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Ray Mann to join Alice legends

Ray Mann is one of 100 transport identities who will be inducted to the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Alice Springs in August.

 

Ray Mann of Wodonga is bound to be sentimental when he visits the Kenworth pavilion at Alice Spring’s National Road Transport Hall of Fame in August.

The first Grey Ghost Kenworth K125 assembled in Australia is displayed at the pavilion, and Mann has fond memories of driving Grey Ghosts on the Hume Highway during the 1970s.

“They were a vehicle you could drive right up to its maximum,” Mann says.

Mann retired from trucking last year at the age of 76, and is travelling to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to be inducted to the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame.

He will share the honour with about 100 other inductees at a ceremony on August 30.

The Wall of Fame induction is a highlight of the National Road Transport Hall of Fame Reunion from August 28 to September 1.

This year’s event also includes a reunion for Buntine Roadways and Roadtrains of Australia (RTA) staff on August 29.

Hall of Fame CEO Liz Martin says the Buntine reunion is a fitting way to honour the late Noel Buntine whose support was instrumental in building the Hall of Fame.

“It is named the Buntine Pavilion because Noel Buntine donated the initial $5000 we needed to kick start the National Road Transport Hall of Fame,” Martin says. “Until that point we had a big plan and plenty of ideas but no money, trucks or land.”

Buntine tackled one of the toughest sectors of Australian transport – carting livestock in the Northern Territory.

“He really is one of my idols,” Martin says. “His drivers and staff are legends in their own right and we’ll be inducting several of his drivers into the Wall of Fame, including Rod Downes and the legendary Jack (Admiral) Taylor.”

Read more about Ray Mann’s long trucking career in the August issue of Owner//Driver.

Photography: Tamara Whitsed

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