a Mack could be considered a bit of a leap?

“I’ve always had a soft spot for Mack. I don’t know why, I just like them. This has good horsepower which makes life easier on the road. No stick makes it easier too.

So why Black – sorry – Cherry Back? Was it discounted because no one else wanted it?

“Yeah, it was sort of like that. It was sitting up in Brisbane. I looked at a white one first but it got sold while I was test driving it. Darren Aitken (of CMV Truck and Bus and sales consultant for the Warrnambool area) said he’d try and find me another one. He rang me and said he found one but there were two problems - it was in Brisbane and it was Cherry Black. I said they are not problems. He sent me photos and on the spot I said I’d take it and here it is.”

Dwayne’s Mack Superliner MP10 with 685 horses was runner up in the six months to one year division at the Koroit Truck Show in 2016. “I reckon that’s a good result given all I’ve done is add a few pieces of chrome.”

We have to admit this is one very good looking truck. With the elbow grease he’d have to put into keeping his Cherry Black beauty looking peachy keen, we’d have expected Bum-Crack’s crack to have all but disappeared, but we hear that’s not quite the case. Hope you’ll be hanging around Koroit on the Saturday January 23 to greet the unofficial convoy, Dwayne.