Trevor had worked as a subbie for Simons
Transport and the regular work had him
all over Australia. “His sister helped pay the
rego,” Phyllis tells me, “and his mum would
pack a lunch box full of sandwiches and off
he’d go.”
The 1418 become the building block for
Trevor’s long and successful owner-driver
career. Though the 1418 would be replaced
with a 3070 International and then an S-line,
it would always be a special truck. So much
so that when Trevor chose to leave the
owner-driver life, he and Phyllis decided to
hunt one out to purchase. That decision led
them to ‘Gracie’, the 1974 1418.Trevor and Phyllis both joined the Heritage
Truck Association as a way to meet and
learn from like-minded truck enthusiastsPhyllis was adamant they would retro-fit
an old ‘Hungry Board’ to the rebuilt 1418.
In the days before 24-hour servos there
would normally be a couple of 200-litre
drums of fuel tied up the back. Now it’s
more likely to be lunch boxes and deck
chairs!The care and precision that Trevor and
Phyllis took in restoring her show the
passion they have for the 1418sAnother friend repainted the cab in the
new Caterpillar yellow, with its original
white guards and bull bar144