When Tom Nicholson was a kid, he thought Mack Super-Liners were the coolest thing on the road.
He made a promise to himself that if he ever managed to get somewhere in life, he would buy one for himself – and that’s just what he did.
“I always thought the sound of a Mack V8 was unbelievable,” he says.
“About four years ago, I came across a 1983 V8 Mack Super-Liner on Gumtree and finally bit the bullet.”
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Based in Sunday Creek in Northern Victoria, Tom and his wife Tania travelled all the way to Tara in Queensland to have a look at the truck before buying it.
“We hired a car out of Brisbane airport and drove to Tara – it took us maybe three hours to drive there,” he remembers.
“This guy had owned the truck since ‘88 and it had been sitting in his shed.
“He had to sell it in 2000 but then bought it back, and said he was going to restore it but he never got around to it.”
The truck was in pretty bad shape and hadn’t been started in over 12 years.
“I wanted to get it going, just to hear it run,” he says.
“It took a few hours but we got it running and I said I would take it.”
Once Tom got the truck home, it was restoration time.
“It needed a full restoration, front to back,” he explains.
“We didn’t split the rail, but it was basically a full rebuild from the ground up – diffs, gearbox, everything.”
The truck was plain white when Tom got it, but had been a little flashier in the past.
“When the previous owner sold me the truck, one of the conditions was that I would restore it to its former glory,” he says.
“I came up with the colour scheme because one of my other trucks had the same look.
“I have three sons and they had a colouring book with a Mack Super-Liner in it.
“I actually did the design for my Super-Liner in the colouring book!”
Tom enlisted the help of Peter Clapton from Sherwood Restorations in Castlemaine for the painting and most of the restoration.
“We sent the truck to him as a cab chassis and he went to town on it.
“I had a picture in my mind and he had a picture in his mind but I basically gave him the run of it.
“It came out a million bucks – we just love it.”
The Super-Liner is named “Miss Tania” after Tom’s lovely wife.
“I tell everyone I had to name it after her because I spent so much money on it,” Tom jokes.
“That’s how I got away with it…”
The rig has been earning its keep in Tom and Tania’s business, T&T Nicholson Earthmoving.
“One of my regular trucks blew up two or three months ago and it’s in getting repairs, so the Super-Liner gets worked a fair bit,” he says.
“None of the boys like driving it because they don’t want to scratch it, but I bring it out once or twice a week.”
Tom grew up around trucks, learning to drive when he was just seven years old.
“My dad was a farmer until I was about 15,” he says.
“We always had trucks, we’ve always been into livestock and dad used to cart horses across to South Australia.
“He also carted domestic water around Donnybrook and Kalkallo.”
shed in Queensland
for years
Tom loved working on and being around trucks, but he never thought he’d make a living from them.
“It’s a real passion for me, I guess it’s just in my blood,” he says.
“When I started my earthmoving business, I didn’t think the trucks would earn me money.
“But times have changed now and we’ve got a lot more heavy haulage and tipper work.
“The trucks make us good money and we’re always busy!”
He’s very positive about his work and the transport industry in general.
“Everyone’s got their own opinions, and the industry has definitely changed since my dad was driving interstate,” he says.
“It’s a different world these days, but you can’t be focusing on the negatives all the time.
“You’ve got to take things in your stride. We’re still here and we’re still working, and there are a lot of good people in this industry.”
Tom’s delighted that his three sons – aged 18, 14 and 10 – are truck-mad like their father.
“My eldest has just turned 18 and he’s been in the business full-time since the start of this year.
“He’s in one of our road graders full-time and hanging to get into the trucks!
“He’s looking every day to find a loophole to get an early licence.
“But all our boys love trucks and they go to all the truck shows with us.”
Attending truck shows has paid off for the Nicholsons, with the Super-Liner picking up Best Restored and Best Mack at Alexandra in 2023, as well as landing a spot in the Top 10 at Boort.
The next project on Tom’s list is the restoration of another Super-Liner in his fleet, a 1979 tipper that has been in his family for 20 years.
“I bought it off my dad about 10 years ago,” he says.
“I reckon my boys are going to have a good hand in restoring that one with me, they keep asking me about it.”
The Mack has a bit of history behind it, as the sixth Super-Liner built in Australia in 1979 and the first one with a V8 engine in it.
“We’ve got pictures of it when it was brand new from Mack Australia, and we’re going to try to get it back to the way it was.
“We’re starting to get bits and pieces for it, and we might get a start on it next year – we’ll see how bored I get!”
Tom loves the old-school appeal of vintage Macks and bringing them back to life.
“New trucks these days – they’re good, but they’re not like they used to be,” he says.
“I think it’s cool what Kenworth has done with the SAR Legends, bringing it back to the ‘86 model.
“I enjoy older-style trucks and I like the heritage of them.”
Sharing his advice to anyone undertaking a restoration, he laughs: “Hold on tight!
“Nah, the reward is huge.
“I get thrills out of going to the historical shows because there’s no competition, everyone is just there to appreciate the work that you’ve put in.
“That’s an incredible feeling – you can’t beat it.”
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