John Bourke, Captain Cook, Governor Phillip, Matthew Flinders. Not a bad guest list to have at your dinner table.
To have them all converge at Kyabram in Victoria’s north from March 21-22 to partake in a feast of Mack trucks was something rather special.
Given the current fuel crisis it would not have surprised if numbers at this biennial event were down, but 186 of the fabled brand equalled the numbers attending two years ago.
For those wishing for brand variety, there were plenty more attendees out on the showground.
Those roughly $4 million worth of Bicentennial Macks were not the only special trucks to attend the muster, however. In fact, there could have been five of them but for their colour scheme.
Ky local, Jim Ristovich ordered a Bicentennial Mack – Kingsford Smith – back in the day but wanted it in his fleet colours, only to be told by Mack salesman, John Erhlinson that wouldn’t happen.
So, he cancelled his order and found a black model at the Sydney Truck Show to repaint. John told Jim that he’d ruin the truck but hey, “my truck, my choice.” And so the Magnum 500 became one of Jim’s fleet.
Jim Ristovich with his Magnum 500 V8 Super-Liner. Image: Graham HarsantSo good was the finished product that Mack took Jim, his family and the truck to the Tasmania Truck Show where it won first prize, the first of many.
Three years later Jim sold the truck only to hunt it down 32 years later.
“I spent a lot of time chasing the original parts in Queensland and other places. I found the gearbox in Queensland. The steering wheel was custom-built back in those days and I found it hanging in the shed so I got that back.
“The spiders were originally chromed but when I got it back they were just the red so I had them taken back to the chrome.
“The original turntable was the last piece of the puzzle. Everyone said I wouldn’t find it, but I had a chap up Sydney way, Glenn Beutel who used to supply me all the parts from America.
“He rang me one day and said he’d found it in a truck yard at Newcastle. I took it to Mario Calandro in Shepparton who’d manufactured it – he didn’t believe it was his until I showed him the numbers on it – and he restored it.”
Today, Jim’s Mack Magnum 500 is every bit as special as the Bicentennials, although probably not worth quite as much.
Record-breaking V8 makes appearance
Dean Conway brought this history making V8 Super-Liner II down from Bourke.Dean Conway arrived from Bourke along with a record-breaking V8 Super-Liner 500 owned by KF & DM Bowden.
Dean was responsible for the engine restoration in this superbly restored truck. In 1993 this Mack broke the world record by hauling 29 cattle crates weighing some 500 tons.
“It blew the back diff up when Plugger took off. He didn’t have the power divider in because he didn’t want the alarm to muck up the recording (he had a radio guy in the cab with him).
“The back diff disintegrates so in typical Plugger style he just flicked the power divider in and kept going and did it on one diff.”
That record has since been broken many times, but we wonder if any of them have been done on one differential.
With the rumours of another world attempt to be staged at Alice Springs this August, Dean commented, “Might have to make an appearance, I think. It would be a good photo opportunity at the very least.”
Brad indebted to ‘The Bank of Linda’
Brad Drew with ‘The Bank of Linda’ and their Value-Liner.Brad and Linda Drew came from Geelong with their V8 Value-Liner. This truck led the Geelong Convoy for Kids two years ago when Brad raised the most funds for that event.
The Drews bought the truck out of Tasmania from Tas Logging – hence the colour scheme – about six years ago.
“I believe it was a Victorian truck originally. We brought it back and put our own touches on it, such as the Super-Liner steps which I wanted.
“We did the suspension and reset the steering back up on it properly, plus a tidy up inside.”
Aside from the engine, which dropped a couple of valves, there was no other major work needed.
“I always wanted one of these. My father and I flew over to Adelaide in the late ‘80s to buy an ex-TNT one at Pickles Auctions.
“I never bought it, but it left a bit of a thirst to own one. When this came up, I made a quick call to ‘The Bank of Linda’ and here it is.”
Mini Mack Muster brings legends to life
Ernie Hastas with his spectacular Costantino recreations.Behind the trucks at the show is The Kyabram Mini Mack Muster – a shed full of unbelievably good model Macks.
There we meet Ernie Hastas who is an encyclopaedia on the brand, in particular the Paul Costantino Bicentennials of which he has recreated ‘Thunderbolt’ and ‘Captain Bligh’.
“You have to remember these were the fastest Bicentennial’s in Australia,” said Ernie.
“Paul’s forte was Melbourne – Anywhere Express and he said to the drivers, ‘I don’t care how much fuel you use but don’t be late’.
“They were state-of-the-art trucks and the first ones to come out with the woven crushed velour, cruise control and the 48-inch walk-through bunk. There were only 16 built.
They wanted to build 20 but fell short because of the economy at the time. A personal loan was 24 per cent and housing loan was 17 per cent so it was the wrong period in time to be moving these trucks.
“They were $231,000 with a $5000 deposit. There were 39 names on the list to choose from and that $5000 had to be in by July 31, 1987 before they actually released them on 12 March, 1988 at Dreamworld.
“Now you know where Kenworth got the idea with the Legend SARs. They were iconic and you’ll never see something like this again.”
“I built Captain Bligh about 10 years after they were produced. I went and saw Paul at his yard in Footscray over those years and by about 1998 I’d researched it enough to build it. Captain Bligh was completed in 2001.”
With Ernie was Graham Smithers, better known as ‘Fourby’ who’d come along to pick up the model of ‘Thunderbolt’, the Bicentennial Mack he’d driven for Paul Costantino and which Ernie had restored, adding a trailer and stand.
After the exchange of a (considerable) wad of $50 bills, the truck is back in Fourby’s possession.
Models or the real thing, Kyabram was a master class on how to present the Mack brand to a discerning public audience, of which there were many. We look forward to 2028.
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