Last week, on the Traction GB thread, I noticed that a couple of members had mentioned Fleetwood Transport, because of the associations that Traction GB and Fleetwood Transport have had over many years.
Whenever I meet anybody who knows us, the first question they always ask me is “Have you still got that beautiful F16?” Well, the answer is yes, and it’s fully working and road-legal, and like every other truck on the fleet it has to earn its corn. I said I would try to find time to take a few photos.
So, on Monday morning at the crack of eight o’clock, I pull into the farm, or “Bapchild International Freight Terminal” as we like to call it. That’s my car, the blue one. It’s a Toyota Prius hybrid and it does over 200 miles to the gallon.
Behind it is my tractor unit and as you can see, the Old Girl is up on blocks at the moment following a disastrous trip to Spain last week which culminated in us being ignominiously dragged off of the SeaFrance “Charles Aznavour” or WETF it was called by a Dover Harbour Board tug.
While spannerman Keith sorts it out, I have a look around and shortly…
I spy…
THE BEAST!
The apple harvest is in full swing on Richard’s farm at the moment and these apple boxes are everywhere. It’s not a very attractive backdrop so I jump in. The keys are in it so I fire her up and the engine burbles through the Eminox stack. It sounds awesome!
Right, time for a bit of still half-asleep posing now…
It’s a left-■■■■■■ as you can see.
Right, off past the grain silos, left at the farm workshop and within a minute or so I am in what Sir Trevor McDonald would refer to on one of his better days as “the Kent countryside”
So that’s the F16 then. Keith has sorted my truck out so it’s time to do some proper work. We’re planning on filming the F16 going up Detling Hill with 25 tonnes of concrete on the back and putting it on YouTube soon so watch this space!
