Peter Clark, an inductee into this year's Shell Rimula Hall of Fame, reveals a surprising addition to his truck photo album.
Peter Clark showed us through his photo album when Owner//Driver visited him in Deniliquin recently.
The 81-year-old pointed to a photograph of a Mack and declared it was the limited-edition 1988 Bicentennial Super-Liner II, ‘Kingsford Smith’.
Peter says Kingsford Smith was owned by Grant Haynes and only had 1200km on the clock when he first drove it.
Knowing that Kingsford Smith was made for Jim Ristovichis, we wondered how Grant Haynes came to own it when the mileage was so low.
And we were curious about the photo: the paint was wrong; the wheels were aluminium, not spiders; and the Mack only had two fuel tanks.
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This really is the Bicentennial Mack Super-Liner II ‘Kingsford Smith’. Peter Clark used it to pull a milk tanker from Deniliquin to Sydney when it was owned by Grant Haynes
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So Owner//Driver showed the photo to Mack expert Gary Richards. Gary, former national manager – product management and sales promotion with Volvo Group Australia, was surprised to see the truck out of its colours so early in its life, but assures us the truck in the photo is indeed ‘Kingsford Smith’.
We showed Tony Champion, too. Tony is the Mack’s current owner. He says it was the only Bicentennial delivered with aluminium wheels.
We also phoned Jim Ristovichis who explained he only owned the Mack for a few weeks, and Grant Haynes was the second owner.
That is how Peter came to be driving Kingsford Smith from Deniliquin to Sydney in the late 1980s.
Peter loved sleeping in the velour interior. After decades on the road it was the first time he had slept in a truck with a sleeper cab.
He explains the Mack was repainted because the chemicals used to clean the trailers were too harsh for the prime mover.
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The Kingsford Smith has been restored and is now owned by Tony Champion of Rockhampton. Photo by Bernie Champion
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Kingsford Smith was one of many trucks Peter drove during his long career. He drove for John Wilson, Landinis, Fitzpatricks and Lumbars. He spent 22 years carting rice for Ricegrowers Co-operative Mills.
Peter retired 15 years ago. His wife Mary is proud of his excellent driving record. He has never attracted a demerit point.
Last month Peter was inducted to the National Road Transport Hall of Fame. His health prevented him from making the journey to Alice Springs.
Read more about Peter Clark, as well as round-up of the 2017 Alice Springs Road Transport Reunion and Shell Rimula Hall of Fame in the October issue of Owner//Driver magazine.