MILESTONE

As the campaign to find the ‘True Blue’ Volvo Trucks customer and driver comes to a close, it is time to feature a few stand out ‘classic’ Volvo Trucks that are still running in the West of Ireland, many decades after rolling off the production line.

2021 marks Volvo Trucks 50th anniversary of the Swedish brands entry into the Irish market. Over the years, both the truck products and national dealer network has gone from strength to strength, sharing market leadership.

Almost ten years ago, Fleet Transport undertook an extensive nationwide exercise to seek out the Oldest Working Volvo Truck.

Pat Martyn’s 1974 Volvo F88 6x2 tractor unit works out of Glencorrib, Shrule, County Mayo and when contacted back then, he was delivering a load of hay bales to North Mayo. He bought it from a vintage friend in Cork but before then it was in operation in Northern Ireland until 2007.

Originally, it was a 4x2 Day Cab when first put on the road in the UK, which included runs across the Continent with an extra steering axle added later in its life. To conform with the age of the unit, Pat pulls a 33 ft single axle ex-Military flat bed trailer. On hearing that he owns the oldest working Volvo truck, Pat was surprised and delighted, wishing to know what other contenders were out there. His entry was run close by Brian Kelly from Borris, County Carlow who was a 1976 F88 tractor unit while Pat O’Shaughnessy operates an 1983 Volvo F6 4x2 tipper every day around Charleville, County Cork. Powered by a 9.6 litre turbocharged 290 hp diesel mated to a 14 speed gearbox, Pat’s F88 enjoys icon status as today prime examples like his are deemed as ‘THE’ classic truck and acknowledged as the first of the modern generation of driver friendly trucks built in Europe.

Further north in Ballina, County Mayo, a 1985 Volvo F10 has been lovingly restored by Pat People’s. This 4x2 tractor-unit began its working life under the ownership of Banks Brothers Transport Ltd., in Durham and found its way to a like-minded classic truck admirer in Cork who had it stored undercover for a few years.

Pat took possession of the then green coloured truck, which he said was in poor condition. The restoration took him a full year of his spare time to turn it around to its former glory.

First introduced in 1983, the Volvo F10 was powered by a 10-litre, 300hp diesel, mated to a 16-speed manual gearbox.

Since the lockdown The two Pats meet up with a few fellow classic truck enthusiasts and together they venture around the West every fourth Sunday.

Look out for the cortège at a service station around Mayo and Galway in the weeks to come.

The announcement of the winners of the Volvo True Blues will be made before the year end.

Classic Volvo Trucks ‘keep on runnin’

*True Blue 50th Anniversary campaign draws to a conclusion