With one Kenworth on top of another, retired truck driver Ian Rudd arrived at the Harden Truck and Tractor Show
Ian Rudd arrived in Harden with two old Kenworths, notably a 1986 K120 hauling a trailer laden with a ’78 K121.
Ian, aged 77 and now retired, refers to himself as “an old truckie”.
He’s also quick to point out that he’s no relation to the former Australian Prime Minister.
The words ‘Classic 92’ feature on the rear of the K120’s cab, with Ian explaining that it still has the old Detroit 8-92 silver series engine.
“It’s a two-stroke engine, the original engine that came with the truck,” Ian enthuses. “It was sold to Roadmaster Haulage in 1986 and it’s still all original, even with the torsion bar suspension, just as it came out of the factory.”
Ian brought the K120 four years ago, already in a restored state. As per the age of his pride and joy, his liking for the Kenworth brand stretches back to 1986 when he bought his first.
That was in Queanbeyan, when he would haul fuel tankers to Sydney, trading as Rudd Haul.
“We used to run on two shifts, and kept going like most of them do these days,” he recalls.
“We started off in a Diamond Reo, then White Road Commanders, then a Mack Cruiseliner. Then we got into Kenworths, and that was it.”
His K121 has an even more interesting history, being one of three slimline cab Kenworth test trucks that Camden-based company Clutha trialled in 1978.
“This one’s got a 692 GM two-stroke, one had an 871, and the other had a 250 Cummins in it,” Ian says. “All the test trucks were single drives, but Clutha didn’t buy any of them. They ended up buying 80 Road Bosses.”
Ian says he’s put a halt to buying any more classic trucks, although he’s keen to continue on the show circuit.
He’s attended three of the previous Haulin’ The Hume convoys out of Sydney and, like a few others at the Harden Truck & Tractor Show, his next stop was Crawlin’ The Hume in Victoria.