Still earning after all these years
The ex-Army Mercedes-Benz 2228/41 has become Lee McLean’s versatile low loader unit.
Sergeant Schultz By Colin Smith
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE STRIPPED AND SACRIFICED AS A parts donor for another restoration project. But Tauranga’s Lee McLean decided the ex-NZ Army 1984 Mercedes-Benz 2228/41 he bought in a trademe auction was too good to pull apart. He decided to put it to work instead. A builder by trade but with trucking very much in the family tree, Lee had long wanted to own a Mercedes similar to the trucks his father Ron and great uncle Max had driven when he was younger. Now Lee, his French bulldog Pierre and the 6x4 Mercedes christened Sergeant Schultz are on the road doing a variety work, mainly moving small to medium sized machinery around the Bay of Plenty and sometimes further afield. “I found one in Auckland, the same model, that I was trying to buy.
I talked the guy into selling it to me, but he needed it for another six months,” says Lee. “Then I found this one that I was going to use as a donor truck. There were about 10 in an auction earlier this year, and I bought this one specifically for that sun visor, because I was trying to do the restoration as close as possible to my dad’s truck. “So, it’s a bit of joke that this is a $7500 sun visor. “I bought it in a dollar auction on trademe. Then I flew to Christchurch and met Nigel Hope, an awesome guy who towed it from the [Burnham] army base to his workshop. “It had been parked for six years at Burnham doing nothing. I bought two batteries on the way to Nigel’s yard, and it fired up right away. Nigel and I worked on it the whole day to get the fuel system Truck & Driver | 75
