http://www.truckingmag.co.uk August 2019 TRUCKING 83
Cornish designed with weights and
gearing to suit Cornwall’s narrow
hilly lanes, Rowe Hillmasters were
6-14 tonnersElf’n’safety apoplexy! Bench seats,
no seatbelts, open body, this 1955
Dennis F2 is powered by a Rolls-
Royce petrol straight-eightin truck and trailer repair, maintenance,
diagnostics, roadside assistance and
MoT preparation.Mighty Mack
Originally a 4x2, the B61 has a non-
driven lifting tag axle and rates as a
32-tonner. The bunk, more suited to
shorter drivers, is curtained off from
the front section of the cab. The engine,
an 11.5-litre Mack 673T turbodiesel
that puts out around 230 bhp, has
not needed significant attention and
drives through a classic Mack two-
stick. Restoration was a full engine and
gearbox out, cab and hood off, strip
down to bare metal. The cab needed
extensive restoration, having had
no more than a cosmetic filler andotherwise. The Mack serves as an
advertisement for Paul Leek’s company,
Telford-based P Leek Commercial
Vehicle Repairs Ltd, which specialises
paint job done in the US at some time in
the past.
The main running gear was okay, just
needing servicing and adjustments and
brake system overhaul. Re-piping was
also required. Paul Leek says it wasn’t
acceptable under European standards- the rear axle load sensor valve was a
tap in the chassis, operated by turning
it on when loaded and off when empty.
The finished job is a standout 59-year-
old that wears its Mack Bulldog
radiator cap with particular pride.
And what’s this? A Bedford KM with
a tilt cab? Bedford never made them
like that. Like Paul Leek with his Mack
B61 – though, frustratingly, unlike many
people showing their vehicles – the
owners, brothers Ken and Ray Walsh,
were on hand to explain. They’re getting
a bit stiff in their old age, and getting
at the KM’s engine via the side flaps
is awkward. They fitted an electro-
hydraulic tilt mechanism, which uses
the motor out of a wheelchair. Purists
might be offended, but the Walshes like
their classics to be practical.
It takes all kinds, and they found
their way to Kelsall – and in even
greater numbers than ever before. ■
ABOVE Little and large: vintage oil-engined Albion, one of
around 900 classic and vintage trucks on show at Kelsall