Say what you want about the European trucking scene – they have taken ‘over the top’ to a whole new level. The Müller Ermensee GmbH Scania you see before you is about as over the top as you can get.
In 2024, I had the privilege of meeting the driver of this rolling work of art, Benni Van Jaarsm, and doing a bit of a photoshoot in the back blocks of Belgium. It wasn’t the longest interview, as his English was limited, my Swiss was non-existent and, apparently, I still have enough of a Kiwi accent for him to struggle to comprehend my questions. In fairness though, I am doubting many of you are here for the story – I wouldn’t be. Instead, I would just be drooling over the attention to detail and customisation that has gone into every part of this amazing art piece.
Before I lose too many readers to the visuals, I want to get to one very important and unbelievable point straight away. This is a working truck; it is on the roads of Switzerland and Italy five or six days a week, racking up three to four thousand kilometres each week and with Benni sleeping in it all week as well. I know many of you will be calling me out on that one, rightfully assuming there is no way you could let this thing loose on the highway, but I am fair dinkum. Indy, as it is affectionately known, well and truly earns its keep.
The truck is part of a 10-strong fleet run under the name Müller Ermensee GmbH. If you happen to peruse any of the international social media sites, the Müller fleet will be no stranger to anyone, as this is not their first customised truck, just their latest and most elaborate.
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Müller is a fourth-generation transport company that began in Switzerland way back in 1923 with a handful of horses. For decades, the company carted timber and construction material all over Switzerland. By the 1970s, it was even carting product into the likes of Libya, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. By the 1980s, Franz Müller Junior, part of the third generation, was in charge and so began the shift into carting food and consumables.
It is worth noting that in that era, Müller was using flat tops and tarps, not fridge vans, to cart the majority of its consumables. I am guessing being based in Switzerland makes it a little easier to be transporting your food without a fridge van. The natural climate would be kind of like a giant icebox most of the time anyway.
By 2012, Franz Müller Jr (the fourth generation) had taken the helm, the fleet was running eight truck and fridge van combos and was specialising in solely refrigerated product. A decade later and the fleet is now at 10, and while none of the others are as elaborate as the Indiana Jones Scania, they are all stand-out vehicles and a brief internet search will bring up some very cool lorries.
History lesson behind us, we shall get back to the billboard at hand. Underneath all that artwork sits a 2023 660hp Scania S. One of the crème de la crème of the Scandinavian stable, the truck and trailer underwent a nine month transformation to change from a standard lorry to the masterpiece it is now. The idea for this project came during the confines of the COVID pandemic.
“My boss loves trucks and loves Indiana Jones. There were four movies and then during COVID, there were rumours of a fifth one coming out, so my boss decided he wanted to do a special Indiana Jones truck,” Benni says.
There were a lot of ideas thrown around by Benni and his boss, with Franz heavily involved in the design and helping the artists with the airbrushing. Did I mention that this is not a wrapped truck? Yes, the whole thing was airbrushed.
MW Designs from the Netherlands deserves all the credit for the amazing artwork on this unit. If my Dutch was any good, I would love to have interviewed the lady responsible and learn how to approach a task so mammoth. They have used scenes from all four movies throughout the truck and trailer and then customised everything from the deck plating and the guards to the toolboxes and the suzi coils.
Then, of course, you have the interior. In Europe, customising your interior is a very big thing – obviously not always to this extreme, but there is a big market for interior customisation. The Indiana Jones design and fit out took a full two months to complete, such was the extravagance and detail.
While doing this shoot, I was able to meet the young man responsible for the interior, Thomas, who works for Enjoy Driving, an Italian company that has been building and outfitting custom interiors for the past 12 years. The pressure was put on Thomas to somehow take Benni and Franz’s ideas and turn them into reality.
“It was very difficult, trying to translate their vision into reality,” Thomas says.
“We mainly used fibreglass and wood, with a special treated paint for all the stuff around the sleeper.”
Making it look amazing while still being practical was a very thin rope to walk, but Benni is adamant it has worked.
“Yes, I sleep in it five to six nights a week, the bed is comfy, I have the air cooler and everything else I need, like my coffee machine,” he says.
There really isn’t a whole lot more I can tell you, due mainly to my questions getting lost in translation a lot. I did learn that Benni starts his week on a Sunday night or Monday morning, returning home the following Saturday. He predominantly pulls fruit and vegetables from local growers and dealers to markets around Switzerland and Italy. It is not unusual to see the big green machine out in a paddock with tractors loading fresh carrots into its 33 space single trailer. For the record, that is 33 European pallet spaces, so smaller than our standard cheap pallets.
As big a truck fan as Benni’s boss is, he still works his trucks and works them hard. It is a real credit to Benni, his very patient partner and the whole team at Müller Ermensee GmbH for the presentation of this amazing lorry. A last shout out to the amazing WM Designs in The Netherlands and Italy’s Enjoy Driving for their efforts bringing this amazing idea to life. Enjoy the photos and make sure you look closely. The detail is even better than you think.
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