This year’s Yesteryear Truck and Machinery Show at Wauchope is promising to be the best yet.
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Kirby Maxwell with his old Sterling; the truck will be a notable absentee at this year’s Yesteryear Truck and Machinery at Wauchope.
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Wauchope, on the New South Wales mid-north coast and just a stone’s throw from the tourist town of Port Macquarie, is well known for its logging industry and the colonial era theme park of Timbertown.
However, it’s also the home for the Yesteryear Truck and Machinery Show which has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years.
Co-organiser Kirby Maxwell expects the truck numbers to swell further when the 2018 show is held over the two days of July 14 and 15.
“Two years ago we had 150 trucks and last year 172 trucks,” Kirby says.
With his well-travelled 1970 Oshkosh, Kirby attended the recent Rocklea Heritage Truck Show in Brisbane where he says the word about Wauchope was spreading.
“A lot of them are going to come down too, so we might be looking around 200 trucks in July,” he says.
The Wauchope Yesteryear Truck and Machinery Show was originally held at Timbertown, but were forced to move due to circumstances beyond the Wauchope Yesteryear Truck and Machinery Club committee’s control.
The event found its current home at the Wauchope Showgrounds a few years back and it’s a move that proved to be a winner.
“We’ve got old trucks, machinery, we’ll have about 30-odd dozers going from 50 and 60 years old, old engines, vintage cars and motorbikes, and this year we’ve invited hot rods.”
Newer working trucks are also invited to attend, although one prime mover that will be absent this year is Kirby’s Sterling, although the Oskhosh is a certain starter.
“I’ve actually retired,” he says. “I sold my Sterling. I drove it down to Fairy Meadow at Port Kembla. Allan Doherty of Doherty Transport bought it off me. He’d been after it for two odd years and I wouldn’t sell it to him. In the finish I cracked.
“So I came home and retired as of the 1st of February. I’ve been to every bloody truck show every fortnight since,” Kirby laughs.
“I drive the Oshkosh everywhere. It’s as rough as … a boneshaker.
“You wouldn’t believe how many people say what a good looking truck it is, and it’s the ugliest truck on the road. But the people like the colour of it, especially women.”
Monies raised from this year’s Yesteryear Truck and Machinery will go to various local charities, including the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, the Palliative Care Unit at the Wauchope Hospital, and the Riding for the Disabled Association.
Gates open at 9am on both Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15, and there’s free camping for exhibitors who are also invited to the Saturday night dinner where an unreserved auction will be held.
Photography: Greg Bush | Video: Greg Bush