(^10) July 2019 Truck & Driver
coordinating the
transport; organising the
daily loads for each of
the vehicles. “My brother was
working here, and I started here
through him. I’d been driving
self-employed for a few people
and it’s been great to settle in
here. You get to know how long
things take, how much can be
done in a day. I’m enjoying it.”
Colin started off driving an
eight-wheeler before moving
onto a succession of 510hp XFs,
first a midlift and then a tag. “I
prefer a tag set-up personally,” he
says. Then the 90th Anniversary
truck came up, so he jumped at
the chance of driving that.
Full-size midlift
As you can see from the
photographs, the truck has a
full-size midlift. ABH’s preferred
spec is actually a 17.5-inch mini
midlift, but the special edition
doesn’t come with the option; it’s
standard 6x2 only for the UK.
With the truck on the horizon,
plans to make it even more
special were hatched. Mark’s
original plan was to do a ‘
years of Daf’ theme, but by the
time the truck arrived, Daf itself
had already done just that. An
alternative was required.
Starring Hugh Jackman,
The Greatest Showman is a
family-friendly musical film about
the beginnings of the famous P T
Barnum Circus. You’ve probably
seen it. We haven’t but we
watched the trailer on YouTube in
the name of research.
Mark’s daughter, Alex, who is
also Colin’s girlfriend, had
arranged to see it at the cinema
with her mum, Joanne. They
asked Colin if he wanted to go
too. “I didn’t really like the look of
the film but I didn’t have anything
else to do so I went along – and
you know what? I actually really
enjoyed it,” he grins. “As I was
walking out of the cinema, I
thought there and then it would
be a great theme for the truck.”
The Daf arrived as a ‘standard’
90th XF (if you can call one of
these standard) and sent to
Smart’s Commercials of Derby,
which painted the mudguards
and catwalk and the suzie bar.
The suzie bar was fabricated at
local firm R & M Engineering,
aka ‘Dave the welder’. Alan
Smallwood was then tasked with
the airbrushing, adorning the
metallic-red paintwork with the
film’s main characters in glorious
detail. A set of leather mats,
curtains, pelmet and bed cover
and the truck was ready to go, all
this done by Special Interiors in
the Netherlands through Craig
McCallum. It’s booked in for a
visit to Rusty’s Truck Interiors
soon too but, even as it stands,
this XF’s interior is gorgeous,
with the Cognac trim, walnut
dash, two-tone leather seats and
Alcantara curtains.
Daf, of course, will be
unveiling its new cabs in the
not-too-distant future. The Dutch
manufacturer has a potential
issue with the long-serving Super
Space Cab though – how will it
make the new one better than
this? It really is first-class
XF 90th Anniversary Edition
As part and parcel of its 90th
anniversary celebration
in 2018, Daf committed to
producing a limited run of
250 90th Anniversary Edition
trucks. All are XF Super
Spaces featuring the top-
power 530hp MX13 engine
and a host of extras including
full leather, microwave,
fridge, air-horns and special
hand-made badges.
Just three colours are
available: Anniversary Black,
Rouge Flamme and Jamaica
Blue, our favourite of the three
being the metallic-red Rouge
Flamme that the ABH truck
was supplied in.
The black looks mean but
is a fairly common colour and,
as vibrant as Jamaica Blue
is, it was the 2017 relaunch
colour for the entire Daf
range, so its initial impact has
been diminished a touch.
This ABH of Mansfield truck
is number 111; each truck has
a plaque and numbering
(right) on the door panels.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Big Top: Alan Smallwood did the airbrushing
nandana
(Nandana)
#1