Simon Southwell was a happy man at Classic Yass on Saturday, reunited with his 1963 B-Model Mack after 26 years apart.
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This isn’t just any truck, this is the truck that helped to buy Southwell’s first home and took him 600,000 miles across the country.
He was sad to sell it in 1992 and always regretted the decision.
Southwell first purchased the truck 32 years ago. Those were the years when he was living on his own in St George, Queensland and earning his wage from the transport industry.
When he met his wife Janie, the Mack became their future, with the money earned from transporting agricultural products put towards their first home.
“We worked it very hard for six years, hauling grain, hay and farm machinery along all of the eastern states of Australia,” Southwell said.
They eventually needed to sell the Mack to get a bigger truck that could carry heavier loads.
“I regretted it the day I sold it, but we had to, we didn’t have enough money to keep it and get another one,” Southwell said.
Southwell recently discovered the truck in the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs. It had been put there by the next owner, who couldn’t drive it anymore.
Southwell bought it back.
“It’s in excellent mechanical condition and we will be driving it out to Alice Springs for the Hall of Fame’s 25th anniversary in 2020,” he said.
The truck is parked up at Southwell’s Murrumbateman home, where eventually he and Janie moved back to 12 years ago to raise their four children.
He still works in the transport industry and is now also principal of Ray White Rural Canberra/Yass.