old school cool or modern art?

In-depth

22 July

OLD SCHOOL COOL: 1986 Peterbilt 359 – Sean Finnigan

Sean is one of the senior drivers for SNR Logistics. With a fleet of Kenworth (which anyone would be proud of), this black Peterbilt is the pride of the fleet, and Sean sits behind its wheel. Based in Campbelltown near Sydney, Sean has been driving for 23 years – the past 7 with SNR.

“The boss loves Old School Cool,” said Sean. “He just wanted the classic Peterbilt look, and he sure got it with this truck!”

We understand that the 359 was in a barn for something like 16 years after a previous owner passed away. It pulled road trains out of Mildura. When S&R got hold of it around a year, they registered and put it on the road almost immediately – carrying out improvements along the way.

“We’ve rebuilt the motor and the diffs and put a new tail shaft in it, but basically the truck works every day,” said Sean. “All the polishing, buffing and everything else gets done in between jobs or while loading and unloading. It is an ongoing project and will continue to be. It’s nothing for me to wash it every night of the week.

“The boss loves clean, representative old school trucks. The shinier the truck the happier he is. I’ve got hoses, buckets, sponges and all the cleaning gear in the toolbox. If there’s a tap available I’ll work on it while it’s being loaded or unloaded.

“It’s my ‘company car’. I drive it home every night and proudly park it in the middle of the front yard. I love it and it gets a heap of looks.”

Hauling anything from general freight to containers to tankers, the truck spends most of its time on the East Coast.

The truck runs a 444 Cummins Big Cam with 435 horses, linked to a 15 speed gearbox and 4:3 diffs, à la road train. “It’s a bit Revie at 100 K MH. At some stage we’ll probably change the diffs. We just chug along. I’m not out there to break any speed records or limits.”

We asked Sean how big the sleeper was. “Not sure to be honest. I’d have to measure it but there’s a heap of space back there. It’s got a king single mattress so I’m pretty comfortable. There’s plenty of dancing room to be sure.

“It’s an old truck but man it’s awesome. I can’t drive through an intersection without people taking a photograph. That alone is enough for me to make sure she’s gleaming all the time.”

Sean tells us he has over 3,000 photos of his Pete. Now that’s love!

……………

MODERN ART: BONESHAKER

Some like Old School Cool, such as SNR Logistics Peterbilt. Others go 180 degrees in the opposite direction. This is Boneshaker!

This truck would hardly be recognisable as a 2010 model Peterbilt, such is the work that has gone into the truck.

With a 63 inch bunk and 10 inch exhaust pipes, every part of this truck is custom, other than the chrome accessories that were bought off the shelf.

With emu leather seats, painted floors, full fibreglass door trims which are fibreglass lined, Boneshaker took 12 months to come to fruition. Boneshaker is so different, so startling that it is liable to break the necks of truck spotters as they twist their heads to look at it.

The truck is a work of art in motion, which the South Australian authorities failed to appreciate – at least early in its reincarnation. They deemed it too low, too loud, too deep a sun visor and other pernickety things - giving the truck three defects. We presume those blinkered views have been addressed in the intervening years since the birth of the truck.

As a representation of trucks and trucking to the general public, Boneshaker is a fine example of the industry. But then, so is Sean Finnigan’s Old School 359.

Compare the pair in the following photographs and you decide. Me? I’ll have both, thank you very much!