Purchasing the truck three years ago, the owner of this Bedford calls it his “race truck”
Driving a 1969 Bedford, Karl Coggan-Bytheway was another from the Hunter Valley Commercial Vehicle Club to make the trip south to Penrith for the Sydney Classic and Antique Truck Show.
Although not a commercial vehicle driver himself, Karl has developed a keen interest in trucks, mainly through his truck-driving father Kevin.
“I’m a heavy fabricator by trade, specialising in aluminium. This is just a hobby for me,” Karl says.
Karl bought the Bedford around three years ago after seeing it at the Mangrove Mountain Truck Show. He already had one project on the go at home, a little K5 International, but it wasn’t quite ready for the road.
“I came back about a week later and picked her up,” He says. “All we did was put some fuel and batteries in her and away she went. She was happy as Larry.”
Afterwards Karl discovered a popping sound coming from the air intake. “I hunted around, found a spare motor and she’s been chuffing away ever since,” he smiles.
Karl calls the Bedford his “race truck”, but only up to 60km/h. “Anything above that you’re outta luck.”
He says its top speed is 65km/h, but he doesn’t mind. The Bedford’s slow pace allows him to take a leisurely look at the countryside on the road to truck shows.
“It’s been to Dubbo once, Wauchope twice, and I’ve been here twice in it.”
Karl is keen to keep the Bedford mostly as is, apart from a few necessary changes.
“I only painted the roof white because she was starting to get a bit of surface rust. And I thought the white roof would keep the heat out of her, and it seems to be working.
“The only other thing I’ve done, I had to pull the cab off it when I put in the spare motor, so I painted the front half of the chassis,” Karl says.
“But I’m not going to restore it, just tidy it up.”