Laurie Read’s Inter - Difference

In-depth

25 Oct

Laurie Read comes from Clematis, in Victoria, and owns an International Loadstar 1800. Look at the accompanying pictures and you will quickly see that this is like no Loadstar you have ever seen before. Laurie runs a company called Belly Dumpers Australia, running 13 Volvos. One was rolled and parts from that went to the conversion of the International.

"It used to have a 545 with a 5x3 in it, with a tandem. It was originally an agitator at Tullamarine airport doing the runways. I bought it off Ray Schneider with the intention of making a ute out of it. He said you can't make a truck into a ute. I think we've proved him wrong. We've put a 653 in it, with an Allison, a Volvo differential and front axle. It's all Volvo braking system to get it engineering approval. The photo shows what it looked like when we picked it up – a piece of crap!"

The truck took 18 months to transform. The tub came from a '94 Dodge Ram which has the curves to suit the cab. The front tanks are original. The rears are dummies and hold the batteries and air tanks. The rear end is on Volvo airbags.

"We also put airbags on the front to take the shock out of the steering wheel on the old International springs. It's still on the Inter chassis. A mate had an old ACCO lying in the blackberries at Drouin. We put jumper leads on it and it fired. That's what's in it. We haven't touched it - just gave it a steam cleaning and coat of paint."

The truck has been on the Road since June of 2013 and has toured the length and breadth of Victoria’s many truck shows, and no doubt more than a few interstate as well.

"My mechanic, Andrew Henry, was the one with the vision to put it together. When I bought it I was just going to make a tandem drive out it and he said no. I said okay, do what you want, and this is the result."

The International Ute is the fourth one that Laurie and Andrew have done.

"We have a house full of them. Andrew has been with me for 20 years. No drawings – he just gets the grinder out and starts to cut. I say, aren't you going to mark it? No, he replies. He just knows what he is doing. He is an Artisan. It's something different."

Now there is an understatement!