Trevor and Phyllis Davies sharea
mutual love for the rare and rarelyseen
Mercedes-Benz 1418. And theynow
have three 1418’s in their collection,
including this beautifully restored
1972 model named ‘Thelma-May’
indsight is a wonderful thingisn’tit.It
allows us to look back and judgethechoices
of those before us with an airofsuperiority.
We can be especially judgementalwhenit
comes to aesthetic choices.
When it comes to the 1970s there are manythingswecan
shake our head in bewilderment at: bell-bottomjeans,flower
power, lava lamps, even afros, though I do believetube
tops were invented then and there are veryfewcomplaints
about them!
Another immediately recognisable symbolofthe1970s
that cops a fair bit of flak for its out-there appearance
is the bulging bonnet of a big 1418 Mercedes-Benz.The
unmistakable front end of the 1418 may havegivenitaface
that only a mother could love, but the fact istheearlyBenz’s
were a staple of the Australian transport industry.
Mercedes garnered a real foothold in theAustralian
market with the 1418 when it landed on localshoresin
the late ‘60s and early ‘ 70s. Even though theywereonly
packing 180hp (134kW) they surprised morethanafew
with their reliability and strength. There wereevenafew
spotted doing the truck-breaking run betweenAdelaideand
Darwin with double road trains in tow, on roadsalotless
sophisticated than the 1418s were at the time.
Another feature that seems to make the early-model
Mercedes unique, the 1418 and 1419s in particular,isthere
are very few of us older truckies (yes, I rememberthedays
of changing spider rims and before cell phonessoI’min
the older bracket now) that haven’t got at leastoneortwo
memories directly related to our Mercedes’experiences.Itis
a truck that seems to have played a role in thedevelopment
of many companies and many people; frombigcompanies
to small operators like the team we are lookingattoday–
Trevor and Phyllis Davies.
For those involved in the heritage truck scene,Trevor
and Phyllis will be two extremely familiarnames.Trevor
is the president and Phyllis the secretary oftheHeritage
Truck Association Australia Inc. In fact, Trevorisknown
as ‘ The Voice of the Show’ for the work he doesrunning
commentary at many of the Heritage Associationshows
that the couple get to.H
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