Chateau de Martin

In-depth

15 Apr

In 1986 Barosso’s in Narrandera, NSW, bought two brand new Kenworth SAR’s to run their potatoes to market. Powered by 892’s through 13 speeds and on torsion bar suspension, the trucks predictably served the family business well for a number of years.

As with all trucking stories, the trucks were eventually moved on. Ones whereabouts is unknown, but the other – after several owners – ended up in 2008 with one Neville Storey from Ulladulla who in turn purchased it from some Sydney folk. Nev repainted the SAR in his businesses handsome blue and white livery and the truck, in typical Kenworth fashion, continued to do its job faithfully.

Jump forward to 2017 and enter Scott and Tracey Martin. Scott and Tracey live at The Rock, which is halfway between Albury and Wagga Wagga on the Olympic Highway. With both his dad and uncles having led a life in trucking, working for famous old names such as Comet, Express Freight and MarTrans, Scott was the black sheep of the family and pursued an apprenticeship as an auto electrician.

Before you shout, “HORROR, HORROR”, and send them (and this story) to Coventry, we should point out that their business, Star Auto Electrical, based in Wagga does a lot of work for a number of trucking companies based in and around the town, as well as dealerships including Kenworth, and Daimler in Albury.

And of course Scott’s love of the Big Bangers is in the blood. The Martin’s have always enjoyed truck shows and trucking club meets. All they needed was …. a truck to call their own. Originally from Ulladulla, the couple knew Nev Storey and when they heard the SAR was on the market they couldn’t get down there quickly enough to buy it.

“We knew Nev looked after his trucks and we also loved his company’s colour scheme. Nev said he’d have to take his name and all off it, and we replied, ’No, we want to keep it just as it is’. Nev has four kids and none (!) of them are into trucks. If Nev passed away then, overnight Storey’s Transport is gone forever. We wanted to keep his piece of history going so the livery, in his name, will live on.”

Of course having a truck is one thing but getting a comfortable night’s sleep for two is another. As Tracey and Scott attend many shows a trailer was in order. Their hunt eventually found them an ’86 FTE Fridge van. Naturally the trailer had to match the prime mover, so a renovation paint job was undertaken.

Nev Storey liked to name his rigs and the one sold to the Martin’s carried the moniker, ‘Dreamer’. Scott and Tracey regarded this as a good omen as their favourite tune is Dreamer by Supertramp. “We thought, what better than to reproduce that name onto the trailer sides.”

The couple have ended up with a great looking combo.

“We’ve kept it as original as possible – no extra clearance lights, nothing added at all. This is more of less how it came out of the factory with ten studs on the steer and spiders on the drive. A lot of people think it’s a Nugget. It’s not, but it is based on the Nugget’s.”

With truck and trailer in their possession, Tracey undertook turning the trailer into a home away from home. Inside, the walls are lined with Truckin Life Rigs of the Month and Year. Amongst them are a couple of photos of SAR’s – one green & yellow and the other maroon. The trucks are ‘brothers’ and one of them is the Martin’s rig, although they’re not sure which.

“Our truck is a little different. It was involved in an accident at one stage and had the front axle knocked out of it and one of the tanks damaged. After that a bull bar was added and a few other things have changed.”

Beyond the ‘Hall of Trucking Fame’ the interior is minimalist and brilliant. There’s a massive portable fridge/freezer, a couple of opposing sideboards for storage, a microwave and beyond that a wrought iron queen bed. Tracey made the doona cover which is a montage of ‘Dreamer’.

There’s no TV and when I mention this they reply in unison, “We come away to enjoy other trucks and talk with like-minded people. There’s no time for telly.”

Being a fridge van means good insulation from the elements but should they need to, the old Thermo King works well, giving the couple a choice of temperature from -27 to +28 degrees.

The back of the trailer has a fold down ramp, allowing the couple to park their transport for getting around in when parked up. It’s a neat little Suzuki Mighty Boy (1985 model), and is of course painted to match the rig and trailer. The tailgate carries its name, li’l Dreamer. “The tray holds a slab nicely,” laughed Scott. “Not much else but.”

The day before Crawlin the Hume, where I met up with Scott and Tracey, the couple had been invited to attend the Kenworth Bayswater factory with Dreamer, to celebrate 50 years of the company and the 70,000th truck to be produced there.

“There was a line-up of round 11 vintage trucks. We were privileged to be asked to be one of them. We spent the day there and did a tour of the factory. There is a new SAR Legend coming out this year so our truck created a lot of interest with the production crew and people on the plant floor having a look at what is different between our truck and what they are building now.

“They checked out the chassis, the suspension, the cab and how much difference there is between bonnets and what they’ve done with the forthcoming model. Would you believe there’s a few of them building the new one who have not seen an original SAR up close.”

I can imagine the Martin’s cruisin’ down the highways and byways with Supertramp’s Dreamer blaring out of the speakers (did ’86 models have more than one?) as they travel around. When you see them at a show somewhere, wander over and say G’day. The Martin’s are as nice as their truck. Happy travels guys.