The little grey cells are letting me down.
Does anybody remember the name of the hotel we used to stay at in Tehran close to Roosevelt Parking and before we discovered the delights of the Pension Suisse?
I think it was the Sinjar but I could be completely wrong.
truckerash:
what2do:
0Hi all; Very interesting reading all the âinterpretationsâ of the âstrange looking plateâ on the bumper. Without insulting anyoneâs intelligence, thereâs no way it was a mirror! Way too low down. The danish spec âdeluxeâ cabs had a mirror mounted on the door, not on the bumper.
JJ72 - you are correct. It was the danish âcautionâ plate. Quite why it was there, I cannot find out as I do not know who exactly was driving the truck at the time, although it may have been JOHN HOLLAND.
If you look closely, you can also see a Mack âbulldogâ mascot fixed adjacent to the central wiper. This is surely indeed â70âs blingâ!The photo was taken by Bob Paul (R.I.P) immediatley after the truck had been resprayed from the traditional red and yellow to the more distinctive âcream and [zb]â livery!
Bobâs son Dominic can be seen in the drivers seat and his wife Caroline standing to the right.
Hi its John Holland here and that is my truck which I bought from Bob Paul and its my now wife standing by the door with me in the cab and Peter Cannon leaning over the back of the cab. Caroline Bobs Wife took the photo as the truck had just been resprayed and I my next was to Pakistan.
Hi.Just a couple of old photoâs I found form the past 1st is yours truly in TDX400K waiting for docâs and clearance at the Afghan/Pakistan border on route to Rawalpindi and the second photo of me in 1982 with 4 trailers hocked up from Halls Head to Port Hedland in WA aussie style there were the days not to be again unfortunately. All the Best Regs johnholland042@gmail.com
How long did you have to wait for clearance at this border? It must have been âfunâ driving with 4 trailers. How many spare tyres did you have with you and what was your gross weight?
Regards
Johnny
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Fantastic picture of the Afghan/Pakistan border, John! You must have joined the Grand Trunk Road for your onward journey to Rawalpindi. Robert
That pic of the Afghan - Pakistan border is great! A real snap shot of history! Its even got what looks like the ubiquitous Ford Transit creeping in at the side! 
jsutherland:
How long did you have to wait for clearance at this border? It must have been âfunâ driving with 4 trailers. How many spare tyres did you have with you and what was your gross weight?
Regards
JohnnySent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
it use to take about 6hrs to clear custom into Pakistan. Bell use to have two spares per trailer and to be honest with you the 4 trailers were empty the old scania wont put four loaded but Iâve pulled 185 ton with 4 trailers with my Kenworth and it tracks real good and I use to back two trailer onto the third but never managed to back 3 onto 4. regs john holland
robert1952:
Fantastic picture of the Afghan/Pakistan border, John! You must have joined the Grand Trunk Road for your onward journey to Rawalpindi. Robert
Yes Robert I donât think I realise at that time what adventure I was on and also how much you find out about yourself ie what you can cope with. At the time I thought that this sort of trips were normal and enjoyed the challenge two complete the trips to the best of my ability. Regs John holland
JOHN HOLLAND:
robert1952:
Fantastic picture of the Afghan/Pakistan border, John! You must have joined the Grand Trunk Road for your onward journey to Rawalpindi. RobertYes Robert I donât think I realise at that time what adventure I was on and also how much you find out about yourself ie what you can cope with. At the time I thought that this sort of trips were normal and enjoyed the challenge two complete the trips to the best of my ability. Regs John holland
You are spot-on there: those long-haul trips taught me much about myself and what barriers could be pushed through and which not! robert
Just a couple of photos of TDX400K but I donât think I can handle that snow anymore ive got use to the Aussie sun now Regs john holland
Thanks for the photos. Where was the second photo taken?
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JOHN HOLLAND:
Just a couple of photos of TDX400K but I donât think I can handle that snow anymore ive got use to the Aussie sun now Regs john holland
The second photo was taken about 100km east of Ankara
Mr.holland you are a true astran driver like the all other drivers here
this january ı and my brother made a winter trip to the east turkiye. it was a incredible journey.
ı put some pictures for all who missed the winter and snow of the east.
all pictures from the roads of erzurum city.
regards
Apologies but the oversize images removed as they were breaking the forum - Rikki
Hi al! Borrowed this from StjÀrnström int AB FB page. Sure this must be Gavin as in GS overland before the paint job?
Danne
Was Scania or Volvo the most popular make amongst UK companies and owner drivers in the 70s? Nowadays is there a preferred make or is the support network for most makes similar? I was in India for 3 months and didnât see too many European trucks - when I did it was Volvo or MAN.
A shame this thread has ground to a halt. It contains great stories and reignited my interest in the middle east run. I am grateful for all those who have contributed to the thread to make it what it is.
Johnny
jsutherland:
Was Scania or Volvo the most popular make amongst UK companies and owner drivers in the 70s? Nowadays is there a preferred make or is the support network for most makes similar? I was in India for 3 months and didnât see too many European trucks - when I did it was Volvo or MAN.
A shame this thread has ground to a halt. It contains great stories and reignited my interest in the middle east run. I am grateful for all those who have contributed to the thread to make it what it is.
Johnny
This is a classic âWhen did you last beat your wifeâ question 
! Surely, the first question to ask is: were Scania & Volvo the most popular?
Then: if not, which were? 
Having said that, I would not wish to put you off contributing to this excellent thread!
Iâll bloody glad when this page gets to the bottom and we can say âgoodbyeâ to these stupid wide pages. Robert
I agree Robert, regarding the wide pictures.
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Iâll try again[FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY]. Were Volvo and Scania the most popular? If yes why?
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The first thing you needed was a reliable truck - sorry Robert - lorry. An Atkinson with a Gardner or â â â â â â â engine was this. The second thing you needed was a modicum of comfort. The BMC/Leyland Mastiff was streets ahead of the Atkinson in terms of driver comfort. I remember having a discussion about this with an Atkinson driver. In my cocky way, I said that the Atkinson was designed from the bottom up, great engine, gearbox, etc, then they suddenly realised that theyâd forgotten about the driver! âNever mind, thereâs a shed at the bottom of the garden, shove that on!â
The older generation looked at me for a few seconds, then said âyouâre right, but itâs a shame they put the lawnmower engine out of the shed into the Mastiff!â
The Volvos and the Scanias didnât overlook the driver who was going to live in it for a month at a time!
John
John West:
The first thing you needed was a reliable truck - sorry Robert - lorry. An Atkinson with a Gardner or â â â â â â â engine was this. The second thing you needed was a modicum of comfort. The BMC/Leyland Mastiff was streets ahead of the Atkinson in terms of driver comfort. I remember having a discussion about this with an Atkinson driver. In my cocky way, I said that the Atkinson was designed from the bottom up, great engine, gearbox, etc, then they suddenly realised that theyâd forgotten about the driver! âNever mind, thereâs a shed at the bottom of the garden, shove that on!âThe older generation looked at me for a few seconds, then said âyouâre right, but itâs a shame they put the lawnmower engine out of the shed into the Mastiff!â
The Volvos and the Scanias didnât overlook the driver who was going to live in it for a month at a time!
John
And this thread supports your comments:
Robert 
