<<Rewind 2017: Rob jenke - Driving The History

In-depth

11 July

Prologue:

In 2017 I was at the (brilliant) White Muster at Kyabram (Vic) when I ran across a bloke with a smile on his dial big enough to substitute for the face at the entrance to Luna Park. Rob Jenke was happily receiving admiration for his Autocar from all and sundry. Turns out he is also an authority on all things Autocar and their cousin, White. This is his story.

………

Rob Jenke has been driving for thirty-eight years, always working for others. Over that time he has driven quite a bit of different gear. “I did a lot of driving up north, and in South Australia, and a bit of road train work. I began driving a 1418 Mercedes, pulling doubles up the Stuart Highway in 1979 (without a semi license) from home at Kapunda in South Australia.”

“I like the laid-back lifestyle, just poking along up north. I’m not into express work or overnighting - which I’ve never done. I do a good day’s work after a good night’s sleep in that order. After that they can forget it.”

**Rob with his Autocar - 'The Lonesome Fugitive'.**

Rob’s passion is his 1966 Autocar TC 7564: right-hand drive, an in-line 671 GM, 5 x 4 transmission and drop in SQDD diffs. His Autocar was originally a logging truck which ended up in TNT colours. Rob has done a heap of work on the truck, which he has owned for a good 10 years. “I did all the work myself, taking her back to bare bones. I made an Autocar cab out of a White cab - the original cab was very rusty.

“I managed to get new Autocar doors from America. I made it exactly the same as it would have been in the day. I’ve always had a passion for these since I was a young lad. I love the ones with the big radiators. I’ve pretty well taken a picture of every Autocar I’ve ever seen and this is the end result. I also liked the Flintstone Macks and I guess this is the closest thing to a Flintstone, but in the White brand. It’s got that same angular appeal.”

“There’s probably only half a dozen of these floating around Australia. The Army and the Air Force had a lot of them but they looked a bit different. They generally have disc wheels and automatics and maybe the snouts a bit longer, but this one was a logging truck spec and there’s only a few of them about.”

Rob bought the Autocar to the White Muster on the back of a McGrath Trailer which he also restored, tugged along by a 1980 Road Boss.

“The Road Boss is a good truck as well. It isn’t a full restoration. I just tidied it up a bit but it’s been a very good truck.”

Rob does all his work in his driveway and shed of his house-sized block. “I don’t have a great shed or a forklift. A few rollers and a bit of pipe does the job.”

He is extremely mechanically minded - which obviously helps. “I prepare and paint them. I am not a painter either but I can’t afford to get them done so I’ve had to learn and teach myself. I don’t do the lines and scrolls but otherwise everything is mine.”

A regular attendee at the White Muster and other events, Rob got sick of borrowing trailers and such. “I’ve only missed one Muster since it started because I didn’t have all my gear ready. Now I’ve got my own trailer to move my gear to wherever.”

A fount of knowledge about the brand, Rob is happy to impart his knowledge. “Autocar, White and Diamond T are related. They are all the same family. White bought Auto car in 1951 or thereabouts. They basically bought them for the cabin which you will see across the brands. It’s the same windscreen.

“They call it the Autocar Driver’s Cabin. White were using these tiny little cabins, like on the Superpower and they needed something bigger so they bought Autocar and used that cabin right up until 1987. You’ll see it in some of the Western Stars as well.”

**Note the ‘stolen’ Autocar cab on this Western Star**

“Then they bought in the Western Star Constellation series. They were the heavy duty offshoot of the White Motor Company back in the day. Not a lot were bought out here as they were probably twice as dear as a lot of other trucks. They were over engineered and very heavy duty for the time and were consequently great for heavy haulage and logging.”

Rob is one of many truckies who keep the history of this great industry alive and kicking. And that’s a really good thing.